28 Vintage Photos That Show What Life Was Like in Paris During the '20s and '30s

Oui oui!

Published 6 months ago in Wow

Though the flapper age may have been in full swing in the United States, nowhere embodied the spirit of Jazz quite like Paris in the '20s and '30s. With vivid club scene, bustling caberets and a breadth of iconic musical performances, the city garnered attention not only from the world as a whole, but from superstars like actress Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, F. Scott Fitzgerald and of course, Salvador Dalí.

From wild nights out to pet cheetahs walking through the city of light, here are 28 absinthe-fueled photos of Jazz Age Paris.

1
“At a Paris jazz club, circa 1929.”

2
“Jazz Legends Louis Armstrong and Django Reinhardt. | Hot Club, Paris [1930s].”

3
4
Django Reinhardt and his band play a show in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris, date unknown.

5
“Jazz age icon, Louise Brooks, wearing Jean Patou, 1930.”
6
African American soldiers play as a part of the 369th Infantry Regiment, 1918.
7
“Salvador Dalí and Man Ray in Paris making ‘wild eyes,’ July 16th, 1934.”

8
“A lesbian couple in a gay nightclub, Paris 1930.”
9
“Girl feeding swan. Bois de Boulogne, Paris, ca. 1930.”
10
“A father and son in paris 1930s.”

11
“A crowded bar at 'La Boule Blanche' - Paris, 1930.”
12
“A man waiting on a street in Paris. 1930.”
13
“My great-grandfather, Paris (circa 1930) posing with the carriage and the horses that would drown him in the Seine.”

14
“An impromptu race on the Champs Elysées, Paris around 1930.”
15
“Modigliani, Picasso and André Salmon in front the Café de la Rotonde, Paris. Image taken by Jean Cocteau, 1916.”
16
“‘Janet Flanner and Ernest Hemingway reading a manuscript together in a cafe,’ Paris, by David E. Scherman, 1945.”

17
“Ernest Hemingway pictured with Sylvia Beach, founder of the world-famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company. Paris 1944.”
18
“Young woman on a motorcycle asking a chauffeur for directions, Paris, France 1930.”
19
“Rivoli street, Paris 1920.”

20
“A woman at a cafe in Paris with her pet cheetah, 1932.”
21
“Author Francis Scott Fitzgerald poses with his wife Zelda and their daughter Scottie in their Paris' home on Christmas 1925.”
22
“Ernest Hemingway having fun at a bar in Paris.”

23
“Paris cafe, 20s.”
24
“Writer Ernest Hemingway in Paris, 1920s.”
25
Josephine Baker, who became the first Black actress to star in a major motion picture after headlining 1934’s “Zouzou” poses for a photoshoot in Paris early in her career.