The Zone: The Underbelly of Paris

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Map of Paris in 1889. In the early 20th century, as the city underwent rapid expansion, the decision was made to demolish the outdated fortifications that encircled the city.

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Paris, with its grand boulevards, iconic landmarks, and rich cultural heritage, captures visitors and residents alike. Yet, beneath its glamorous façade lies a lesser-known aspect of its history—the Zone. The wide boulevards that run in circles were once moats and defensive ditches surrounding the walls. Names such as Porte de Clichy or Porte Saint-Denis, now mere metro stations, recall the former gates to the French capital.

Permanent construction was prohibited within 250 metres (55 yards) of the fortifications. Outside the protective walls, a no-man’s-land emerged, inhabited by those on the fringes of society. Over time, this area became known as the Zone. This was a place where the destitute and outcasts found shelter amidst poverty and squalor. Rag pickers, beggars, and other marginalized groups eked out a living in makeshift dwellings constructed from scavenged materials. These offered little protection from the elements. Urban amenities such as street lighting or running water were missing.

ies such as street lighting or running water were missing

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The Zone was a fertile ground for crime and violence, as gangs and thugs roamed the streets with impunity. It was a lawless wasteland, with little hope for a brighter future. The city’s efforts to maintain order and protect its citizens were constantly challenged by the criminal activities originating from the Zone, making it a significant concern for the overall well-being of Paris. The Zone housed the cheapest eating places, the roughest bars, and was the working domain of prostitution dregs. (See the post The Fortification Whore below.)

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A rag picker

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Crime was not the only danger emerging from the Zone. The activity of rag pickers worried the authorities as they carried and spread various diseases. Rag pickers relied on scavenging for their livelihood, combing through the streets, alleys, and garbage dumps of Paris. They searched for discarded items that could be salvaged, repaired, or sold. They collected everything from rags and bones to metal scraps and discarded furniture, transforming what others saw as waste into commodities. Long hours spent scavenging through garbage heaps, exposure to unsanitary conditions, and the constant threat of illness were part and parcel of their existence. The child mortality rate in these parts was four times that of the healthier parts of the city.

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Sorting the scavenged material

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The Commission for Unsanitary Housing of the Department of the Seine produced a report for 1851 that uses the terms of a report from 1832. The situation does not seem to have changed in twenty years:

Most are busy sorting, during the day, the product of their nocturnal rounds, squatting around this dirty loot. They pile up in every corner, and even under their bunks, bones, old linens soiled with mire, whose fetid miasmas spread in the middle of these hideous garrets, where often a space of less than two square meters serves as shelter to a whole family.

Rag pickers had to be adept at finding solutions to challenges, whether it was repairing broken items, repurposing materials, or devising innovative ways to make ends meet. For instance, they kept records of weddings and other celebrations. After such gatherings, the ground was a source of cigarette butts and cigar stumps. The remaining tobacco was meticulously extracted and recycled. Discarded food, too, could be a source of income. The post Poor and Hungry in Paris: Gambling Eateries and Harlequin Luxury Food describes this industry.

Despite their vital role in recycling and waste management, rag pickers were viewed as social outcasts, relegated to the fringes of society. Their bags could contain stolen items, and they sometimes did. This social stigma only served to further isolate and marginalize them, making it even more challenging to escape the cycle of poverty and deprivation.

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The recycled goods on sale

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The history of the Zone offers a sobering glimpse into the darker corners of Parisian society, where poverty and exclusion were stark realities for many.

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Related posts:

Poor and Hungry in Paris: Gambling Eateries and Harlequin Luxury Food

Parisian Prostitutes (1): The Fortifications Whore

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Eugène-François Vidocq: From Criminal to Master Criminologist

The latest Vidocq’s reincarnation in the movie The Emperor of Paris starring Vincent Cassel (2018)

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In the heart of Paris lies a tale as complex as the city itself: the story of Paris Sûreté and its legendary founder, Eugène-François Vidocq, the criminal who became the first modern criminologist.

An investigation bureau composed of undercover officers was established in 1812 under the name Brigade de Sûreté ((French for “safety” or “security”). Its head, Vidocq, spent the first fifteen years of his adult life either in prison or on the run. He was a poacher turned gamekeeper, a genius innovator—and later a best-selling author—whose adventures captured the imagination of his contemporaries, and inspired many renowned writers of his time.

Vidocq was born in 1775, a baker’s son. His was a perfectly ordinary and relatively well-to-do family in Arras, northern France. However, ordinary life was not good enough for Eugène-François. By fourteen, he had sold off the family’s finest china to finance his quest for adventure. He ran away, heading for America. Unable to afford the voyage, he joined a travelling circus as a human cannibal. This unusual career ended when he refused to eat a live chicken and got a beating.

The boy ran away again. He joined an itinerant puppet show, but was caught in bed with the puppet master’s wife. After taking a few more unexpected detours, he returned home a repentant yet unchanged prodigal son: a womanizer and fan of drink and brawls. Father Vidocq, disappointed with the young man’s behavior, was glad when his troublesome offspring joined the army.

Like his previous employment, Vidocq’s military career was short-lived. Flighting and hopping from regiment to regiment, once deserting to fight on the enemy’s side, he ended up in a roving militia composed mostly of petty criminals and deserters. Until the age of thirty-four, Vidocq spent most of his time in and out of prison. He escaped from all France’s galleys and more than twenty prisons under different disguises, including that of a nun.

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Galleys were ships recycled as prisons. Cramped conditions, appalling lack of hygiene, and forced labor awaited the inmates.

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In 1809, residing on a galley once more, and realizing his life was a vicious circle, Vidocq decided to reform. In exchange for his liberty, he offered to act as an informant. He was sent to a regular prison, where he gathered information from his fellow inmates. Happy with his work, the authorities promoted him to head of a newly formed unit, the Brigade de Sûreté. Its agents were responsible for apprehending murderers, forgers, and thieves, securing stolen goods, and arresting escaped convicts.

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Vidocq and his agents arresting brigands

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The institutionalized police force was still in its infancy, and the resourceful Vidocq became an innovative criminalist. He developed policing methods still widely used today, including crime scene security, detailed written records, indelible ink and unalterable bond paper (he held patents on both), ballistics (the flight characteristics of bullets), sending undercover agents to prisons to familiarize themselves with convicts susceptible to re-offend, or preserving footprints with plaster of Paris. Vidocq’s Sûreté laid the foundation for Scotland Yard, established in 1829, and also served as a blueprint for the FBI a century later.

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The first agents, men and women, were questionable characters. The “Vidocq’s gang”, was a common nickname for the Brigade de Sûreté at the time

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The very successful Vidocq’s team grew from four to twenty-eight agents. Most of them were ex-convicts. He did not hesitate to recruit women: a step Scotland Yard took a whole century to adopt. The Sûreté faced ongoing scrutiny due to its agents’ questionable backgrounds. Complaints were brought to the attention of Vidocq’s superiors that he and his team were taking bribes, engineering crimes, and profiting from them. As a fact, when Vidocq left–before being forced to leave–in 1827, he had half a million francs to his name. How he amassed such a fortune on his police officer’s salary is everyone’s guess.

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Vidocq aged 52: A retired police chief, paper manufacture owner, and bestselling author

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With time on his hands, Vidocq set to work on his memoirs. They were an instant hit and attracted new friends. Dumas the Elder, Hugo, Balzac, and other literary giants dined and wined Vidocq to hear more of his exciting and inspiring tales. The memoirs, translated into English within a year, eventually gave birth to the detective novel and the true crime genre on both sides of the Channel.

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Although Vidocq’s memoirs are embellished for dramatic effect, and not entirely reliable, they remain valuable historical documents. One of the most fascinating aspects of the memoirs is the insight into the criminal underworld of early 19th-century France. Vidocq provides detailed descriptions of the various criminal gangs and their methods, offering a view of the social and economic conditions of the time.

Vidocq’s own experiences as a criminal led him to advocate for rehabilitation over punishment. He understood that social and economic circumstances pushed many individuals towards crime. This perspective influenced his efforts to recruit former criminals as informants and undercover agents, giving them a chance to reform. He called for improvements to prison conditions, including better sanitation, education access, and vocational training. His ideas and actions laid the groundwork for modern approaches to law enforcement and criminal justice.

Vidocq put his theory into practice after leaving the Sûreté by founding a paper factory with a workforce composed exclusively of former convicts. The experiment was unsuccessful, and Vidocq became bankrupt. He returned to the Sûreté where his absence had been noticed as crime rates shot up after his departure. From a mere agent, he was soon reinstated as chief. His second tenure was of short duration – a mere six months – before he was forced to resign again.

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The Gallerie Vivienne, a prestigious address on the Right Bank, was chosen as the seat of Vidocq’s detective agency, the first of its kind

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Soon after his demission, Vidocq founded the Bureau des Renseignements, opening another new chapter in crime history by introducing the concept of hired investigators. This gave birth to the private detective job. Vidocq’s detective agency offered a wide range of services from surveillance, background checks, undercover operations, and forensic analysis to delicate bedroom secrets.

Just as he did with the Sûreté, Vidocq introduced several innovations. He continued to refine his use of disguises and undercover work, employing these tactics to gather information and solve cases discreetly. He continued to emphasize the importance of meticulous record-keeping and documentation.

The Bureau des Renseignements benefited from its founder’s fame. It employed forty agents and saw many clients a day. Alas, Vidocq’s unconventional methods and controversial past did not please the powerful, and police repeatedly attempted to destroy his business. Fraud was mentioned, along with corruption of civil servants, defamation, usury, selling honours, stealing letters, providing substitutes for conscripts hoping to avoid military service, and many other offences. While Vidocq was ultimately acquitted by a public jury, two lengthy and costly trials and the confiscation of his precious files forced him to close.

In 1845, aged 70, and with his fortune lost, Vidocq travelled to London, in the hope of opening up a private detective agency. That project did not materialize due to funds shortage. In reduced circumstances, he wrote letters to the new Sûreté head appealing for a government pension.

When Vidocq died, aged 82, his assets amounted to less than three thousand francs. Even after his death, he managed to create trouble when eleven women claimed to be his sole beneficiaries.

Vidocq continues to live in many reincarnations, both in literature and in movies. 

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Related posts:

The Policeman’s Work Is Never Done

Casque d’Or: The Low-Life Femme Fatale

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The Illuminating Legacy of Louis Braille

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Innovation often stems from adversity and the story of Louis Braille shines brightly in that context. His ingenious system of raised dots revolutionized the way the visually impaired interacted with the written word. As we delve into the life and legacy of this remarkable man, we uncover a testament to human ingenuity and determination.

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Access to communication in the widest sense is access to knowledge, and that is vitally important for us if we [the blind] are not to go on being despised or patronized by condescending sighted people. We do not need pity, nor do we need to be reminded we are vulnerable. We must be treated as equals – and communication is the way this can be brought about.” Louis Braille

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Louis Braille’s portrait. Lithograph made from a post-mortem daguerreotype image

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The fourth child of saddle and harness maker Simon-René Braille, Louis was born on January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France. When Louis was three years old, he injured one of his eyes playing with his father’s sharp instruments. An infection attacked both his eyes, and by five, he was completely blind. 

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There were few options for blind people at that time, but Braille’s parents wanted their smart son to be educated. Louis attended a village school. He learned by listening, and despite his blindness, he surpassed his classmates. At ten, he received a scholarship to attend the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris.

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Founded by Valentin Haüy (1745-1822) to educate blind students, the National Institute was the first school of its kind. Valentin Haüy was a pioneering figure in the field of education and accessibility for the blind. His interest in their welfare was sparked by a chance encounter with a group of blind musicians playing in the streets of Paris. Struck by their talent and the potential for their education, Haüy was inspired to take action. In 1784, he founded the world’s first school for the blind, known as the National Institute for Blind Youth (Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles), in Paris.

Haüy believed strongly in the importance of education and vocational training for blind individuals, empowering them to lead independent and fulfilling lives. At the institute, he developed innovative teaching methods tailored to the needs of blind students. He introduced tactile teaching materials, such as raised letters and embossed maps. One of Haüy’s most significant contributions was his development of the first systematic method for teaching reading to the blind. He created large embossed letters made of leather or cardboard, which could be arranged to form words and sentences. This method, known as “Haüy’s system,” laid the foundation for future developments in tactile reading, including Braille’s famous six-dot alphabet.

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In Paris, Louis Braille learned both academic and vocational skills. He became an apprentice teacher at the National Institute for Blind Youth when he was 19, and then a teacher when he was 24. Braille was well aware of the limitations of existing methods of reading and writing. They relied heavily on bulky and impractical things like raised print and embossed letters. Fueled by his own thirst for knowledge and desire to empower his peers, Braille set out to create a better solution. His inspiration came from a military cryptography system called night writing, or sonography, developed by Charles Barbier. During his time in the French army, Barbier invented a code that used a variety of combinations of 12 raised dots to represent different sounds. It was devised for soldiers to communicate silently at night. Sonography proved unsuccessful as a military tool; however, Barbier speculated on its potential usefulness for blind individuals.

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Braille was one of many people at the school who found Barbier’s system promising; but he also discovered its shortcomings. Sonography was quite complex and difficult to learn. It was based on sounds rather than letters. Braille spent three years developing a simpler system. It had only six dots — three dots lined up in two columns. He assigned different combinations of dots to different letters and punctuation marks, with a total of 64 symbols.

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No innovation is without its detractors. Despite the groundbreaking nature of his invention, Braille faced considerable resistance from authorities at the institute and beyond. Many educators and administrators were skeptical, clinging to traditional methods out of habit or prejudice. However, Braille’s persistence and belief in the transformative power of his invention never wavered. By 1850, when tuberculosis forced him to retire from teaching, his six-dot method was well on its way to widespread acceptance. Louis Braille died of his illness on January 6, 1852 at the age of 43.

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Louis Braille’s legacy extends far beyond the dots on a page. His invention not only revolutionized literacy and communication for the blind, but also served as a catalyst for social change. Braille’s system empowered blind individuals to access knowledge, pursue education and employment, and participate fully in society in ways previously unimaginable.

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Today, Braille remains a cornerstone of accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. It is taught in schools, printed on signs and labels, and integrated into countless technological devices. Advances such as refreshable Braille displays and Braille-enabled digital platforms have further expanded Braille’s reach and utility in the modern world.

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Related post:

The Martyrdom of Education

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Honoré Daumier: The King of Caricature

Honoré Daumier: Important Cause

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In the bustling streets of 19th-century Paris, Honoré Daumier emerged as a keen observer of the human condition, using his artistic prowess to capture the essence of a society in flux. Born in Marseille in 1808, Daumier’s journey through life and art left an indelible mark on the world of satire and social commentary.

Daumier’s early life was marked by financial struggles, yet it laid the foundation for his deep empathy towards common people. Born into a lower-middle-class family, he showed early artistic promise, catching the attention of a local sculptor who became his first mentor.

Moving to Paris in his teens, Daumier immersed himself in the vibrant artistic scene of the time. His breakout moment came with his contributions to the satirical journal “La Caricature.” Daumier’s biting caricatures, often featuring politicians, lawyers, and other figures of authority, quickly gained popularity. The boldness of his satire and his ability to unveil the truth through humor set Daumier apart as a fearless social commentator.

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King Louis-Philippe

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Notably, his relentless lampooning of King Louis-Philippe and his government led to Daumier’s arrest and imprisonment in 1832. Though the charges were eventually dropped, this incident highlighted Daumier’s commitment to using art as a weapon against injustice.

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In the Omnibus While photography was in its infancy and needed long exposures, Daumier’s drawings are snapshots of everyday life

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Daumier’s transition to painting marked a profound shift in his artistic journey. His artwork is marked by emotional intensity, capturing the hardships experienced by common folk. Daumier’s ability to convey the essence of human emotions shine through in these powerful works.

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The Laundress

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The Third-Class Carriage

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In The Third-Class Carriage Daumier explores the dignity of ordinary people, often neglected by the elites. By a deft manipulation of light and shadow, Daumier transforms an ordinary train carriage scene into a reflection on humanity’s enduring strength.

But Daumier was also a man of his time. His series of lithographs titled “Les Bas-Bleus”  (Bluestockings) reflects the nascent feminism of the era, and he had no respect for women who did not conform to their social role as wives and mothers.

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She: “A woman like me… put a button back on?… you’re crazy!…  Les Bas-Bleus series No. 28  , Le Charivari, May 23, 1844.

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“The mother is in the heat of composition, the child is in the water of the bathtub! », series Les Bas-Bleus , Le Charivari, February 26, 1844.

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Honoré Daumier died in1879. In his creative life span, he captured the essence of a society in transition at a time marked by political turbulence, social inequality, and the rise of the common man.

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Boldini’s Sensual Portraits of the Rich and Famous

Géo: The Painter of French Childhood

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Casque d’Or: The Low-Life Femme Fatale

The romanticized story of Casque d’Or has become part of Parisian folklore. As the trailer shows, the core of this 1952 French film classic is a love triangle between a gigolette and two Apaches. (If the vocabulary is confusing, you are a newcomer to this website. Gigolettes and Apaches, members of the specialized Parisian fauna, are described in separate posts – see below.) 

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The plot of the movie was inspired by an actual criminal case, and the film release was briefly delayed by the widower of the real-life Casque d’Or in a judicial attempt to preserve his late wife’s reputation. While love and mutual sympathy were also present, the actual motive of the gang war was the control of a valuable asset: a profitable prostitute. Loss of income and the gang leaders’ honor played a significant role in the case.
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The true actors of the story

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Who truly was this Casque d’Or, a prostitute two gangs fought over with bloody results? And what does Casque d’Or mean?

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Amelie Ellie portrayed on one of the postcards that sold at profit when she reached fame. She was called Casque d’Or (Golden Helmet) because she sported a chignon of abundant blond hair.

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Amélie Élie was born in 1878 to a tinsmith’s family domiciled in Orleans. She discovered Paris when her parents settled in the 11th arrondissement. It was a working-class neighborhood, where children’s life expectancy was seven times lower than in healthier parts of the city, and where one girl in ten ended up as a prostitute, the highest rate in the capital.

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Amelie “writing” her memoir: My Days and Nights as the Casque d’Or, the Queen of Apaches

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According to her memoir, collected by journalist Henri Frémont, the precocious girl started a relationship at thirteen with a 15-year-old boy nicknamed “the Matelot” (Sailor). Found at the Hôtel des Trois Empereurs, they were separated by force. The young lovers divided their time between reformatories and escapes. The love adventure lasted a year. After several attempts at correcting their daughter’s behavior, Amélie’s parents gave up.

At fourteen, Amélie Élie lost her mother and found herself on the streets. She abandoned her boyfriend, and preferred the more comforting company of a prostitute, who called herself Hélène de Courtille. The little girl and the woman became friends and lovers. Amélie adapted to Paris at night and to the world of thugs and pimps.

In a bistro called La Pomme au Lard, Amélie met her next companion, Bouchon. Tired of Hélène’s jealousy, Amélie let herself fall into his arms, or rather, onto his corner of the sidewalk. In her memoir, Amélie praises the Parisian prostitute to whom she attributes a humanitarian role. The prostitute “provides dreams for men” and “relieves wives and saves families”. She takes in “young clerks and pampers them in her arms” and thus plays an economic role by “promoting public wealth circulation ”.

Bouchon set a daily quota for Amélie. He became demanding and violent. One evening, when Amélie was nineteen, she was beaten by Bouchon and an acolyte. He criticized her for taking time out for herself. She fled the brute and drifted across the city for several days until she met Joseph Pleigneur called Manda, a 22-year-old gang leader. Manda had a way with knives and when Bouchon claimed his rights to Amélie, he was stabbed.

Manda essentially made a living from his manual skills, manufacturing burglary tools. On the surface, he was a pleasant man to be around, but his long absences for business or other women annoyed Amélie. Instead of waiting for him at home, she returned to the streets and forgot her solitude there.

On her forays, Amélie Élie met Dominique François Eugène Lecac, better known as Leca. Manda reappeared, upset. He started hostilities by stabbing Leca. Manda was arrested, but was immediately released because Leca did not recognize him in front of the police. Among thugs, there was strict mutual silence when confronted with law and order.

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Criminal gang members, suspected of talking to the police, were separated from their noses in a surgery without anesthesia. Reporting a gang member was met with death.

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Manda was not done. He attacked the hotel where Leca and Amélie were staying. This time, no one was hurt, but war was declared. A pitched battle took place a week later between the Manda’s band and that of Leca’s. Leca took two revolver bullets in the arm and thigh. He refused medical help for three days before being treated at Tenon hospital, where the police came to question him and before whom he observed the same law of silence.

During his cab ride home from the hospital, the Manda’s gang stabbed Leca three more times. The Manda-Leca affair was making headlines. A journalist from the Petit Journal, Arthur Dupin, was outraged: “These are Apache customs, from the Far West, unworthy of our civilization. For half an hour, in the middle of Paris, in the middle of the afternoon, two rival gangs fought over a girl from the fortifications, a blonde with a high bun, her hair styled like a dog!“

The police questioned Leca again and were met with the same silence. Leca’s father, who had already lost three other sons to violence, was exhausted by these incessant attacks on his son. He revealed Manda’s name, who then fled. After a week’s exile in London, Manda returned to Alfortville, where he was recognized, denounced and picked up by a detachment of around fifty police officers.

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Fame embraced Amélie. Press coverage rushed at full speed. Writers produced songs and plays with all their might. Painters asked Amélie to pose. Postcards with her portrait were produced. The Theatre Les Bouffes du Nord hired her to play herself in a drama.

Leca and Amélie benefited from this and lived off the unexpected income. A short-lived happiness, since the Manda-Leca battle continued. This time, Leca was no longer a victim. Researched for attempted murder, he sought refuge in Belgium, where he was arrested.

Large crowds attended Manda and Leca’s trials, mainly to see the famous Casque d’Or. Manda and Leca were sentenced to forced labor.

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Once a year, a ship took convicts to the penal colony of French Guyana, South America. Manda and Leca were aboard. Neither returned to France.

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 Amélie’s fame quickly faded. She married André Alexandre Nardin, a shoemaker, and raised his four children. In 1925, the journalist Jacques Roberti found her running three brothels called “Les Rosiers”. Responding to his interview, she told him: “I have managed these establishments since their foundation. I have been at Les Rosiers for seven years. Never any scandal, never any noise. These gentlemen from the prefecture will tell you… Please say, if you write an article about me, that I am now a good wife and that I earn my living honestly.”

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Amélie died in April 1933 from an attack of asthma, aged 55. She is buried in the Pasteur cemetery in Bagnolet.

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Related posts:

The Gangs of Paris: Les Apaches

Parisian Prostitutes (2): La Gigolette

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What We Should Know About Christmas Greens

Druids gathering mistletoe

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The French name for Christmas, Noël, comes from the Latin novellum which gave us novel, new. Sol novus, new sun, was for a long time the name of December 25. Old hymns confirm this etymology:

“Let us hasten to get
near the new sun…”

Before becoming a Christian holiday, Sol Novus was, among the Celts, the great festival of germination. Mistletoe, holly, fir branches, and the Christmas tree attest to the persistence of this ancestral feeling. 

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Mistletoe is a parasitic plant propagated by birds. They eat the berries, defecate on tree branches, and, with luck, seeds germinate. In modern times, the plant is commonly perceived as a twig with green leaves and pearly-white berries hanging in doorways during the holidays, where it is a popular custom to kiss under it. However, mistletoe has a long and much more interesting history. The plant has been a constant companion to Sol Novus for countless generations. Celtic druids believed mistletoe provided protection from all evil. They used it to restore fertility to animals and people.

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Mistletoe has a formidable competitor in another winter plant: the holly. Holly has no history; it does not play, like mistletoe, an important role in ancestral traditions. The druids did not cut it with a golden sickle on the sixth night of the winter solstice, the Mother Night. But the holly, if its past lacks luster, is nonetheless a very pleasant shrub. Its dark green leaves, smooth and as if varnished, and especially the bright red berries, provide a perfect contrast with the pale foliage and milky berries of mistletoe.

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Celebrations in Alsace, the birthplace of the Christmas tree. Notice that the tree was originally hung upside down

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The Christmas tree originated in Alsace (a province bordering the Rhine). The custom of a decorated fir tree spread first in Germany and was brought to England by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. In France, this pleasant tradition started at the imperial court of Napoleon III., but remained largely unknown before the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

Merry Holidays to all!

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The Arsenic Century: When Your Walls Could Kill You

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In the 19th century, a substance known as arsenic earned a macabre reputation. Often referred to as “the inheritance powder” or “the poison of choice,” arsenic became synonymous with danger, deceit, and death. This toxic element had a profound impact on society during the Victorian era, leaving a trail of suffering and intrigue.

Arsenic was used as an industrial chemical, with many applications in manufacturing, agriculture, and medicine. It served both as a rat-killer and a medicinal powder. Its ubiquity led to widespread contamination, with many people unknowingly exposed to its dangers.

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Arsenic-based face powders and lotions were used to achieve a pale, porcelain-like complexion, which was a beauty ideal during that era.

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The minimal regulations governing the use of chemicals gave manufacturers the freedom to experiment with various substances, including toxic ones. In addition to cosmetics, arsenic threatened the health of entire families because it was used as a fixative for bright colors in fabrics, upholstery, and wallpapers. Never-fading, highly saturated colors were a novelty in the early Victorian era.

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The most-sought after was the Paris Green, a chemical compound of copper and arsenic. The combination produced a bright green color that became very trendy in home décor and fashion.

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It is estimated that a Victorian living room decorated with brightly-colored wallpapers could contain as much as four pounds of arsenic. The consequences of exposure to arsenic varied in severity. Breathing in airborne particles of arsenic could irritate the respiratory system and lead to coughing and difficulty breathing. Extended exposure to arsenic, whether through skin absorption or accidental ingestion, could result in more serious health problems. These included chronic skin conditions, gastrointestinal disorders, and, in severe cases, arsenic poisoning that produced severe nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, hair loss, skin discoloration, and, in the worst cases, an extremely painful death.

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Direct exposure to arsenic affected workers in wallpaper factories and anybody closely involved with chemically dyed fabrics. They developed ugly skin lesions.

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Gradually, the public began to recognize the hazards associated with the industrial utilization of arsenic.

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As the 19th century progressed, efforts were made to replace arsenic-containing compounds with safer alternatives and to legislate its use. This included the development of less toxic pigments and the use of other chemicals for pest control.

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However, the criminal use of arsenic as the “inheritance powder” continued unabated. Odorless, tasteless, and easily available in pharmacies, the substance was an ideal silent killer that remained largely undetected because the symptoms of arsenic poisoning were similar to cholera.

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Related post:

Health: Why You Wouldn’t Want to Live in 19th Century

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Fashion Revolution: The Death of Corsets

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With the beginning of the 20th century, corsets began to die a slow death to be replaced by a bra. History of the bra offers us the name of Phillipe de Brassière, a Frenchman living in New York, who had the presence of mind to patent this revolutionary garment that liberated women from corset oppression. He was not, however, the father of the idea. The first bra must be credited to Herminie Cadolle, a Parisian corset-maker and, herself, a passionate revolutionary.

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Born in 1842, Cadolle, whose real name was Eugénie Sardon, was a woman of character. During the Commune revolution, she applauded the creation, on April 11, 1871, of the first mass women’s movement: the Union of Women for the Defense of Paris and Care of the Wounded. Friend of radical revolutionaries such as Théophile Ferré, who ordered the execution of the Archbishop of Paris, she was imprisoned when the Commune was crushed by the French government. After her release, she opted for exile in Argentina, where she opened a successful fashion shop.

A supporter of women’s emancipation, Herminie was also convinced that it was necessary to extract them from the armor of the traditional corset. She had the idea of ​​cutting the corset in two: a lower part to hold the abdomen, and an upper part to highlight the chest; this upper part was the ancestor of the bra. She returned to France to present her “corselet-gorge” called “Bien-Être” (Well-Being) during the Universal Exhibition of 1889. The first bra thus appeared the same year as the Eiffel Tower built for the exhibition.

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A refined bra model in white, pink, and blue was offered for sale in this 1905 catalog

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In 1910, Herminie Cadolle opened workshops and a boutique in Paris to continue her personal revolution. The house became one with modernity, creating the boyish flat-chested look called la garçonne (from garçon: boy) that marked 1920s fashion requiring short hair and a flattened chest. Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, and Coco Chanel were among the clients of the Cadolle House.

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Fashion designer Coco Chanel modelling the garçonne look inspired by the Cadolle House

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Related posts:

The Victorian Gentleman Undressed

All About Corsets

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Illustrated Weeklies: Windows into a Bygone Era

FASHION AND ITS DANGERS: Before the outbreak of WW1, huge hats were in fashion and many were decorated with birds. A hawk chose this stuffed pigeon for lunch.

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The Belle Époque, a period of optimism, innovation, and cultural flourishing that spanned from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, left an indelible mark on French society. The evolution of printed media from text-heavy newspapers to vivid pictures marked a pivotal shift. Illustrated supplements emerged as a powerful storytelling tool that captivated readers’ attention in ways traditional articles couldn’t.

For the first time in history, readers had access to visuals of political and social events around the globe, as well as of the faits divers, the miscellaneous facts of human interest. The pictures helped to expand readers’ understanding of the world.

These weekly supplements are more than just printed images; they are windows into the heart of a bygone era in its multiple aspects. Their wealth of period details is a treasure throve for historians, students, and researchers.

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The 1911 revolution marked the end of 2,132 years of imperial rule in China. Western powers were heavily involved in some aspects of the event. The readers of Le Petit Journal were treated to a wealth of exotic details. Notice the long fingernails of the mandarin in the center. It was a sign that his class was never involved in manual work.

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On a lighter note, the police are experiencing some difficulty during the arrest of a snake charmer.

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Police had no trouble recovering a watch that had been swallowed by a pickpocket. This scene is vividly described in my novel The Boarding House for Single Gentlemen. Weekly Illustrated are a source of inspiration for historical fiction writers.

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Sometimes, police intervention was not necessary, although these burglars would certainly prefer it.

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The Belle Epoque saw the emergence of assertive women. French suffragettes caused disturbances during the electoral process.

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POST CARS TERRORIZE PARIS, says the subtitle.

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Traffic accidents were common even for horse-drawn vehicles. In the early days of motoring, they were even more frequent due to the lack of safety regulations.

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In the absence of safety regulations, culture events were often held in unsafe conditions.

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A shocking true drama awaited this theatre audience. An actor had his throat cut during the performance.

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HEROIC PASSENGERS: In order not to overload the lifeboats filled with women and children, men let themselves sink.

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WINTER: Those who enjoy it – Those who suffer it  Such images were awakening social conscience.

Related posts:

The Spectacle of Paris’ Streets

Slumming It in Paris

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19th-Century Science: Are You Harmless or Vicious?

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There you are. Now you know this, go to the mirror and try to look narrow. If that is not possible, accept what Nature has given you, which is the right to be vicious. After all, it is not your fault if your head is broad!

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Developed in antiquity, the idea that the observation of a person’s appearance can give insight into their character was subject to a renewed interest in the 1800s. The first to awaken the ancient art of physiognomy was the Swiss Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741 –1801). He established the relationship between facial features and the inclinations and habits of man. He divided the human face into three essential parts. The first, which extends from the root of the hair to the eyebrows, characterizes the degree of the intellectual faculties. The second, which descends from the eyebrows to the bottom of the nose, has more to do with moral feelings. The third, which includes the rest of the face, is more intimately linked to animal needs, in particular gluttony and pleasure.

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Some “scientists” seized the opportunity to adapt this theory to criminology. One such was Louis-Mathurin Moreau-Christophe (1797-1881). A former Inspector General of Prisons, he was trained to look for the signs by which we can recognize the rascals. He applied himself to detail them minutely. Just by the eyebrow, he recognized his man with certainty. The eyes, the nose, the mouth, and the ears: so many infallible indications!

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A true champion of the cause, Moreau-Christophe also studies the arms, shoulders, thighs, knees, chest, and belly. The way a man takes off or puts on his hat is significant: “This one,” he says, “is a trickster!”

He writes all this in a booklet entitled Le monde des coquins (The World of Scoundrels) published in 1863. “Nature,” he says. “to make us distinguish the rascal from the honest man, never ceases to present us with a picture of it in a thousand different forms, similar in this to the diamond, whose facets throw a thousand different lights, which all start from the same stone. What could be more curious, what could be more important, in fact, than being able to discern, by sensible signs, Satan from the Angel, Cain from Abel, the honest man from the scoundrel!”

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For today’s readers, The World of Rascals is an entertaining insight into one of the pseudosciences the Victorians took seriously: 

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DETAILED FEATURES OF THE HUMAN FACIAL

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FOREHEAD. — The forehead is a table of bronze on which all sentiments are engraved in characters readable by all. It is the seat of serenity and joy, of science and gentleness, as well as of ignorance and wickedness, of anguish and black sorrow. Two things are to be considered in the forehead: its bony framework and the skin that covers it. The bony structure of the forehead corresponds to the high faculties of intelligence; this is what we have called the superior anterior part of the skull. Affections and instincts are relegated back to the latero-posterior part. At the lowest level of the animal scale, this characteristic part of the face of man is absolutely nil. In the animals, even the most gifted, in the monkeys, for example, the forehead is narrow, not very high, and as it were rudimentary. Man alone, this king of the world by intelligence, possesses a majestic forehead which, in the most beautiful races of the species, forms about half of the face. Between the extended forehead, developed in all directions, almost vertical, of the man capable of great things, endowed with sure judgment, of powerful intelligence, and the low, narrow and receding forehead, of the man stricken with intellectual disability, there are many varieties. In most individuals the forehead holds the middle between these two extremes—mediocrity is the lot of the many. A wide forehead, tucked in at the two external angles, therefore more extensive at the top than at the bottom, denotes the creative genius of the poet.

DOG HEADS. — The analogies of human faces with dogs are frequent. This is mainly due to this peculiarity that very few animals have as much forehead above the eyes as the dog. The character of the figures analogous to the dog, includes the sagacity of the spirit of research, united to a natural disposition to abnegation and devotion. This last feature is especially salient in the figures of men who more or less recall dogs with pendulous ears.

 WOLF HEADS. “However small the difference between the wolf and the dog, this difference is not only very marked. It consists above all in the inclination of the summit of the skull, and in the stiff lines, which, from the sides of the forehead, descend towards the muzzle, very marked signs in the man who resembles the wolf, and which contribute, as much as the rest of his features, to make this analogy salient. In the lower jaw of these figures, just as in that of the wolf, is outlined the absence of any disposition to loving affections, dispositions so well traced on any face analogous to a dog. Hence the sympathy one feels for the latter, and the horror inspired by the other.

BIRD HEADS. — The analogies of human faces with various birds, especially with short-beaked birds, the hen, the quail, the dove, are frequent, especially in women; they denote a very great development of affectionate feelings and the love of the family carried to its highest degree. In humans, analogies with birds of prey are not uncommon; they announce boldness, elevation of thought, but also little disposition to tender affections; and these analogies are especially striking when we observe the figures of this character, leaving aside the lower part of the face and the mouth. The inclination to greed and the characters of avarice are frequently found imprinted on the human figures of both sexes which, by the round and mobile eye, the thin and tapering nose, the receding forehead and the point of the re-entrant and obliterated chin , offer a striking analogy with the magpie. We know, without being able to explain it, the pronounced instinct that leads this bird to fly, and to hide all the shiny, metallic and valuable objects that it can steal without being seen.

REPTILE HEADS. — There are people with toad heads, frog heads, snake heads. As the snake has very prominent eyes, and one of the signs of cunning in man is the smallness of the eyes and their deep depression under the eyebrows, the analogy of a human figure with the snake is not discovered not always at first glance. But bring the mouth closer to the mouth. The snake’s mouth, devoid of lips, is split straight and simply describes an arc behind the eye.

FISH HEADS. — Stranger to any family spirit, taking no care, no concern for the little ones who must perpetuate his race, deprived of voice to communicate to others the feelings of which he is deprived, the fish cannot have any other expression of physiognomy than that of the absence of all thought. It is this expression of nullity that certain people with the heads of carp, pike, ray or salmon present.

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The golden age of physiognomy manuals lasted well into the 20th century. The human-animal theory was thankfully abandoned, but physical features remained under scrutiny. As long as divorce was considered scandalous, spouse choice was a matter of great caution. Which, after all, is not a bad idea even today.

                                                                          

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Related post:

Professor Charcot and the Amplification of Hysteria

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