Society, Salons, and Significance
Susan Ossman
Excerpt Below:
In the eighteenth century, the word "society" simply meant being in the presence of others. This companionship might be qualified as "polite," "brilliant," or "rough." We might keep this in mind in thinking about salons, for all salons are places designed to receive society, whether as reception rooms in Middle Eastern offices and homes in Casablanca, the "salons" that different professions organize in large conventions centers in Paris, or salons where beauticians produce looks. They all thrive on exchanges between people in ways that distinguish them from the "public" arena. Yet they bring together people who need have no special ties beyond the space of interaction they define. Keeping this in mind helps us to understand how a common appellation could come to describe meetings among artists and their expositions, the saloons of the Wild West, and beauty salons.