MEMORIA
SEPTIEMBRE DE 2017
“T
he Grand Hotel had a
small room, crowded with
people and equipped with
a roulette table. Every kind of entertain-
ment could be found inside this room...
there were no theaters in the city, no con-
certs, no cafés, nothing... around four
o’clock in the afternoon all this people
started to get out into the streets. That
was the time people took a stroll around
Las Bóvedas.” (Henri Cermoise, Deux
ans á Panama, 1886).
Frenchmen William Leblanc and
Ernest Charton painted the capital, and
more than one variety troupe exhibited
their arts and magic to weave these links
among the peoples, up until 1880 when
the canal works started.
Historian Damaris Smirnov states:
“That development was significant du-
ring the last decades of the 19th century:
in 1877, the modern market was built,
ports were updated to be able to receive
at the docks the heavy machinery nee-
ded for the works, and sailboats arrived
from the country’s interior; in 1884, a
cemetery with vaults was inaugurated;
and in 1887, the Fire Department was
founded.”
Anthropologists Alphonse Pinart
and Louis Catat studied our indigenous
groups. Artists such as Paul Gauguin
and Charles Laval (who painted por-
traits for Panamanian families) worked
in the canal.
Electric lighting appeared in 1888.
The first seismograph and meteorologi-
cal stations were installed. The streetcar
started operating in 1896. Starting in
mid-century, the city began expanding
towards Santa Ana. There were 18,000
workers during the construction, most
of whom were Jamaicans. Slums began
to emerge: Calidonia, Guachapalí, Ma-
rañón. Squares were established (the
Arms Square, known today as the Fran-
ce Square; the Triumph Square, which
today is Herrera Square).
Men went to bars, restaurants, cafés,
gambling halls. They played the lottery
and betted on horses and even dogs.
Ladies displayed their natural
beauty, adorned with luxury fabrics fo-
llowing European fashions. There were
trips to the beach with family or friends,
wearing dresses made by local seam-
stresses, with perfumes and jewelry fo-
llowing the latest Parisian fashions.
Due to heavy demand, brothels star-
ted to emerge. French engineers, techni-
cians, and workers started to arrive with
the French Universal Canal Company.
The French Hospital opened its
doors, one of the most modern in the
region, with capacity for more than 500
patients.
Hundreds of black and mulatto
workers from the Antilles disembarked
in Colon. People from the islands of
Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, and
French Guiana brought their rhythms
and their hybrid foods.
Paris in Panama
French words are adapted, such as:
boutique, champagne, cabinet, chau-
ffeur, cuisine, parfum, restaurant, sou-
venir...
A Kiss on Rue Charton
Bonjour, comment ça se passe? was once a common phrase in
our country. How many of us remember it? Do you know up to
what degree we Panamanians have a bit of French blood in us?
Hotel Central en la actualidad. Foto: Cortesía.
Jorge E. Horna states: “French
people brought with them their archit