Abstract

Very pleasing cards, with better illustration work than on many such cards. The framing of the picture is done well, with a flowing ribbon moving up from the Aiguebelle credit at the bottom alongside the illustration and fable title and past the "Fables de Florian" group title at the top of the card. The verso presents the full fable text. The coloration reminds one of the coloring of fine "holy cards" in one-time Catholic grade schools.

Abstract

Very pleasing cards, with better illustration work than on many such cards. The framing of the picture is done well, with a flowing ribbon moving up from the Aiguebelle credit at the bottom alongside the illustration and fable title and past the "Fables de Florian" group title at the top of the card. The verso presents the full fable text. The coloration reminds one of the coloring of fine "holy cards" in one-time Catholic grade schools.

Abstract These sheets are very slight and fragile. Only DW is landscape; all others are in portrait format. I believe strong Pelerin images here are alongside weaker but traditional images. "Le Coq et le Renard" has the familiar pose of the deceiving fox and much of the zest of Pelerin color. Other famous Pelerin designs include TH and FC. Are GA and GGE as strong? I should not be surprised that I have not run into them before: they are so fragile! This set is in very good condition. Some...

Abstract

This full-color portrait-formatted card has an image framed with a blue line, with four gold-and-blue corners like old photo-holders from albums. It is marked "1", and has its title on the picture side. The verso is given completely to advertising Besnier's chocolate. The boldest boast is "1re Marque Française."

Abstract

This card is fully different from the other I have from Besnier. It has children acting outthe GA dismissal scene. And the verso has Peretti succeeding Besnier in Amiens.

Abstract This series of four cards is among the smaller but more nicely done cards that this collection has. The four images are well done. The picture side of the card includes a fable title at its top, a colored image, and then three lines of advertisement: Bon-Point, Offert par le Chocolat, Delespaul-Hayez." The verso is identical on all four: Chocolat Corona Delespaul Havez: Le Meilleur Chocolat pour votre Gouter. Exigez-Le!!" FS; WL; "The Hare and the Frogs"; and "The Old Woman and Her Two...

Abstract

Very pleasing cards, with better illustration work than on many such cards. The framing of the picture is done well, with a flowing ribbon moving up from the Aiguebelle credit at the bottom alongside the illustration and fable title and past the "Fables de Florian" group title at the top of the card. The verso presents the full fable text. The coloration reminds one of the coloring of fine "holy cards" in one-time Catholic grade schools.

Abstract These small portrait-formatted cards announce "Chocolat Grondard" at the top in red and run a red framing stripe around a colored illustration. The stripe also frames a few lines from the fable below and, generally, a reference to La Fontaine and the specific fable. Small italic print at the top of the illustration gives its French title. Small numerals in the lower right or left may identify a series or a date ("3 18," :4 v 3 c," "4 10," "5 2," "5 5," "5 9," and "5 17"). There is also a...

Abstract Each delicate card includes a sliding panel that replaces the four layers of the original picture with four new layers making up an alternative picture. Bertrand noticed that I did not understand how my first card, bought in '15, worked. I am still hesitant to dismantle that card to bring it back to its original state. Almost all of the fifteen further cards that he found for me are in good working order. I have made a short Youtube video to illustrate how each card works:...

Abstract

1950? Here is a curious set of three cards, with one duplicate. They are brown-and-white advertisements for the colored cards that are suitable for pasting into one's album. They show "The Cat, the Weasel, and the Rabbit," "The Cobbler and the Banker," and – with a duplicate – DW. The text for each includes "This image is the reproduction of one of the colored images of the new collection 'Les Fables de La Fontaine.' There is even an address for "Service Vignettes" in Paris.

Abstract What a lovely, fragile group of fable illustrations. The colors are still vivid, even though the pieces are often slightly torn or bent. The cut, uneven edges raise a question whether these scraps came in the form they now have or were perhaps cut or punched out by the user. My favorite among these lovely fifteen scraps is TB. A friend with moustache is just grasping the tree which he will climb, and his partner is flat on the ground as the bear approaches with arms extended. I have...

Abstract These small portrait-formatted cards command "Exigez Chocolat Poulain Orange" at the top in brown against a green background and then comment "C'est le meilleur." Just beneath is a circular illustration in full color. Beneath that is a brown-on-green design and sometimes a (long) fable title. Two elements finish the downward movement of the card: from six to fifteen lines of the fable and, in the bottom right, a card number. Four of the seven cards present "L'Homme qui court après la Fortune...

Abstract The scenes look familiar, even though they occupy only about 60% of the front of the card. The rest is "Chocolat Poulain: Goutez & Comparez" along with the title and first 25 words or so of the fable, presented in prose. I continue to struggle with the taste that has a male child acting the role of the dying father entrusting his treasured land to his children, or a female child acting the "old woman" here – elsewhere she is a nurse or mother – threatening to give the child to the...

Abstract

The scene of disdain at the Joaillerie is delightful, as this plaid-jacketed and bearded man puts down what he cannot have. The back is full of information, including the fact that Le Royal Chocolat won the grand price at the Bordeaux International Exposition in 1896. Royal Chocolat has created a truly hygienic chocolate! There is also a price-list, for those who want to know how little a good candy bar cost in the 1890's.

Abstract

I am not sure I understand the human application of DS here. Has the child sacrificed a toy, or has the man with the cane given up a real child for a toy? A policeman hurries to the scene. I believe I have found Poulain sponsoring four different kinds of fable cards. The verso has the text of La Fontaine's fable and identifies it as such. The style of these two cards seems similar enough to suspect that they are part of a stock set.

Abstract

On the verso of this pleasing full-color portrait-format portrait of La Fontaine is a biography of the poet. In the picture itself one can make out a fox and crow, as La Fontaine himself holds a book. Stollwerck has a celebrated history from 1839 to 2011. It was famous among other things for candy vending machines. Stollwerck's "Helden-Album," published in 1908, included some 288 cards.

Abstract These small landscape-formatted cards offer beautiful colored pictures of human scenes exemplifying animal fables. The picture-side includes "Chocolat Suchard," a number up to 12, and a title. The verso, sometimes showing a glue-tear, comes in four different patterns. In each of the patterns, a title and excerpts from the fable occur beneath an elaborate monocolor floral or animal background, "Neuchatel, Suisse," and mention of London, Paris, and New York offices. The addresses are the same...

Abstract The verso of each card shows a woman in kerchief with four children and a cat and the notation "Série 235." The front of each card follows a formula including a green or green-and-red rectangular border; a scene of children that overflows the borders of that rectangle; some Suchard product with its name; the title of the La Fontaine fable; and a few verses from the original fable. Some of the illustrations start to become a bit grotesque, particularly WC and "The Bear and the Gardener." ...

Abstract

Some of these cards still have the feel that the powder with which they came is still on them. Strong colors and simple forms mark these cards, which are quite different from the more traditional Suchard landscape cards. The identifying numbers between "1" and "12" can be hard to find but they are there in the corner of the image segment.

Abstract

These cards follow the pattern found in the later cards of having each card advertise one of Suchard's particular products. In this case, the product itself is pictured as part of the front of the card. The verso of each is highly ornamental. At the top, five Suchard products are listed. Under "Suchard," a text-box features at least a portion of the fable. Around this text-box is a repeated design of various fable characters. "Série 269" is at the bottom right of each verso.

Abstract

This card seems so similar to many series we have found, yet I cannot connect it to any. The illustrated scene is quite original, since the town mouse appears with his wife or girlfriend, in lovely period costume. The town mouse seems surprised to find his cousin smoking a cigar in his field!