Monique Nicolas

Getting around

Train vendors moved between carriages via footboards

Traveling by train was often an adventure, with vendors known as swallows selling goods like perfume and cognac while moving between compartments via exterior footboards.

What it cost

Rising Bread Prices 1910–1925

The price of a kilogram of bread in Paris rose from 0.39 francs in 1910 to 1.58 francs by 1925.

What people wore

Casual attire for French servants

In contrast to the rigid uniform requirements seen in Britain, French domestic servants in the 1920s often wore their own clothes covered by a simple apron. Many servants felt sartorially integrated into the crowd of ordinary female workers rather than distinguished by a specific house uniform.

Music

Instruments of the Paris Bal Musette

In the early 20th century, the cabrette, a small bagpipe, was the signature instrument of Parisian bal musette, but it was gradually joined or replaced by the accordion introduced by Italian immigrants.

Daily life

Limited water access in Graulhet

Before 1928, the town of Graulhet could only provide three liters of water per day for each inhabitant. Households often relied on public fountains and carried water home in buckets or enameled jugs.