KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, including neighborhoods in the southern parts of the city. Have a story idea to share with Megan? Send her a tip.
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The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics are taking place more than 4,500 miles away from Kansas City.
Some Kansas Citians say we’re a lot closer to Paris, France, than you might think.
The nickname, 'The Paris of the Plains,' could be viewed through rose-colored glasses.
“I think it’s a local Kansas City thing; you know if you know," said Jeremy Drouin, manager of the Missouri Valley Special Collection at the Kansas City Public Library. "We’re 'Kansas City, Paris of the Plains.'"
Drouin took us back in time to newspapers from 1938 to learn where the phrase came from.
“It really dates back to 1938," he said. "Two newspaper reporters, Edward Morrow and Westbrook Pegler, working for different papers, compared Kansas City to Paris, France."
But not for the reasons most people would think, like Kansas City's museums or architecture.
"Illicit saloons, speakeasies, gambling parlors, and houses of prostitution,” Drouin said. "Corruption, bribery, and lax laws in the era when Tom Pendergast really ruled the city in the 20s and 30s as a political boss — it had a reputation.”
Although journalist Edward Morrow gets credit for 'Paris of the Plains,' he never called it that, according to Drouin.
“His first line in the story was, 'If you want to see sin, forget Paris, come to Kansas City,'" Drouin said. "He just compared it to Paris in general. It was Westbrook Pegler in his article who called it the 'Paris of the Western Plains.' He visited Kansas City several times and wrote a series of articles."
Drouin said it's a story that spans decades.
In 1958, Paris of the Plains was more commonly a reference to Kansas City's jazz scene.
“John Cameron Swayze, a journalist, shortened it in 1958 in the liner notes of a jazz album, 'The Paris of the Plains,'" Drouin said.
He says later, other news outlets started mentioning 'Paris of the Plains.'
Now, there’s a pinch of glamour to it.
You can see the phrase in the marketing of Kansas City restaurants and bars.
For Shellie Cypret, the phrase rolled into her core.
She named her micro bakery Paris of the Plains.
"We all kind of like to enjoy life," she said. "I’ve been a Francophile my entire life, which means I'm kind of obsessed with Paris."
She sees the comparisons in the river landscapes and people's attitudes.
"They do like to cut loose," she said. "I like the way they cut loose."
She works in French in her cooking, cheese-pulling as “La Femme de Fromage” at Lazia.
She started her in-home micro bakery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I flavor the doughs with spices — maybe some lemon peel or citrus to give it some pop," she said. "We’re just kind of a town on fire, and people are looking at us, and I say, 'Hey, let's show them what we can do."'
Drouin also said the phrase may not have caught on anywhere except locally.
"I think it’s well known here in KC," he said. "I don’t think anyone outside of KC, nobody in Paris, or probably not even Paris, Texas, or St. Louis, looks at KC as the Paris of the Plains. St. Louis would never give us that credit anyway."
He continued, "We do share a bit of history. Art Deco emerged from France, and we’ve had a lot of Art Deco buildings constructed in Kansas City. The Power and Light Building, Municipal Auditorium, City Hall, and the Jackson County Courthouse."
Drouin said Pegler later wrote an updated article in 1943 commending Kansas City's reform efforts
Recently, John Simonson also wrote a book called Paris of the Plains and spoke about the era of history here.
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