The Magical Villages

Today, who remembers the Magic Village Club? Nobody, except the old ones, certainly, but what about on the web? The name of the Magic Villages hardly appears. However, the Magic Village Club (or the Magic Villages) marked the history of holiday clubs from 1950 to 1956 alongside the Club Méditerranée association.

March 17, 1950: The beginning of the story:

It's the end of the summer of 1949. The Olympic Village club in Calvi, Corsica, is closing. During this season, you now know that Gérard Blitz is invited by his sister Judith Blitz and her husband Mario Lewis, manager of the village bar, to come and "discover" this holiday formula.

On February 11, 1950, Gérard BLITZ, along with some swimming champion and polo player friends like Tony HATOT, created the Club Méditerranée association based on what he had seen the previous year at the Olympic Village club. They took the opportunity to improve the concept a little. At the same time, Paul MORIHIEN and Edith FILIPACCHI, joined forces with Pierre and Hélène LAZAREFF (met in 1949 through Jean COCTEAU), to found the Magic Village club. Dimitri PHILIPPOFF, Mario LEWIS and his wife Didy (Judith BLITZ) joined the adventure, as did Henri VIDAL.

Many people are certainly unaware of this, but the Magic Village Club was almost called the Canvas Village Club. It was under this name that, on March 17, 1950, the association, whose aim was to promote and encourage the practice of outdoor sports and camping, was registered with the Paris Police Prefecture before being changed to the Magic Village Club on April 7 of the same year.

2 Villages:

Since the summer of 1950, the Magic Village has offered two villages. The first Magic Village was established in the Austrian Tyrol on the shores of Lake Plansee. Activities offered included horseback riding, canoeing, and water skiing. Mario Lewis was the village's mayor in 1951.

As for the second village, it would become a legendary village over the decades. Even today, any good GM or GO knows its name, but at the time, on June 1, 1950, who would have guessed! This second village opened on the northern coast of Sicily. Jean COCTEAU gave Paul MORIHIEN the idea for the site. And yes, if you didn't know, we owe him the famous Cefalu at the Magic Villages.

In 1953, the magical village of Cefalu served as a filming location for the Franco-Italian film "The Magic Village" by Jean-Paul Le Chanois and Francis Aliatas. The leading male role was played by a young actor and comedian by the name of Robert Lamoureux. The film was released in theaters in 1954 but did not leave a great impression at the box office.
Cefalu also attracted crowds curious to discover this holiday concept. 41,000 visitors in 1951, 70,000 in 1957!!
The Magic Villages also opened a 3rd village in Andalusia near Torremolinos. The film "Desire and Love" with Martine Carol in the lead role was partly filmed in this village in 1951

In 1951, Dimitri Philippoff left the group and joined the Club Méditerranée association. The following year, 1952, it was Judith Blitz (Didi)'s turn to join her brother Gérard. She took over as village chief of the brand-new Corfu village located in Ipsos Bay.

Let’s compare the two associations:

Common points:

Magical Villages and the Club Méditerranée association are both associations under the 1901 law and were founded in 1950.
The people who founded the two clubs knew each other very well.
Both associations are based on the same concept: offering a two-week all-inclusive vacation (travel, accommodation, food, and sports).
By pure chance, the supplier of the tent canvas is the same for both associations: the company Trigano père et fils.

The Differences:

This holiday club was aimed at readers of ELLE magazine. The magazine would periodically publish articles on the Magic Villages Club. The articles, as well as the "magic voucher," would promote the villages to which film and theater stars were guests or sponsors. At the same time, the Club Méditerranée association would advertise in the sports daily L'Equipe and its Antwerp equivalent. Marcel Hansenne was its ambassador.
Club Méditerranée has its village chief and GMs, Les Villages Magiques has its village mayor and villagers!

Competition, yes, if you can say so, but rather friendly competition.

1955 The merger of Club Méditerranée and Village Magique:

The January 1956 issue of the Trident announced on its front page that the Magical Villages association had been sold due to financial problems (just as Club Méditerranée was at the time!!). History indicates that both associations had substantial slates with the Trigano company for renting tents.

On the initiative of Gilbert TRIGANO, who became treasurer of the Club Méditerranée association in 1953, the two structures came together at the end of the 1955 season. In 1957, the Club Méditerranée SA company with variable capital was created. Paul MORIHIEN was responsible for advertising and publishing for the Trident for a few years before getting involved in the YOTEL project in Cogolin Plage, but that is another story.