Baker, Josephine. (1906–1975)

"J'ai deux amours" - 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition Advertisement

Original advertising card for the Pernod Pavilion at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition, featuring a photograph of the great singer and dancer in a feathered costume. The text on the recto refers to her famous song "J'ai deux amours," here suggesting that those two loves were "Paris" and the popular Absinthe "Pernod Fils," while the verso advertises that at the pavilion "Josephine Baker, the great star of the Casino de Paris, will sell (books and records) to benefit the Ouevres Coloniales." 2.5 x 5 inches (6.5 x 13 cm).

The Paris Colonial Exhibition was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resources of France's colonial possessions. The French government brought people from the colonies to Paris and had them create native arts and crafts and perform in grandly scaled reproductions of their native architectural styles such as huts or temples. Politically, France hoped the exposition would paint its colonial empire in a beneficial light, showing the mutual exchange of cultures and the benefit of France's efforts overseas.  (16173)


Ephemera
Unsigned Photograph
Jazz