MP-0000.1533 | Paris Fashions, clipping from the Montreal Daily Star, 1935
Paris Fashions, clipping from the Montreal Daily Star, 1935
Anonyme - Anonymous
1935, 20th century
Ink on paper - Halftone
20 x 25 cm
MP-0000.1533
© McCord Museum
Description
Keywords: female (19033) , portrait (53878) , Print (10661)
Keys to History
This photo essay from the Montreal Star hints at a truth easily overlooked: not everybody suffered financially during the Great Depression. In 1935, a family with an annual income of $3,000 lived in some comfort. Approximately one in 200 Canadian families received over $10,000 a year, a handsome sum. One in 2,000 families, mostly domiciled in Montreal and Toronto, earned $50,000 or more. This made many luxuries possible, including the latest fashions from Paris.
For the rich, life was sweet. The heir to a department-store fortune later recalled the Depression: "You could take your girl to a supper dance at the hotel for $10, and that included the bottle and a room for you and your friends to drink it in. I'm glad I grew up then. It was a good time for everybody. People learned what it means to work." (quoted in Horn)
A female shop clerk would have been thrilled to earn $10 a week.
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What
Prices were low by today's standards. A new Ford cost $600, a four-bedroom house $6,000. You could hire a housemaid for $8 per month plus room and board.
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Where
The Paris fashion scene was the very essence of chic. Wealthy Canadians bought originals; others bought knock-offs made by badly paid workers in Montreal and Toronto.
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When
In 1935, when this photo-essay appeared, the recovery had begun, but unemployment remained high, and Prairie farmers were as badly off as they had ever been.
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Who
Earning more than $10,000 annually were senior executives, successful professionals and wealthy investors. Hockey players' salaries had been capped at $7,500 in 1932.
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