--- description: They scorned frog legs, drank Coca-Cola and studied Parisian charm. LIFE photographer Gordon Parks captured their carefree European lives, and experienced a new kind of freedom there, as well title: 'Wow, Quel Babes!': American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0888c16e3bcc6b57/698778d48e0601245145998f/150108-american-teens-paris-07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Teenagers](/tag/teenagers/) ## Teenagers Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Wow, Quel Babes!': American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s by [John Edwin Mason](/author/john-edwin-mason/) ## John Edwin Mason Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 29, 2015 1:30 PM CUT  Caption from LIFE. French look gives Ed Perregaux, from Connecticut the reputation of being "a character." He wears a beret and pack, rides a bike which he bought at the Flea Market. Caption from LIFE. French look gives Ed Perregaux, from Connecticut the reputation of being "a character." He wears a beret and pack, rides a bike which he bought at the Flea Market.Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [John Edwin Mason](/author/john-edwin-mason/) ## John Edwin Mason Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 29, 2015 1:30 PM CUT LIFE proclaimed it “one of the world’s foremost colonies of displaced persons.” Its denizens, the magazine said, were a peculiar people who loved adventure, yet preferred “their own way of life.” They spoke their mother tongue among themselves, but sometimes fractured the local language with such abandon that natives risked being “startled by a bilingual ‘Wow, quel babe!'” In fact, locals thought this boisterous clan was “a little crazy,” in large part because they drank “so many Cokes.” The mad colonists were members of that most exotic of tribes: American teenagers. Numbering about 150, they had been transported to France mostly thanks to their fathers’ jobs. When LIFE dispatched Gordon Parks, a rising star among its staff photographers, to document the tribe’s rites and rituals in the early 1950s, teenagers were still a [new and somewhat puzzling phenomenon](http://time.com/3639041/the-invention-of-teenagers-life-and-the-triumph-of-youth-culture/ "undefined"). Earlier generations of human beings had not, of course, skipped the ages between 12 and 20\. But few societies had recognized an intermediate step between childhood and adulthood. “Teenage” was an idea that emerged slowly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as child labor declined, schooling lengthened and marriage came later and later. The very word entered common speech only in the 1940s. In 1952, when LIFE [ran its story](http://books.google.com/books?id=bVQEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs%5Fge%5Fsummary%5Fr&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false "undefined") on the young Yanks of Paris, it was still spelling “teen-ager” with a hyphen. Parks’ photographs captured the sports, gossiping and parties that made up a large part of the teenagers’ daily lives. Many captured them in the Paris of the American imagination—on a streetcar in front of the _Arc de Triomphe_, at a sidewalk café on the _Champs-Élysées_ and in the jazz club that occupied the “shadowy cellar” of the _Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier_. The portraits that Parks made of the youth were miniature character studies. In all of the photographs, Parks’ presence is undetectable. It was as if his pictures made themselves. Readers could easily believe that they were privy to the teenagers’ most private moments. LIFE’s sly, knowing text (the reporter was not named) pretended to reassure readers that Paris had not corrupted the teenagers by turning them into young Frenchmen and -women: --- > “” --- Parks went on to become one of LIFE’s most celebrated photographers. His claim to greatness as a photographer rests on the many photo essays that he produced on the pressing issues of poverty and injustice. But Parks, like the magazine he worked for, had many sides. He loved the trappings of success—the travel, the nearly unlimited expense account and the salary that catapulted him into the upper middle class. Like all of LIFE’s photographers, he could produce compelling pictures of hard news in the morning, and light-hearted frivolities in the afternoon. The years that Parks spent in Paris were a turning point in his life. He was one of many African-Americans, from writers and musicians to cabbies and cooks, who experienced a freedom in the city that they had never found in the United States. He described this critical period in his 1990 memoir, _Voices in the Mirror_: --- > “” --- _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Caption from LIFE. American faces on a Paris bus look unaffected by the French environment. This group, which is headed toward the Arc de Triomphe, is going home from Saturday afternoon football game in the Bois. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. American feet on Paris street are shod in the same sort of low-heeled shoes that identify teen-agers at home. But this group goes along with Paris styles and usually wears nylons instead of bobby sox. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In the Bois de Boulogne, a Saturday afternoon football game is watched by girls and a father (left). Occasionally a few French boys join in the game. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. On the Champs-Elysees, after watching a Saturday afternoon movie from Hollywood, seven American girls stop for some Cokes at Colisée Café. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Jam session in shadowy cellar of Vieux Colombier attracts a crowd of Americans (foreground). Their compatriot, Clarinetist "Mezz" Mezzrow (left), is the big attraction. On such forays, the boys save money by dividing a bottle of champagne eight ways. In Paris, American teen-agers ignore Eckstine and Sinatra records as démodé, prefer French Crooners Charles Trenet and Yves Montand. They have a favorite French tune, Fou de Vous (Crazy About You). Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In costumes full of international flavor, teen-agers snap at apples at school party. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. French look gives Ed Perregaux, from Connecticut the reputation of being "a character." He wears a beret and pack, rides a bike which he bought at the Flea Market. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Texas look is preserved by homesick 16-year-old Earl Nesbitt of Wichita Falls, whose jeans and boots are standard apparel, whether he is in class or at home studying. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Girl talk about a boy friend turns Toni Riddleberger's phone call into the acrobatics familiar to all U.S. homes. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Girl talk about a boy friend turns Toni Riddleberger's phone call into the acrobatics familiar to all U.S. homes. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Girl talk about a boy friend turns Toni Riddleberger's phone call into the acrobatics familiar to all U.S. homes. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Girl talk about a boy friend turns Toni Riddleberger's phone call into the acrobatics familiar to all U.S. homes. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Lemon Squeeze" is what girls call this monthly self-improvement session at which they analyze their faults. Being analyzed (center) is Jackie Wolf, 15. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Some girls teach Sunday School at American Cathedral. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Eyebrow raising is an art practiced before a mirror by the "Horrible Six" during a slumber party at Anne Montgomery's home. From left: Jackie Wolf, Sally Slayton, Tira Faherty, Tat Stoesser, Ann Montgomery and Toni Riddleberger. They think that a deftly lifted brow gives them a mature Parisian charm. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Continental hauteur is burlesqued by Anne Montgomery, who pretends to sign autograph like Marlene Dietrich. Although the girls kid foreign ways, they share an affection for Paris. "In the States," says one, "we were just some more Americans, but here we're different and it's a nice feeling." Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3659717/american-teenagers-paris/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3659717/american-teenagers-paris/"},"headline":"'Wow, Quel Babes!': American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s","datePublished":"2015-01-29T13:30:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:20.731Z","description":"They scorned frog legs, drank Coca-Cola and studied Parisian charm. 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