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First casinos in France
The French "casino" of the 19th century is not at all like the myth of noisy gaming halls. At first it was resort "houses of the season" - salons for reading newspapers, balls, concerts, theater, and only then - rooms for playing. In these spaces, a new urban culture of leisure was born, which was connected by the fashion for spa treatment and the railways that opened the sea and mountains to Paris.
Context: after revolutions - to the "art of the evening"
The end of the XVIII and the beginning of the XIX century in France were marked by prohibitions and tough morality. Playhouses were equated with nurseries of vice, and legal play was possible only in strictly permissible spaces. In practice, it was the resort that became a compromise: here the aristocracy and the new bourgeoisie combined treatment, walks, music, dancing and - a moderate game under the supervision of the municipal authorities.
Resort as casino lab
Spa city
Vichy, Wittel, Contrexeville, Plombière-les-Bains and other balneological addresses made the casino part of the "healing day": in the morning - water and walks, in the evening - a concert, a ball and card rooms. The entry threshold was determined by dress code and contributions; the game was played as an extension of small talk rather than an end in itself.
Sea coast
Since the middle of the century, the seaside resorts of Normandy and the Atlantic - Trouville, Deauville, Dieppe, Biarritz - have become symbols of "new leisure." Paris gathered here in season: the imperial court of Napoleon III often visited Biarritz, and the Duke de Morny developed Deauville as a "showcase resort." Resort casino pavilions quickly turned into centers of evening life.
Architecture and style: from pavilion to palace
The first buildings were modest: pavilions with a hall and a gallery. But towards the end of the 19th century, fashion, competition and the emergence of a wealthy public led to the architecture of Belle Époque: colonnaded facades, winter gardens, auditoriums, rotundas, restaurants. The casino became the "palace of the evening" - a synthesis of theater, dance and play. An operetta and a mazurka, a charity ball lottery and a "card room" were adjacent to the posters.
Rails, newspapers, etiquette: pleasure infrastructure
Railroads (1850s-1880s) made weekends at sea accessible and predictable.
Periodicals supported fashion: columns about resorts, reports from balls, secular chronicle.
Etiquette enshrined forms of behavior: a strict toilet, respect for ladies, moderation in the game, donations to charity - "good tone" as a pass to society.
Games and halls: what they played
Roulette (in the European/French single zero tradition) gradually became entrenched as the "queen of the hall."
Trente et quarante (Rouge et Noir) is a classic 19th-century French card game, fast and spectacular.
Baccarat - a game of salons, later firmly included in the repertoire.
Pharaoh and whist - for private offices and clubs.
The game was accompanied by an orchestra, and pauses filled dancing and reading in the library/salon.
Rules and controls: from municipal permits to the national framework
For most of the 19th century, casinos existed according to the scheme of municipal concessions: the city allowed the "house of the season" with an entertainment program, and the game went as an addition - with time and format restrictions. The supervision was carried out by the prefectures and the police, the emphasis was on order and morality: no demonstrative "fever," fines for violations, early closings on "family" days.
By the end of the century and at the turn of the century, the state issued more precise rules: resort, seasonality, cultural program and game control became a single logic, which at the beginning of the 20th century will result in the famous "model of resort casinos" (permission in seaside, balneological and climatic cities under close to current supervision).
Social scene: who was the "hero" of the hall
The aristocracy and the higher bourgeoisie set the fashion - evening toilets, charity balls, season tickets.
Artists and writers loved resorts as "scenes of society" - remarks about halls and promenades are easy to find in the memoirism of the end of the century.
Professional players were considered harmony breakers: the resort code encouraged moderation rather than bank hunting.
Economic impact: "long evening" as a business model
The casino of the XIX century attracted hotels, restaurants, ateliers, cabbies, musicians. The resort was gaining brand and "high season," cities invested in embankments, electric lighting, theaters and winter gardens. The gambling component remained part of the package - along with concerts and gastronomy, which ensured stability: it was possible to come "to balls and waters," and the game - as an option.
Why France set the 'tone for Europe'
1. Resort logic. The French linked casinos to the culture of the place: sea/mineral waters + music + dinner + etiquette + play.
2. Architectural style. Belle Époque turned the "house of the season" into a "palace," making the evening an event.
3. Moderation and rules. Control and the "script of the evening" kept the balance between entertainment and unnecessary risk, which would later enter the DNA of the French model.
Timeline (very short)
Early XIX: local salons at resorts as cultural centers; the game - sporadically and under strict prohibitions.
Mid-XIX: "fashion resorts," railways, the growth of seasonal casino pavilions in Normandy, the Atlantic and spa areas.
Late 19th/turn of the century: Belle Époque, theaters and winter gardens at casinos, consolidation of municipal concessions and resort status as conditions.
Beginning XX: codification of the resort model and design of the "French standard" casino (with a cultural program and control).
19th century legacy today
Entering any historical hall in France, you will see the same scenario: a terrace and a promenade, a concert poster, a restaurant before or after the game, polite service, a smart casual dress code and respect for the rules. This is a direct heir to the 19th century, where the casino is not a separate "excitement factory," but the heart of the resort evening.
The 19th century gave France the language of casinos: resort, culture and moderate play. From modest salons grew the palaces of the Belle Époque; from episodic entertainment - thoughtful evening architecture of leisure. The French model proved that a casino can be part of the city's aesthetic and travel brand, not its antipode - and that's why she survived the century with almost no charm.