I’m always impressed by the inventive Google doodles and I’m venturing into Elena territory today by talking about an event that took place in 1797 on October 22–the first descent by parachute by the daring Andre-Jacques Garnerin in Paris. This was how Google celebrated the event:
The parachute, more like an umbrella than a modern parachute, was attached to a balloon that, once it had achieved sufficient altitude, M. Garnerin let rip and plummeted to earth from 3,200′. No graceful floating with this prototype parachute. Allegedly he threw up on the enthralled crowd below. Later he adapted his parachute with a vent to make a less exciting descent for both himself and onlookers. You can read a description of the Parc Monceau, the scene of this daring adventure, at Bonjour Paris.
But it was in the following year that he achieved tremendous notoriety by taking a woman on a balloon ascent. Mon dieu! He had to appear before the Central Bureau of Police to assure them that Citoyenne Henri would suffer no ill effects to her delicate female constitution and that no hanky-panky would take place in the basket. It was eventually decided that a balloon ascent held the same moral danger as sharing a carriage, i.e., not much. Once again a crowd gathered in the Parc to see the first woman in a balloon–ever the showman, Garnerin had wisely chosen a young and pretty woman.
His wife Jeanne Genevieve was the first woman to make a parachute descent in 1799 from an altitude of 900 meters. In 1802, during the Peace of Amiens, he and Jeanne Genevieve visited England and made balloon ascents together, and M. Garnerin gave a parachute demonstration in a field near St. Pancras. On another balloon trip he carried a letter of introduction from the Prince Regent in case of a crash landing.
If you’ve ever been in a hot air balloon or parachuted, please tell us about it, and if you wish, report on the effect on your morals and delicate female constitution. And, this has nothing to do with it unless you consider NaNoWriMo the equivalent of diving into thin air: if you’re in or near Maryland, there’s still time to register for Saturday’s workshop Writing From the Ground Up.
I wanted to do a hot air balloon ride for research, but the flight was canceled due to weather and I never managed to reschedule. It wouldn’t have been quite right anyway, because most balloonists around the Regency were using hydrogen balloons. I’ve read descriptions of gas ballooning that say it’s a much more peaceful experience. So I used those accounts and my imagination instead.
That sounds like a good workshop. I was hoping to do NaNoWriMo this year but the timing isn’t working. I’m still editing a backlist book and haven’t done enough prewriting for a new story.
My burning question of the day is what did Mme. Garnerin wear to parachute in? And would a lady remove her gloves for the undertaking?
LOL, Janet! Seriously, I don’t know what she would have worn but it would be a matter for concern, along with that little matter of survival. I’ve heard ladies sometimes wore breeches under their riding habits when learning to ride, so maybe that’s what she did?
Thanks for this post. Hot air balloons are a theme for me this week, between the Google image and my finishing reading Evelyn Richardson’s The Bluestocking’s Dilemma in which the heroine goes up in a hot air balloon, also uses as a cover image the couple in the balloon that you post. I am glad to read some history about the first ascent. That took courage!
I have flown in a hot air balloon, and loved it! I fully intend going again. Apart from when the burner has to be put on to reheat the air to gain height, it’s absolutely silent so very peaceful; it’s surprising how much noise can can hear from the ground (depending on how low one is). Of course one moves at the speed of the wind at the relevant altitude, so one can move quite briskly or just drift along gently.
The view is amazing, although I found it difficult to keep track of where we were.
I’ve never been in a hot air balloon, but I have gone hang gliding. It was an amazing experience!
I think people had to be far more brave to go ballooning and parachuting during the Regency era.
I agree with Louise about bravery in the Regency – we still get a thrill doing something like this, but for them it really was life or death. Louise, I’m very jealous of your hang-gliding. It looks so much fun!