Tag Archives: Le Perroquet

Dolly Tree and Spain

The British born costume and fashion designer Dolly Tree in addition to being prolific in London and the regions in the 1920s had a great vogue in Paris and a great love of being in the French capital. But it is also clear that she developed a strong affinity and love for Spain and Barcelona in particular.

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Frisco (Joslin Bingham)

Joslin Bingham was known simply as ‘Frisco’ and became one of the most celebrated performers in Paris during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and then replicated his success in London in the 1930s. He was a jack of all trades, a fixer and a man behind the scenes who helped many black artists in Paris and London including Josephine Baker,  Bricktop and Adelaide Hall.

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la Tournee des Grands Ducs

la Tournee des Grands Ducs

la Tournee des Grands Ducs was an intriguing term for a nocturnal tour of the Montmartre night-spots in Paris, which came about in the late 19th century due to the antics of the Russian nobility. Thereafter, in the Jazz Age of the 1920s, it simply became a term to describe an evening outing exploring the night-spots of Paris and ‘painting the town red.’

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Harry Cahill

Harry Cahill was a multi-talented American dancer, female impersonator, singer and composer who became a popular and well-known figure in Paris during the 1920s and because of his achievements was once described as ‘a type of product of the Jazz Age.’

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The Dancer Fay Harcourt

Fay Harcourt was a British dancer who made it big dancing in Paris in the Jazz Age of the 1920s  as part of three dancing teams – the first with the American Harry Cahill, the second with a Russian called Nicholas and the third wit hthe Argentinian  Peppy de Albreu. But, after a glittering career from 1922-1928 she simply vanished.

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The Gaby Doll Scene

The Gaby Doll Scene

Recently Doreen Marshall sent me a photo and message on my Jazz Age Club Facebook page of a 1920s Gaby Doll and box. It certainly piqued my interest because it was a representation of a scene from the Folies Bergere in 1923 with the costume designed by Dolly Tree.

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Favours and Carnival Novelties

Favours and Carnival Novelties

At special events throughout history there has always been the desire to augment festivities with novelties of all kinds, especially at special occasions like New Year and weddings. Toward the end of the 19th century as dances, balls, galas and the new concept of the smart restaurant proliferated on both sides of the Atlantic, special nights were introduced where a wide range of gifts or carnival novelties were given away as souvenirs to make the night special and stand out. Later, these ‘favours’ became indicative of the madcap nocturnal fun and frolics of the Jazz Age and the 1920s.

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The Lorraine Sisters

The Lorraine Sisters

The Lorraine Sisters (Edna and Della) were a glamorous American sister act in the Jazz Age, who started off in vaudeville in America but swiftly found fame in Europe in the 1920s.

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Fowler and Tamara

Fowler and Tamara

Addison Fowler and Florenz Tamara were undoubtedly one of America’s leading exponents of ballroom dancing in the mid 1920s through the early 1930s. Although they had an extensive repertoire it was Spanish themed dances that made their name and the fact that they looked good and had a great knack of wearing deliciously evocative costumes.

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Moss and Fontana

Moss and Fontana

Marjorie Moss and Georges Fontana were the most graceful and sought after British dancing duo in the Jazz Age. They secured high praise in London and Paris in the 1920s before conquering New York in the late 1920s and were regarded by some as ‘the greatest pair of dancers since the Vernon Castles.’

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