Parisian woman with her cat in her cannabis garden, 1910

This lovely young Parisian woman is enjoying a serene moment in her lush garden in 1910 France. Her companions are her fluffy faithful feline and her caged bird. Keeping songbirds as pets is a hobby as old as the ancient Sumerians, but small home aviaries became a status symbol in the 1800s and early 1900s. Likely, this young lady enjoyed the company of her birds as a way to connect with nature.

Interestingly, her garden contains several cannabis plants. It could be that the unique leaves and vibrant foliage were sought after as a garden plant. Or it could be that the young woman or her family were utilizing the medicinal properties of the cannabis plant to treat any one of a number of ailments.

parisian woman with cat cannabis garden

According to Steampunk Tendencies, the newspaper on her knee was Le Mirroir, a weekly photographic newspaper devoted to World War I. By enlarging on the newspaper we can see that this is the edition of August 15, 1915. It was, therefore deduced that this photo was taken that day or after.

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