Miranda Sachs, Texas State University
If a visitor to the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris had wandered into the pavilion sponsored by the city of Paris, she would have encountered a display of handcrafted objects produced by students at the city’s vocational schools. She might have stopped to admire the elegant furniture (see photo) or to look at glass cases full of dresses.
The city of Paris’ pavilion was one of the many marvels visitors to the exhibition could enjoy. The exhibition covered 108 hectares and included many feats of engineering and technology. At its entrance, visitors were greeted by the Monumental Gate, which was taller than the Arc de Triompe and illuminated by 3000 electrical lights at night. Through these sorts of displays, the French hoped to telegraph that their economy was modern, thriving, and ready to take on the twentieth century.
Concerns about Economic Decline
Beneath this bravado ran a current of anxiety. The Universal Exhibition occurred at a moment when many political elites were increasingly worried about the state of France. The French birthrate had been declining since the mid nineteenth century. Its industrialization had not been as spectacular as its neighbors. Britain, Germany, and the United States now boasted stronger economies. The French had a tradition of producing fine, decorative objects, but the system for training workers who could produce these objects was in decline. Rather than spending their teen-aged years training to become bookbinders or cabinetmakers, more and more working-class youths were entering directly into unskilled or semi-skilled jobs.
The displays of objects produced by the students at the Parisian vocational schools played an important role in covering over this anxiety. In an effort to save the apprenticeship system, the city of Paris had opened thirteen vocational schools between 1871 and 1889, of which six were for girls. On the second floor of its pavilion, the city featured work produced by the young men and women from these schools. From hand-embroidered cushions to twisted candelabras, these objects suggested that a new generation of craftsmen and women were ready to revive Parisian industry. The city of Paris also produced two books, each of which focused on a specific school. One was on the École Estienne, a school that taught boys skills related to bookmaking. The other was on the École Fondary, a school for girls that offered lessons in sewing; the fabrication of lingerie, corsets, waistcoats, hats, and flowers; embroidery; and ironing. The two books included photos of the boys and girls at these schools in the midst of production.
A Tradition of Craftsmanship
As much as the universal exhibition sought to project an image of technological modernity, these displays were designed to suggest that older French traditions of craftsmanship were alive and well. The objects on exhibit harkened back to an earlier, pre-industrial era. A pamphlet that visitors received on visiting the Parisian pavilion described some of the furniture as in the style of Louis XV. An ornate book submitted by students at the École Estienne included reproductions of images by Rembrandt and Da Vinci. Even the names of the schools evoked an earlier age: Éstienne had been a fifteenth-century printer and the École Boulle bore the name of a seventeenth-century cabinetmaker.
The displays also brought attention to the individuals who had produced these objects. The pamphlet for visitors not only listed each object on display, but also included the name of the teachers and students responsible for each specimen. For instance, the pamphlet attributes the walnut cabinet on the right of the photo to Messieurs Astruc, Glantzlin, and Dubocq, along with the students Hetteix, Combe, Eynard, Roisin, Duclos, Chariot, Seigle, Bazin, Duhec, Lemoussou, and Swag. Likewise, it gives Monsieur Heim and his student Boivin credit for the carved table in the center of the photo. While industrialization made workers anonymous and replaceable, these displays celebrated individual workers.
How Successful were the Vocational Schools?
Although the city of Paris featured its vocational schools at the Universal Exhibition, these schools had limited success. Only a small fraction of young workers attended these schools. Instead, most working-class youths entered directly into the workforce. The students who did enter these schools often became foremen and women rather than workers.
However, in spite of the vocational schools’ limited influence, their prominence at the Universal Exhibition is telling. At a moment when French elites were very concerned about the place of France in the global economy, they saw the schools as a way to project confidence. These elites continued to see technical knowledge and craftsmanship as crucial to the French identiy. They not only worked to ensure that a younger generation acquired this knowledge, but also wanted the world to see that they had.
Author Biography
Miranda Sachs is an Assistant Professor of History at Texas State University. Her research traces the formation of the categories of childhood and youth in nineteenth- and twentieth-century France. This blog post draws from her forthcoming book with Oxford University Press entitled An Age to Work: Working-Class Childhood in Third Republic Paris.