Ernest Hemingway, The Reporter Years

Bill Schiller recounts the early years when Ernest Hemingway started out as a cub reporter for The Toronto Star.
He eventually became the Star's European correspondent.

More Flappers

During the "Roaring Twenties" shocking behavior was more interesting to the American public than moral behavior. Stories of the evil effects of jazz, the horrors of cocaine, the corrupt lives of movie stars, and the shocking behavior of Americans in Paris were guaranteed to sell newspapers.
We look back at thigh-high skirts, hip-pocket flasks, jazzy music, and flappers dancing the Charleston; kicking higher than mama would allow. Libby Holman sang "Moaning Low" and Bessie Smith sang about needing "a little sugar in my bowl, need a little hot dog for my roll." All over America it was bootleg scotch and bathtub gin; it was learning to kiss in the silent movies with the Sheik of Araby. And the cool singer said, "In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking. Now, heaven knows, anything goes."
Michael Reynolds, "Hemingway, The Paris Years"

Flappers And Fitzgerald

A new breed of woman appeared on the world scene in the years after World War I.
After the war, Amercan social liberalism filled a void left in post war culture and behavior.
The new breed of women wore short skirts, cut their hair short, drank, smoked, drove cars, and viewed sex as a recreational pursuit.
They listened to jazz and rebelled against the established behavioral norms of their elders. American jazz epitomized this new culture and it quickly spread to Europe. The word "jazz" was used to describe more than music; it meant anything exciting or fun. The women were called "flappers." Flapper was a slang word whose definition could mean a young prostitute or a lively teenage girl. It came to be accepted for an immature girl, scantilly clad, and frivolous.
The American flapper population and its rebelliousness was fueled in part by Prohibition. Back alley speakeasies were popular and the public flaunted Prohibition; they ignored the law by their open consumption of alcohol and living the social life of the speakeasies.
F. Scott Fitzgerald helped to glorify the flapper lifestyle and made flappers appear to be attractive, rebellious, and independent. His wife Zelda was a prototypical flapper. In '20s Jazz Age Paris, they immersed themselves in the lifestyle.
Flapper fashion was mostly a result of French fashion, especially that of Coco Chanel. In French, a flapper was called a garconne ("boy" with the feminine suffix). Girls looked young and boyish: short hair, flattened breasts, and straight waists. Women wanted to look fit, sporty and healthy.
This was the world of Hemingway's Paris, and his "Lost Generation" compatriots.
Photos six and seven are of Zelda Fitzgerald.

The Rotonde

Modigliani, Picasso, And Andre Salmon

Picasso And His Mistress Paquerette












In March, 1922, Hemingway wrote an article for the Toronto Daily Star called "American Bohemians in Paris." It was a scathing story about "the scum of Greenwich Village, New York" settling in that section of Paris adjacent to the Cafe Rotonde at the corner of the Boulevard Montparnasse, and the Boulevard Raspail.
"New scum rose to replace the old scum," making the Rotonde the leading Latin Quarter show place for tourists in search of atmosphere. The patrons dressed in Bohemian attire. He likened it to the birdhouse at the zoo. He said that you could find anything that you were looking for at the Rotonde except a serious artist. Serious artists resent and loathe the Rotonde, he said. Serious artists were replaced by people pretending to be artists.
The scum were there because there were 12 francs to the dollar. If that changed for the worse, the scum would all return to New York.
He made fun of the young men attending to large, rich women who picked up the tab, while he too was living on an older woman's income - Hadley's.
Hemingway was new to Paris and considered himself a serious writer, one that worked at his craft. In a year or so, he too would be sitting in the cafes, dressed like the regulars at the Rotonde, nursing his drink, and conspiculously writing. The cafes were places where Hemingway could meet American friends to gossip, borrow money, and keep abreast of local news.
As a boy in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway wanted to be an explorer. His hero was Theodore Roosevelt and he wasn't completely comfortable with the image of a writer, so he fished, skied, hiked, sledded, boxed, went to bullfights, and bicycle races. He wanted his physical image to stand out from the rest of the literary crowd. He didn't want to look like James Joyce or Ezra Pound.

Arriving

Ernest and Hadley sailed for Paris on December 8, 1921. They left from New York on the steamship Leopoldina, an old French Line vessel. It would be a ten day voyage to Europe.
Ernest suffered from a bit of seasickness, but was soon involved in the social activities on the boat and enjoying his adventure. It was his third sea voyage. He was impressed that this ship had elevators and a swimming pool and everyone spoke with an English accent.
Hadley learned how attractive Ernest was to other women on the voyage. She hated it, but accepted it, knowing Ernest's love for her. She also was getting her fair share of admirers on board. The Leopoldina had pianos on every deck, and hadley played for hours on end. Three Argentinians "are in love with her" Ernest wrote home.
When he discovered that a French woman and her child had been deserted by her husband, Ernest decided to organize a exhibition boxing match to benefit the woman.
Fellow passenger and boxer, Henry Cuddy, agreed to a three round match. Hadley sat in Ernest's corner and wiped his face with a towel between rounds.
Ernest would later brag that he won the match, but it was most likely a draw.
The Leoploldina made a four-hour stop in Vigo, Spain where Ernest watched the giant tuna jumping out of the water in the bay. He was fascinated by the thought of what a fight a fish of that size and strength would put up; what stamina it would take to land it.
The Hemingways arrived in Le Havre on December 22nd, and took a train to Paris.

More Man Ray

Man Ray was born, Emmanuel Radnitzky (August 27, 1890–November 18, 1976) in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He spent most of his career in Paris. He quickly became a prominent member of the art colony there. He was friends with many of the avant garde. The top photo is of painter Joan Miro, then photos of Pablo Picasso, a photo of Man Ray's long-time lover, Kiki of  Montparnasse, Salvador Dali and Man Ray, and a  photo by Man Ray of an unidentified man.

(Hemingway introduced Kiki to Man Ray in 1921.)

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Three Shots of Hemingway by Man Ray

These three photos of Hemingway are from 1923, taken in Paris by Man Ray, whose self-portrait is at the top.
Judging by the tie, shirt, and sweater that Ernest is wearing in the three shots, I think that it can safely be assumed that all of the photos were taken in that one session.
Man Ray's self-portrait is from 1924.

Some More Paris Cafe Scenes

Some shots of the sidewalk cafes - and inhabitants - that were such an elemental part of Hemingway's life in the Paris years.
The first photo, and the last two are by Brassai.

Some Holiday Color

When Ernest and Hadley first arrived in Paris, they had Christmas dinner at The Cafe de la Paix, a cafe on the Right Bank. When the bill came, they realized that they didn't have enough money to pay the bill. While Hadley waited, Ernest ran the several miles back to their apartment to get the money. Hemingway mentions the cafe in The Sun also Rises and My Old Man.
Happy Holidays, everyone, from Hemingway's Paris.

Two Hemingway Photos

These two photos of Ernest are new to me. They were brought to my attention by a writer friend and Hemingway fan, Joe Grant.
Joe's best guess is that they are publicity shots for "The Sun Also Rises." I believe that they were taken by Man Ray.
Here is some biographical information on Joe:
"My short stories have been published in 140 literary reviews and e-zines, such as Byline, New Authors Journal, Underground Voices, Nite-Writer's International Literary Arts Journal, Howling Moon Press, Hack Writers, New Online Review, Literary Tonic, six sentences, NexGenPulp, three UK literary reviews, Bottom of the World and Cupboard Gloom and three most recently in Darkest Before Dawn, strangeroad and a story in the anthology of horror, Northern Haunts, (available at Barnes & Noble, Target and on Amazon). I have been nominated for the Million Writers Award. I have won “Story of the Month” at Bartleby-Snopes Literary Review and Story of the Month at 6 Sentences. I have completed my first novel. I currently reside in Los Angeles. NOTE: Six stories of mine have been featured in 6S Volume 1, a collection of short stories by various writers available at Amazon and 6S Volume II out now. I have also been nominated for a South Stories Literary Award."

The Hemingways In Schruns

When the cold, damp, grey air of Winter hit Paris, the Hemingways would head to Switzerland or Austria for the dry cold air, the skiing, and a roaring fire in the lodge.
These photos are from Schruns, Austria, taken in 1925. Ernest, Hadley, and Bumby.