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including labour were commonly exchanged in a system of barter;^' apart from
possessing Uttie currency, this arrangement protected the people from increased taxes,
scarcities and price rises. Indeed it is arguable that, had the shipping companies not
been so successful in encouraging emigration to the Colony in the 1850s, self-
sufficiency and little traffic in money would have protected the peasants from famine
(as it had done many times before). Despite the greater cash flow in the Australian
community, and the immigrants' increased financial security, bartering was retained as
a familiar and functional system of acquiring goods and services.
While several of Perinis' customers paid for their purchases in cash, many
others, such as local farmers Giuseppe Gnesa and Andrea Tinetti, arrived at the store
with cheese, fiiiit, honey or vegetables to trade for wine, bread or grocery items.
Others who were also in business brought in larger quantities to exchange and goods
which were not consumed by the Perini family were resold in their store to increase
their range of merchandise. In some cases customers, such as Vincenzo Fasoli (before
he moved to Melboume to open a restaurant in Lonsdale Street) and Stefano Pozzi,
obtained goods on 'contra account'. People, especially tradesmen, also swapped their
labour for goods: local boot repairers mended the Perinis' shoes in exchange for items
from the bakery. Those without trade skills sometimes worked for a day on
Vincenzo's property picking grapes, digging the garden, carting wood or quarrying.
Some women took in washing in order to pay for groceries, receiving the equivalent of
a day's labour (three shillings) in goods. Vincenzo accepted this form of exchange, not
only from his compatriots, but from most of the people with whom he conducted
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