Using an interactive map, this website pays tribute to the record dealers and venders of phonograph cylinders, who allowed Parisians to discover recorded sound as early as the end of the 19th century.
Some of these establishments stayed in business for several decades, others enjoyed a brief existence. Today, all are gone. Disquaires de Paris aims to tell a piece of their story by providing visual artifacts (think: photographs, record sleeves, stickers, advertisements, ephemera) that attest to their past.
This beta version of the site focuses on the first decades of the phonograph industry, which corresponds to the cylinder and 78 rpm record era. A forthcoming version will cover a longer period.

    Adress :
    Opening date : - Closing date:

    What is Disquaires de Paris?

    Using an interactive map, this website pays tribute to the record dealers and venders of phonograph cylinders, who allowed Parisians to discover recorded sound as early as the end of the 19th century. From the first phonograph dealers to the department stores of the Belle Époque and from the TSF repair specialists to the Armenian music stores of the Belleville neighborhood, hundreds of shops, specialized or not in the sale of recorded music, existed all over Paris. Some of them lasted several decades, others had a brief existence. Today, all are gone.
    "Disquaires de Paris"aims to tell but a pièce of their story by providing visual artifacts (think: photographs, record sleeves, stickers, advertisements, ephemera) that attest to their past.

    A timeline located above the map will let you navigate through the decades. This beta version of the site focuses on the first decades of the phonograph industry, which corresponds to the cylinder and 78 rpm record era. A forthcoming version will cover a longer period.

    Contact

    Despite extensive research and the assistance of a large network of collectors, "Disquaires de Paris" is far from being exhaustive and remains a work in progress. Some businesses are hard to document, especially those which had a brief existence or were less than bustling.

    We are interested in any and all kinds of documents related to the former record and cylinder shops of Paris. Please don't hesitate to contact us, should you wish to share anything.

    How did we get started?

    The visual artifacts available on "Disquaires de Paris" were collected over time in flea markets and yard sales or provided by other collectors. Research done at the City of Paris archive allowed us to determine the exact opening and closing dates of the stores displayed on the map. We relied heavily on former business directories and the archives of the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris.

    "Disquaires de Paris" includes all shops in Paris that once sold recorded music (records and phonograph cylinders). A significant share of these businesses never specialized in record and cylinder sales and some existed long before the birth of the recording industry, like the piano sellers and luthiers that very early began selling recorded music. In that case, the opening date displayed on the map does not correspond to the shop’s creation but rather to the beginning of record and cylinders sales.
    The accuracy of the opening and closing dates, of course, can not always be confirmed. Indeed, the business directories we use were often incomplete and not always up-to-date. Cross-referencing available data with other documents allowed us to correct for some mistakes but some dates still need to be fine-tuned.

    Thank you and credits

    - This project was initiated by Thomas Henry, collector of 78 rpm records and author of the blog Ceints de bakélite..

    - Concept and design by DOUNY.

    Thanks to all of those who contributed in one way or another to the creation of "Disquaires de Paris: Julien Anton, Jalal Aro, Matthew Barton, Claire Béchu, Jean-Baptiste Béchu, Roger Bernier, Sophie Bertrand, Gérard Billon, Joëlle Boulary, Ludovic Boulary, Christian Buisan, Henri Chamoux, Bertrand Chaumelle, Pascal Cordereix, Aude Da Cruz Lima, Danielle Dalloz, Jean-Claude Dalloz, Hervé David, Claude Fihman, Yann Fister, Gérard Frappé, Philippe Garnier Delabaudinière, Marion Gaussen, Philippe Gemgembre, Joël Guilbaud, Célian Guillemard, Michael E. Gunrem, Daniel Hennemand, Jacques Horvilleur, Michel Jacques Horvilleur, Louis Jaubertie, Elisabeth Jobin, Philippe Lacorne, Bruno Lagabbe, Mélanie Leroy-Terquem, Claude Lévi-Alvarès, Alexandre Litwak, Rainer Lotz, Lisa Ornelas Lutton, Fred M, Samuel Marc, Michel Mathieu-Colas, Blouzouga Memphis, Lionel Michaux, Jérôme Moncada, Matthieu Moulin, Alain Nathan, Martin Pénet, Damien Poncet, Renaud Presberg, Manuel Rabasse, Daniel Richard, Jocelyne Roig, Bruno Sebald, Chris Silver, David Silvestre, Joséphine Simonnot, Stéphanie Trouillard, Alex van der Tuuk, Michèle Verron, Jonathan Ward, Ayoub-Tarek Wartique and the teams from the National Library of France, the City of Paris Archive, the Paris Music Library, the Calif, the Center for Research in Ethnomusicology and the Radio France Discothèque..

    Press

    Gallica, 17/04/2015

    Fast Company, 21/04/2015

    Citylab, 22/04/2015

    Messy Nessy Chic, 14/08/2015

    The Mental Floss, 27/04/2015

    Libération, 17/04/2015

    Nova Planet, 24/06/2015

    Untapped Cities, 22/04/2015