Liberty, equality, fraternity…for some!

When Alex Dumas returned to revolutionary France in June 1801, after spending two years in an Italian prison, he returned to a different country.

 

For years Dumas had served in a military where he was judged on his skill and bravery and not on the color of his skin.

 

Now Napoleon was in control and his “financial backers” had decided they needed the wealth the sugar plantations in the colonies, such as Saint Domingue, could produce to keep the military/country going.  The plantations needed black slaves, so France could no longer support a color blind society.  “Revolutionary ideas simply cost too much”

 

In Dec 1799 Napoleon proclaimed “The regime of the French colonies is to be determined by special laws.”  There goes equality.  In the same month he began building a new armada which would be sent to Saint Domingue to “re-conquer” the colony, destroy any black military/power figures and force blacks back into slavery to support the sugar plantations.

 

Back in France, because Dumas was black he needed a special permit to live in town with his family.  His town, Villers-Cotterets, was part of the zone forbidden to retired men of color.  Too close to Paris.

 

Black officers were being deported and Dumas had to pull strings with former army comrades so he was able to stay in France with his family.

 

His wife, Marie-Louise, was white so in the current day he would not have been able to marry her.  No mixed marriages.

 

Napoleon refused to give him a military assignment and he refused to give him a pension.  The family was destitute.

 

.The black & white French had fought a revolution to get rid of a king but they end up with an emperor, Napoleon.  Was it all worth it?

Recreational Shopping, Blame It on the French

In Deborah Davis’ book Strapless she describes Paris, the “City of Lights”, of the 1870’s.  Emperor Napoleon III had hired Baron Georges Haussmann to tear down the old neighborhoods and build a beautiful modern city worthy of a French emperor.

 A part of this Paris facelift is the building of the first “grand passage” a multi-floor covered shopping arcade.  Shopping had always been a key to Paris’ economic wellbeing.  Now a retailer could make more money from one piece of property.

 

These arcades or “passages” offered several stores under one roof, sheltered, comfortable, and safe.  The merchandise was diverse & abundant.  The arcades extended from block to block, with brief interruptions for street crossings, shoppers could avoid weather by strolling from one protected corridor to another.

 

Parisian women were seduced by these “jewel-box” arcades which introduced the concept of recreational shopping.

 

Emile Zola’s character “Nana” shows signs of addictive shopping:

 

“When she walked through the corridor of colorful shops on her way to work, she was compelled to buy something, ANYTHING, to satisfy her desire for material goods.”

 

Sound familiar?  We all know that feeling.

 

The “grand passage” was a good idea.  The department store or “grand magasin” was a great idea. Instead of lots of small stores with many owners, the Bon Marche, the first department store, was a large store owned by entrepreneur, Aristide Boucicaut.

 

Zola presents the interaction between the store and its customers as a seduction. The owners entice the customers by creating a relatively private and comfortable setting where women could spend time as well as money.

 

“Inside the department store, ladies could sip wine cordials at a buffet, or write letters in a large room stocked with paper and pens, and furnished with lounge chairs,  Their notes, including clandestine communications to lovers, were quickly delivered by messengers while the women stayed in the store to await a reply.”

 

How things have changed.  Nordstrom’s just offers a great shoe department.  But perhaps a great pair of shoes is all we want today.

 

The Bon Marche was so modern it offered “personal accounts”, shoppers didn’t need cash and you could return any item you bought. This policy “encouraged them to buy more because they knew they could always change their minds.  Women who shopped just for the thrill of shopping were liberated from their conscience; they could tell themselves they would return the merchandise even if deep down they knew they never would.”

 

“Kleptomania” another Parisian creation.  In 1883, psychiatrist, Henri Legrand du Saulle, describes respectable women who would never consider breaking the law, stealing from department stores.

 

“When questioned, they claimed to have been overcome by dizziness and an almost sexual feeling, incapable of resisting the impulse to take what they wanted from an overwhelming array of merchandise, they surrendered, despite knowing it was wrong.”

 

And now we have to control our “online shopping”.  The “grand magasin” of the internet.

 

Which is more dangerous?

 

 

 

 

A gift from the past…

When I was growing up there was always a copy of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s “A Gift from the Sea” in the bookcase.  My mother had read it, probably as part of a bible study group, and liked it very much. When I was a teenager she had recommended I read it.

 “Who wrote it?” I asked.

 Anne Morrow Lindbergh, she’s a poet and Charles Lindbergh’s wife.  Even though these people were famous I knew they were real old.  I was not interested.

 Looking back I wouldn’t have liked or appreciated the book.  It’s definitely written for women who have experienced years of marriage, child raising and LIFE.  As a teenager I had not experienced any of these.

 Teenagers are not looking for harmony and balance in their lives.  They want to take off, listen to the Beatles endlessly, eat too much spaghetti and stay up all night watching TV.

 Many years later, I have enjoyed reading “A Gift from the Sea”. AML is what my mother would have described as a lovely person.  This is the first book in a long while where I hear such a personal voice.  I feel like I know her, she’s talking to me.  She is a warm and generous. Having grown up writing poetry her prose are sparse and choice of words delicious.

 “The beach is not the place to work, to read, write or think…Too warm, too damp, too soft for any real mental discipline or sharp flights of spirit.”

 Take me to that beach!

 Sea shells are the skeleton of the book.  They are treasure AML finds on the beach.  Channelled Whelk, Moon Shell and Argonauta. She describes their colors, shapes and they become a metaphor for stages in her life.  She then takes them home to sit on her desk to remind her of her beach holiday.

 It’s so tidy.

 Even though it is written in 1955 she writes about women with their over busy, fragmented lives.  Stress even back then.

 “Saints are rarely married women” AML humorously makes the point that a single man or woman will have much more time for meditation, prayer and good works.

 In support of an ever current argument she points out that women are not paid for their work at home so they are often overworked and underappreciated.

 Another surprise!

 “For women much of this new awareness is due to the Women’s Liberation movement…The best “growing ground” for women however, may be in the widespread mushrooming of women’s discussion groups of all types and sizes.  Women are talking to each other, not simply in the private kitchen, the nursery or over the back fence, as they have done through the ages, but in public groups.  They are airing their problems, discovering themselves and comparing their experiences.”

 My mother would have found it inappropriate to “air her problems” in a group.

 I have found reading this book such a gift.  The language is beautiful and she discusses that balance and harmony we all need in our lives. It was like taking a little restful brake in a beach cottage on Captiva.