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Baron Jacques Thenard

1904–1940

Born
17 Apr 1904, 7th arrondissement of Paris
Country of birth
France
Died
13 May 1940, Xivry-Circourt
facts
5
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

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  • Birth17 Apr 1904, 7th arrondissement of ParisProbable1 source
  • Death13 May 1940, Xivry-CircourtProbable1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · 7th arrondissement of Paris

    Birth, 7th arrondissement of Paris

  2. Child born: Irène Thenard

    Birth

  3. Died · Xivry-Circourt

    Death, Xivry-Circourt

What was it like?

The world around 7th arrondissement of Paris, 1904: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Baron was born around the same time as Jean-Paul Sartre, Vittorio De Sica, and Walt Disney.

Born around the same time

  • Jean-Paul Sartre

    1905 · French existentialist philosopher (1905–1980)

  • Vittorio De Sica

    1901 · Italian film director (1901-1974)

  • Walt Disney

    1901 · American animator, producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and entrepreneur, founder of The Walt Disney Company (1901–1966)

  • Marlene Dietrich

    1901 · German and American actress and singer (1901–1992)

  • Louis Armstrong

    1901 · American jazz musician, trumpeter and singer (1901–1971)

  • Carlo Biotti

    1901 · Italian judge

Fashion

Alsatian folk dress used on political parades

In Alsace, traditional Tracht was tied to religious occasions like weddings and first communions, but it later became common at political rallies; when Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Strasbourg in 1877, women were greeted in Tracht. The text also describes how the costume’s symbolism shifted with politics over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The decline of the worker's blouse

By the early 1900s, the traditional working man's blouse had largely disappeared in Paris, replaced by disparate outfits of jackets, vests, and trousers worn with caps. Workers often saved their best suits for Sundays and holidays, featuring accessories like bowler hats, cravats, and patent leather shoes.

Music

Instruments of the Paris Bal Musette

In the early 20th century, the cabrette, a small bagpipe, was the signature instrument of Parisian bal musette, but it was gradually joined or replaced by the accordion introduced by Italian immigrants.

Around 1914–1918

Children Singing in Wartime Shelters

During wartime, children in a shelter spontaneously sang together to overcome fear, with over 300 voices joining in songs like Au Clair de la lune. These songs were part of a shared national repertoire learned in families and schools.

Getting around

Dim train lighting required portable candles

Trains were so dimly lit that passengers wanting to read had to bring their own portable candlesticks.

Train vendors moved between carriages via footboards

Traveling by train was often an adventure, with vendors known as swallows selling goods like perfume and cognac while moving between compartments via exterior footboards.

Daily life

Compulsory schooling and literacy

By 1900, free and compulsory primary education created a new generation of literate children who often acted as cultural mediators for their illiterate parents and grandparents.

Lighting, water, and cooking at home

In 1900, many families still used oil lamps for lighting and drew water from communal pumps or wells, while city apartments often featured small charcoal furnaces for cooking at a low cost.

Food
Around 1900–1900

Cheap and Fast Street Food

Fried potatoes were a popular and affordable street food, often described as a hunger stopper for workers on the go. Vendors also sold soup, with the seller providing the bowl to customers eating on the street.

Tax-free home distillation privileges

Between 1875 and 1914, French peasants had a legal privilege to distill part of their own wine, cider, or fruit harvest into spirits without paying any taxes or needing declarations.

Prices and wages
Around 1900–1900

Parisian Food Prices in 1900

In Paris in 1900, bread cost 38 centimes per kilogram, while beef was priced at 1.80 francs per kilogram and a liter of milk cost 30 centimes.

Around 1910–1925

Rising Bread Prices 1910–1925

The price of a kilogram of bread in Paris rose from 0.39 francs in 1910 to 1.58 francs by 1925.

Work

Common Jobs in France, 1900–1924

Common jobs included industrial roles for men and women, such as mechanics, carpenters, and laborers, while the service sector featured many domestic workers, concierges, and shop assistants. Clothing and textile trades, including tailoring and dressmaking, were major employers for women.

Hazards and Wage Inequalities

Industrial dangers were severe; for example, workers handling lead or arsenic were warned to wash their hands before eating their lunch to avoid poisoning. Additionally, women often earned only half the wages of men, even when performing identical tasks.

News and letters

Parisian pneumatic mail system delivered in minutes

Paris residents could send urgent messages across the city in under an hour using a pneumatic tube system, known as 'petits bleus' for their blue color.

Around 1879–1899

Pneumatic tube mail delivery in Paris

In Paris, ordinary people could send messages via an underground pneumatic tube network using pre-stamped blue forms called petits bleus, which typically arrived in under an hour.

During their lifetime

  1. 1921

    Public radio broadcasting starts in 1921

    Public radio broadcasting officially began in France in 1921, with regular programs transmitted from an antenna atop the Eiffel Tower.

Family

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.