A Troubled Belle Epoque 45
yielded many millions of francs.’’
∏≠
Other businesses that catered to aristo-
crats and the upper middle class were Umlauff jewelers, the clothier Las
Novedades Parisienses, the hat merchant Dumas, the tailors Pinaud and
Bouzigue, and the Bazar Alemán de Krauss, a favorite of children. The ac-
quisition of imported goods, such as French perfume or English textiles,
could only be eclipsed, in terms of cultural significance, by purchasing such
items while traveling in Europe. Those who ventured abroad, as Silva com-
ments, often ‘‘returned with the latest clothing fashions, furniture, car-
riages, new servants, and books.’’
∏∞
These same aristocrats viewed the construction of ornate European-style
homes and the mastery of Paris’s Eiffel and Company’s workmanship on the
Estación Central, or Central Station (a principal railway station in down-
town Santiago), to be vital ingredients in the creation of a more cosmo-
politan capital. One Chilean diplomat, so impressed during his residence in
France, went so far as to design his new Santiago home after a Parisian
hotel.
∏≤
In short, Chilean aristocrats understood they were not, and could
never truly be, Europeans; they therefore opted for the next best thing. They
consumed like Europeans: dressed how the English dressed; read what the
French read; and discussed what Old World aristocrats discussed.
Beyond material matters, the elite’s cultural practices also included exclu-
sive spectacles of entertainment. In Santiago, the lavish Municipal Theater
was a prized stage of aristocratic sociability before, during, and after the
Parliamentary Republic. Opera was the venue’s specialty, and the Chilean
elite filled the theater to witness French companies starring Lucien Guitry,
André Brulé, and Vera Sergine. Not going to the opera, according to one
contemporary, was just as bad as missing mass.
∏≥
It was simply a sin to fail to
witness productions that had appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House in
New York City or Milan’s historic Scala. In addition to the opera, the advent
of motion pictures after the turn of the century brought images of foreign
cultures, peoples, technology, and cities to Santiago movie houses. Chileans
flocked to see the latest Yankee film releases advertised daily in El Mercurio,
the country’s largest daily newspaper, and many other publications. Affluent
Chileans also assembled to enjoy some jazz or a polka, perhaps while sipping
a cocktail or two.
∏∂
At this time, the sensual tango was making its way back
to the Southern Cone from France and was highly regarded in Chile. Foreign
music, often enjoyed by way of imported phonographs and radios, brought
with it the proper accompanying dances. Parliamentary-era dance halls, for
example, commonly played host to ‘‘flappers,’’ who demonstrated a most
alluring form of foreign popular culture: the ‘‘Charleston.’’
∏∑
Eduardo Bal-