And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties, there isn’t any privacy
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
As we were planning this issue, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s greatest novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, had made it to cinema screens in Malta and around the world.
The author had immersed himself in the life and culture of his time. He lived the life of the Roaring 20’s, a time of prosperity, the Jazz Age and parties galore.
At the time Malta too had its parties, music and nightlife, culminating in Valletta’s narrow Strait Street, then so popular among mariners, especially the British servicemen stationed in Malta. Full to the brim with bars, music halls, restaurants and spice, it served as the backdrop for this issue’s photoshoot.
Strait Street was probably Malta’s first experience of a contemporary melting-pot where different social classes, nationalities and radically conflicting walks of life came together. Women made clothes in the latest fashion to impress sailors.
Valletta now offers a combination of old and new and Strait Street echoes this.
Most bars are closed up, except for a few like the recently made-over Tico Tico, whose authenticity and character remains. Its eclectic decor takes you back to the past, mostly evoked by the decaying street signs and buildings.
Even though Strait Street may be a shadow of its former self, by day it offers plenty to take in and by night it puts on a fashionable gown.
