The Deco Diaries

Chronicling the inspiration and creativity of the Art Deco era

Diary Articles

The Cabaret - Musical

The Cabaret - Musical

Cabaret is based on the autobiographical novel ‘Goodbye to Berlin’ (1939) by Christopher Isherwood, a British-American novelist who lived in Berlin during the 1920s. 

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Evelyn Dove - Actor & Singer

Evelyn Dove - Actor & Singer

Deco London is celebrating black history month by remembering Evelyn Dove - a classically trained singer and musician

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Cabaret Fledermaus Vienna

Cabaret Fledermaus Vienna

Poster for the Cabaret Fledermaus by Bertold Loffler 1907  Cabaret Fledermaus opened in Vienna in 1907, co-founded by a group of artists of the Wiener...

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Charles Gesmar - Artist, Illustrator and Costume Designer

Charles Gesmar - Artist, Illustrator and Costume Designer

Charles Gesmar - Illustrator and Artist 1920sCharles Gesmar, born May 21st 1900, was one of the greatest designers of costumes and posters during the golden age...

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The Music of Duke Ellington

The Music of Duke Ellington

  Continuing our theme celebrating African American culture, we turn our attention to Duke Ellington, arguably the greatest and most charismatic jazz composer and bandleader of the 20th...

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Aaron Douglas - Modernist Artist

Aaron Douglas - Modernist Artist

Aspiration, Aaron Douglas 1936 Aaron Douglas (1881-1979) was an African American artist who played a leading role in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and...

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Adele, Fred and Ginger

Adele, Fred and Ginger

Hollywood Stars, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers - 1930s Fred Astaire and his sister Adele, were born in Omaha, Nebraska. Their mother recognised her children’s talents...

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Wall Street and 1930s Fashion

Wall Street and 1930s Fashion

    At the end of the summer in 1929, economist Irving Fisher famously announced that “Stock markets have reached what looks like a permanently high...

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Leslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson

Leslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson

Leslie Hutchinson, affectionately known as 'Hutch' was a pianist and singer, born in Grenada in 1900. Hutch made his West End debut in 1927 playing in the...

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