In the news1900
Paris Metro opens in 1900
The first Paris metro line opened on July 14, 1900, allowing travel across the city in half an hour for 20 to 25 centimes.
8th arrondissement of Paris, 25 Dec 1902 – Paris, 25 Feb 1953
10 facts3 sources
25 Dec 1902
Born in 8th arrondissement of Paris
25 Feb 1953
Dies in Paris, aged 50
She lived through 6 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around 8th arrondissement of Paris.
General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.
In the news1900
The first Paris metro line opened on July 14, 1900, allowing travel across the city in half an hour for 20 to 25 centimes.
Getting around
Dim train lighting required portable candles
Trains were so dimly lit that passengers wanting to read had to bring their own portable candlesticks.
At the table
Tax-free home distillation privileges
Between 1875 and 1914, French peasants had a legal privilege to distill part of their own wine, cider, or fruit harvest into spirits without paying any taxes or needing declarations.
Around the world · 1903–1906Powered flight. The Wright brothers flew a powered aeroplane at Kitty Hawk in 1903; in 1906 Santos-Dumont flew the 14-bis in Paris.
What people wore
Quimper workers kept festal clothes apart
In Quimper (Brittany), rural workers could keep their everyday work clothes separate from festival clothing, sometimes commissioned for weddings. This made clothing a visible marker of identity and social position.
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
Compulsory schooling and literacy
By 1900, free and compulsory primary education created a new generation of literate children who often acted as cultural mediators for their illiterate parents and grandparents.