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.

Jazz Age Poster Art

Some more poster art for the blog.
Hemingway's Jazz Age Paris.

F.Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald was perhaps the most famous of the Jazz Age writers, (he supposedly coined the phrase himself). F. Scott Fitzgerald embodied the spirit of the Roaring Twenties. He staked his claim as the voice of his generation with his first novel, "This Side of Paradise" (1920), and later with "The Great Gatsby" (1925). The Saint Paul, Minnesota native spent a lot of time visiting Paris in the 1920's with his wife Zelda, and their daughter Scottie. Fitzgerald was a fan of Hemingway's early work and Hemingway loved "The Great Gatsby." Fitzgerald was to become a good friend (if a difficult one) of Hem's and the two had quite a few interesting and humorous moments in France. Fitzgerald would also help Hemingway in getting his writing published. Hemingway devoted quite a bit of space in "A Moveable Feast" to Fitzgerald, their time together, and Hemingway's not too flattering opinion of Zelda's influence on Fitzgerald's career.

Bal-Musette

When Ernest and Hadley lived at 74 rue Cardinale Lemoine, a Bal-Musette was in the basement. Bal-Musette was a style of French music that was popular with the working class and the cafe where the music was played was called A Bal Musette. The music had a unique style that incorporated an accordian-like instrument to produce a distinctive style of music. Cafes frequented by Italians had a similar style of music but they had a different musical instrument that produced different tones. These cafes later became places to hear jazz and the tango and many other new styles of music. More at Wikipedia

Bal-Musette

1920's Paris Jazz Age Film Clips

(I added this post because YouTube had stopped running the film clip just before this one. Well, I guess your cards, letters & calls of complaint worked, because (perhaps fearing unrest) YouTube has re-released the clip.) Gosh, can it get much better than this?
This is part of the old introduction to the above clip:
It will give you a flavor of the times if not as much of the personalities involved from the "Lost Generation."
(It ends rather abruptly!)

KIKI

A young American named Alice Ernestine Prin (October 2, 1901 – April 29, 1953), was an artists' model, nightclub singer, actress, and painter. She called herself Kiki, and that was how she was known to Hemingway and members of "The Lost Generation." She was also known as the Queen of Montparnasse, and Kiki de Montparnasse. Like Josephine Baker, she embodied the "Flapper" spirit of Paris in the Jazz Age of the 1920s. The top photo - by Man Ray - is called, "La Garconne," The Flapper.

Hemingway wrote the introduction to her autobiography in 1929,(he had known her since 1921). Hemingway's introduction was also published separately as a pamphlet. The book was banned in the US until the 1970s. It is believed by some scholars that he copied her style in writing A Moveable Feast; some think it was just the idea of writing memoirs of Paris that he copied.
The photos of Kiki are by Man Ray - a long time employer, companion and lover.

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker became the toast of Paris when she danced the Charelston with her jazz review, "Le Tumulte Noir." Parisians, and American expats loved the young American and her style of dance.

The Art Deco poster is representative of the graphics of the era. It depicts the night life and cosmpolitan atmosphere of Paris in the 1920s. Art Deco took its name from the 1925 Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.