French Bulldog. France

The origins of the French Bulldog may be simpler than at first appears.
By the late 19th century a small dog ran the streets of Paris together with the butchers of La Villette above all those of "Fort de la Halle" a dog that had replaced the "Doguin". A group of fans took the dog up and began to cross them according to their idea of the dog they wanted to create.
M Charles Roger said at the time that these dogs had no well defined form. They looked like the ratting dogs, Terriers, small Bulldogs.
A closer look reveals that they were a mix of all these and were descended from English dogs.
At the same time in England there existed a not insignificant number of "small Bulldogs" (according to contemporary accounts a cross between English Bulldogs and Black and Tan Terrier). It is possible that these dogs crossed the English Channel with the Nottingham lace workers around 1848.
Exported from England to France a great number bred at random with no thought of pedigree. It was this type of bulldog, more or less established in head type or body that gave rise to the breed we know today.
The exodus of this small Bulldog to France in the 1860's was such that it almost disappeared in England.
In France things took a different turn. Mr. Charlton Jemmett Browne, an English dog journalist became interested in the new breed in 1908 ( he published in England and the USA where he worked on The French Bulldog magazine which appeared in 1913) and said " these dogs , who had no club to fly the flag for them, not even in high society frequently bred as they would and did not regain popularity until the "cocottes" went crazy for them and made them fashionable".
M. Charles Roger confirmed the role of "las cocottes". He said that they had been the salvation of the French Bulldog. They got to know of the French Bulldog through their lovers who sometimes bred them or knew where to find them.
These " sugar daddies" brought French Bulldog from shows or from breeders. They bought them and as a result the French Bulldog became " The king at the side of the lovely courtesan, in the carriage or in the rich hotel or sumptuous apartment". In this way the breed climbed the social ladder.
Under the pename of PB in 1896 we find more testimony of the exodus of English Toys to France: " This type of dog caused a sensation in Paris and the English breeders made their fortunes with this trade. Mr Fred Hinks said that his father, owner of a bitch named Nell, had a standing order to send to France all the small bulldogs under 20lbs that he could find."
Lady Kathleen Pilkington, one of the most respected and knowledgable lovers of the Toy Bulldog breed in Europe at the time and to whom the French Bulldog in England owes so much ,wrote in The Tatler on 18 June 1906, " This is no more than the rennaisance of the breed. The Toy Bulldogs have been known in England for 60 years or more among the lace workers of Nottingham. But they fell out of favour and were exported mainly to France and almost disappeared from England. During their stay in France it cannot be said that they improved. They returned in 1893 with a perfect French accent and excellent manners but also with monstruous bat ears and a great need for an undershot jaw".
These examples were sold in general with no pedigree. They still did not carry the name of French Bulldog and when imported to England were called Toy Bulldogs. In shows those with erect and shell ears were entered in the same class. While the Americans imported dogs with erect ears the English preferred to buy those with the shell ear.The English disdained this " stable dog" as they called it. However the breed existed. Without papers or standard... but there it was. This originated the confusion about its exact beginnings. But on the other hand, how could we expect the humble working class to worry themselves about the beaureaucrats?
After all they had their small club , friendly meetings and a constitution. Although they were out of the limelight for many years, their enthusiasm for the dog never waned.