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Title: Galleries Lafayette |
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Description: The monkey flying in a biplane is a comical advertisement for the Franco-Brittanique exposition at the Galleries Lafayette in 1908. In 1908, during the Franco-Brittanique exposition the Galleries Lafayette was honored for its beautiful facade, including its monumental terrace, and for providing the best shopping in Paris. The origin of the Galleries Lafayette dates from 1895 when Albert Kahn rented a shop in Paris on the corner of Chaussee D’ Antin and rue Lafayette to sell ribbons, gloves, veils, and other goods. In 1898, Kahn’s 34 year old cousin, Theophile Bader, joined him in the business. The two cousins then purchased an entire building to replace their shop on the same street. In 1905, with Bader as president, the Societe Anonyme des Galleries Lafayette was created and in 1906 the outside of the store began to bear the name, Aux Galleries Lafayette. At this time, 300 people were employed in the various buildings of Galleries Lafayette. From the middle of the nineteenth century, large elegant department stores called ‘Grand Magasins’ sprang up in Paris offering luxury goods to a middle class public. |
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