Four years of world war from 1914 to 1918 wiped out nearly a generation and heralded the beginnings of women’s liberation as women began to perform the jobs left by men at the front with great ingenuity.
Social changes for women | Short Hair, Polling and the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Cropped hair appears as one of the first symbols of this emancipation. Known for her short locks and frantic nude dancing, Josephine Baker was considered one of the greatest female figures in entertainment at the time.
Women won the right to vote in the United States and the United Kingdom in 1919 and 1928, respectively. The 24 Hours of Le Mans played its part in this changing landscape with no fewer than 20 women participating in the 1930s, France’s Odette Secaux finishing fourth in a personal Alfa Romeo 8C in 1932, the best overall result for a female driver. In the same year, the aviation world was marked by another female achievement: American pilot Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, from the United States to Ireland.
1927-1930 | Bentley, Lindbergh, Al Jolson and Louise Brooks
The period between World War I and World War II saw extraordinary achievements by men and women in a variety of fields. While Bentley went on to win four consecutive victories, the first quadruple victory in racing history, Charles Lindbergh managed the first solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by plane, from New York to Paris, in 1927.
In the same year, the first walkie-talkie, Jazz singerIt starred comedy singer Al Jolson as he leads the way in a revolution in cinema, and was directed by German director Fritz Lang. city, is still considered a masterpiece of science fiction. Two years later, the movie Pandora’s box American actress Louise Brooks made her one of the first female icons in cinema history. The bob haircut has been copied by everyone from Brigitte Bardot to Uma Thurman.
thirties | Alfa Romeo, Bugatti and Delahaye, and their socio-technical evolution
While Alfa Romeo made history as the first Italian manufacturer to win the 24-hour race, Anglo-American literature saw the emergence of some of its greatest writers in the 1930s: Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, JRR Tolkien, Aldous Huxley and Raymond Chandler wrote their first book. . The main business at that time.
Strikes and social unrest associated with the emergence of the Popular Front party in France led to the abolition of 24 hours in 1936. From 1937 to 1939, when the Spanish Civil War inspired Pablo Picasso. Guernica, one of the most famous paintings in the history of art, the French marquis regained first place at Le Mans thanks to Bugatti (1937 and 1939) and Delahaye (1938). Two of Bugatti’s three winning drivers, Robert Benoist and Jean-Pierre Wimmel, became important figures in the French Resistance during World War II. After a nine-year hiatus, the 24 Hours of Le Mans resumed in 1949.
PHOTOS (Copyright – ACO Archives): LE MANS (Sarthe, France), CIRCUIT DES 24 HOURS, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. From top to bottom: In 1931 and 1932, with Bugatti and then Alfa Romeo, Odette Cicault became the first grand dame of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. From 1923 to 1939, 16 years separated these two beginnings of the two world wars.
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