Guy-Raoul Marie Jacques de Dampierre

Music

Instruments for dancing in France

People danced to the accordion, bagpipes, and the vielle, a traditional string instrument played by turning a wheel. Between the wars, the accordion became the dominant instrument for popular dances across France.

Daily life

School children's labor and chores

School children performed manual labor for the war effort, such as going to potato fields every Thursday to remove Colorado beetles from the plants. Students also helped clean the local school swimming pool by scrubbing the walls and floor barefoot with brushes.

Getting around

Limited bus service frequencies

In the 1930s, bus services in French provinces were often sparse, frequently offering only one or two daily journeys in each direction.

Getting around

Continuous London-Paris rail ferry service

Launched in 1936, the Night Ferry allowed passengers to travel between London and Paris by train without changing, as the rail cars were loaded onto a ferry boat to cross the English Channel.

Work

The grueling life of baker apprentices

Apprentice bakers in the 1930s often lived and slept in the bakery, starting work as early as midnight or 2:00 A.M. and working up to 15 hours a day.

Daily life

Traditional food preservation methods

To keep food fresh in homes without modern appliances, families used "garde-manger," which were ventilated cupboards or fine-mesh cages suspended in cool rooms, cellars, or kitchens. Meat was sometimes preserved by covering it in oil or searing it in a pan.