A Parisienne’s Curious Discoveries in late 19th-century Chicago

By Mary Beth Raycraft

When Marie Grandin arrived in Chicago in August of 1892, she was literally stunned by the novel architecture and fast pace of city life. The author of Impressions d’une parisienne à Chicago (Flammarion, 1894), this twenty-eight year old Parisian school teacher was caught up in a flurry of social and cultural activities, many of which were connected with the upcoming World’s Columbian Exposition.

Her comments on what she saw in the streets, in homes, and at the Fair accentuate some of the more curious spectacles in the city. Observing American manners with a careful eye, Grandin was shocked to discover that in even the most elegant of salons, a spittoon was readily available and that Chicagoans frequently indulged in public displays of nose picking. As she strolled through the streets, she discovered the freakish exhibits at the Dime Museum including two-headed monkeys and a dwarf princess. At the Exposition, she admired the Eskimo Village and Moorish cafés as well as the technological wonders of the monumental Ferris Wheel and the luminous Palace of Electricity, illuminated with tiny Edison lamps embedded in its brick exterior.

While these unusual displays caught her attention, what Grandin found most curious of all was the relative freedom of American women. She was astonished to learn that girls and boys shared coeducational classrooms and that young people were free to socialize away from the watchful eye of a chaperone. During her ten-month visit, she met a number of dynamic women of all ages, who were passionately engaged in the social, cultural, and political life in Chicago. Although the primary reason for her trip was to view the marvels of the city and of the Fair, in the end, Chicago’s women turned out to be the most impressive spectacle of all.

Seeing with Their Hearts: Chicago Women and the Vision of the Good City, 1871-1933. Maureen Flanagan, Princeton University Press, 2002.

The Fair Women Chicago 1893. Jeanne Weimann, Academy Press, 1981.

Mary Beth Raycraft teaches French at Vanderbilt University and is the translator of Madame Léon Grandin’s A Parisienne in Chicago: Impressions of the World’s Columbian Exposition (University of Illinois Press, 2010). Learn more about the author and the book here.

IMAGE: Jackson Park Bird’s Eye view

Congratulations to the following winner:

librarypat

We’ll be in touch real soon!

The Confession of Katherine Howard

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Congratulations, Hildegard!

http://aroundourway.blogspot.com Nancy

How was Marie Grandin life different from American women? I know she came from another country. Did she not have the same liberty as the women in Chicago in her country?
http://musingsfromsrilanka.blogspot.com Mystica

The point of view of an “outsider” is often incredibly fascinating going by all the books published by people who have been immigrants. Would like to be counted in for this giveaway.
Urbano

If I could travel back in time, I would love to go to one of the World Expositions and to see life as people alive at that time saw it. Fascinating!
Jessica

I have a passion for researching the World’s Columbian Exposition and am truly looking forward to reading this book. Through other books of the period, I’ve gotten hints of this astonishment at the relative freedom of American women, but I imagine it’ll be even stronger against the backdrop of the Exposition. Women traveling to the city on their own to visit the White City, women taking part in the Exposition in ways they never thought they could. Beyond that, I think it will be especially interesting to see a Parsienne’s view of the Exposition, given that Chicago was really trying to top the 1889 Fair in Paris.
Chuck76

I’ve long been fascinated by the World’s Columbian Exposition and the U.S. at the end of the 19th century. I’m looking forward to reading this book.
Jessica B

I have a passion for researching the World’s Columbian Exposition and am truly looking forward to reading this book. There really was a growing freedom amongst women at this time and it would’ve been evident at the Fair. Women traveling to the city on their own to visit the White City, women taking part in the Exposition in ways they never thought they could. Beyond that, I think it will be especially interesting to see a Parsienne’s view of the Exposition, given that Chicago was really trying to top the 1889 Fair in Paris.
Jessica B

I have a passion for researching the World’s Columbian Exposition and am truly looking forward to reading this book. There really was a growing freedom amongst women at this time and I imagine it was evident against the backdrop of the Fair. Women traveling to the city on their own to visit the White City, women taking part in the Exposition in ways they never thought they could. Beyond that, I think it will be especially interesting to see a Parsienne’s view of the Exposition, given that Chicago was really trying to top the 1889 Fair in Paris.
http://www.aparisienneinchicago.com Mary Beth

I agree! The World’s Columbian Exposition is a very interesting historical moment — thousands of Americans and Europeans flocked to Chicago to see both the city and the fair. They were most struck by the impressive skyscrapers, fast pace of city life, and the magical White City in Jackson Park. In terms of her observations on Chicago’s women, Marie Grandin was at first very critical as they seemed neglectful of their domestic duties (has anyone darned a sock lately??) Over the course of her stay, however, she began to appreciate their freedom and their engagement in social, political and cultural life in the city. Towards the end of her account, she describes the constricting role that awaits her upon her return to Paris. Not surprisingly, she ended up leaving Paris and moving to New York just two years later!
Rachel W.

Thank you for the giveaway! You always give away the most interesting books!
librarypat

What an interesting book. We often see the world from the viewpoint of Americans who are traveling abroad. It is nice to have a different viewpoint with America being seen through the eyes of someone from another country. The Victorian era was a time of such change all over the western world in particular. For a young woman from Europe, the speed and differences in those changes must have been most interesting. I look forward to reading this book.