It's 1903 and you can hardly wait for the next three minute creepy epic from Georges Melies. What's a monster kid to do? Why, go to 53 Boulevard de Clichy in Monmartre and walk through the maw of L'Enfer (Hell) for a swell evening's entertainment.
Strangely enough, the rival cabaret next door is the Cabaret du Ciel or Heaven. Below is a postcard from my collection dated 1903 (from Miss Emilie to
Mademoiselle Fanny Boucharde) showing how L'Enfer (as well as Cabaret du Ciel) looked in its earlier incarnation. The subsequent card shows the additional
exterior work from later years. I think L'Enfer lasted into the early 1920s.
Here's an interior shot of L'Enfer:
And a shot of one of the players, Mephisto:
This is the front and back cover of possibly a ticket booklet, postcard bocklet or program. It appears to be plaster work from the interior -- note the
serpents that spell out L'ENFER:
And the interior:
This is the flipside of a card I have (the obverse looks like the right-hand side (front cover) of the booklet above):
Here are a few photos of the Cabaret du Ciel, but I'm not hangin' out there:
Coming up: Cabaret du Neant.
