1972 Two imperforate stamp proofs for stamps to be issued by the Republic of Niger. Each is marked "Imprimerie des Timbres-Poste - France." 25F and 50F, respectively. In honor of Jean de La Fontaine. $10.75 from Collect+, The Hague, The Netherlands, through eBay, Oct., '02.
The surprise for me in these two proof-sheets lies in the little note in the bottom corner: "Imprimerie des Timbres-Poste - France." Does France print Niger's stamps? These two proofs are as good a printing of the stamps as I have seen. Both stamps seem to include three colors, black, brown, and green. A strong brown foreground seems to stand against a sketchier green background.
1972 On November 23, 1972, the Republic of Niger issued a set of air mail stamps in honor of Jean de la Fontaine, including the three specimens pictured below, each on a first day cover and each in a numbered series of 2000. $30 from Alexandre Przopiorski, August, '99.
The stamps in each case seem to include three colors, one of which is black and one brown. A strong brown foreground stands against a sketchier blue or green background. Are there more in the series?
1953 Eight photographic postcards of the "Carnaval de Nice," each recording a float presenting a fable of La Fontaine with mention of its producer. Les Éditions "MAR," Nice. $80 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.
These lively photographs bring back happy memories of a few days on the French Riviera and one very short evening and night in Nice. In good carnival fashion, regular old human beings are on these floats along with the bigger-than-life figures central to each fable. FG tends to be a bit on the racy side. Notice that the photographs were taken generally in front of the "Casino Municipal." A close look at the "main float" will show that characters from many fables have made their way onto that float. The grasshopper and ant are closest to us. And I seem to see two doves perched on the king's hand. And there is a tortoise on the left front of the float.
1950? NIC Ancien Dessin Animé. La Cigale et la Fourmi. Paper Cartoon Movie.
Here is a fascinating surprise! I had no idea how this little offering worked. It came as a spindle containing a roll of paper inside a broken sheath in an old box with a hand-written title. A little work reveals that there is some beautiful artwork and good storytelling on this product itself. And the product is a fascinating, if timebound, product of ingenuity.
I found a website explaining the NIC system: https://www.jouetsanciens.fr/jouets-doptique-6/ The unusual thing about the paper film is that it has upper and lower images. Viewed quickly alternatively, the paired images create a quick repeated action, like walking or working. A rather large and complex projector had a crank for moving this paper movie through. I cannot tell how long the projector would linger on a given pair of alternating images. I scanned the paper in two halves and provide also an image of what a better box and sheath look like. Fascinating! And all of this for €2!
By the way, I found a list of NIC movies and checked to see if our GA is the only fable movie. It turns out that there is a paper movie of FC. Now to find it!
To help offer a sense of the lovely detail in this movie, I offer two detail sections: the ants playing pool and smoking in winter and the grasshopper dying.
2008 Ngu Ngon La Fontaine. DVD presentation of 26 fables of La Fontaine in Vietnamese cartoons. $1.99 from Dvany or VanaMall.com, Golden Grove, CA, on Ebay, Oct., '07.
There seem to be two portions to each fable here: a short narration of the story, including a visual circle, like a lens, in which the fable is told. There follows then a more elaborate song, in which the fable may be more perceptively portrayed. Overall, an angelic female descends to teach the lesson in each fable. Surprisingly, occasional overlays advertise a phone number. The trademark throughout seems to be "The He Tre." It is hard to feel scammed for $1.99!
1996 Complete set of 10 Nex fable fèves. Matching pairs. €32 from Monique Gottero, Aulon, France, through Ebay, Dec., '21.
The ten disks come with five having a notch to fit with a fully circular disk, and thus the five famous pairs align. Many seem to me backwards, starting with the "and" of the second partner. I can find no reference to this particular series on the web, though references to other Nex series abound.
1887 Newspaper page of 12 cartoon caricatures including one parodying FC. €6.99 from lycoum2 through Ebay, Sept., '21.
John Bull as the fox holds out his hat to catch Egypt as the Sultan is ready to let it drop. I note the unusual "Corbiau" and "biau" but am not sure how they add to the humor or critique here. I suspect that there is more going on than I can perceive!
1960? New Year's greeting card from Marianne Hinckle. Small octavo folded sheet. Illustration from the 1479 Verona Aesop. Lawton Kennedy Printers. $10 from Robert Perata Books, Santa Rosa, CA, Sept., '00.
The caption from Henry James reads "Be Gentle and Delicate and Pursue the Prize." It is matched here with the Verona illustration of the snake and the file. The red-orange color of both the dragon and fire highlights the woodcut nicely. "The woodcut is from fable 53 of the Verona Aesop, the first edition of Aesop's Fables in Italy issued by Giovanni and Alberto Alvise, 1479." The message reads "A Greeting for the New Year from Marianne Hinckle." I deliberately cropped the image wide of the card, to show the rough edge of the front sheet.
1995 One folded card, about 4" x 6", using an image of La Fontaine with animals by Odette Baillais. Editions Philatéliques, Nice. Distribué par SODOP. $8 from Loic Marchat, Villeurbane, France, April, '04.
After Baillais' composition on the cover, the inside left-page has wishes for a good and happy new year, signed and dated on January 6, 1999. The right-page has the FC 2,80 stamp marked cancelled with a first-day seal from Chateau-Thierry. See my comment on Ballais' picture in the large commemorative panel where I first encountered it.
1980? Netsuke of a Hare Carrying a Tortoise.
This is a surprising posture, even more surprising because the turtle has his head turned around 180 degrees! The hare has lost a chunk of his left back paw. What beautiful artistry!
The writers on the verso are at some pains with this story's application. Two children are enjoying big containers of four of Nestlé's great candy: Mintips, Anitips, Réglistips, and Eucalyptips. A rascal comes and takes them away. He can because he is stronger than they are. So, children, you need to be stronger and more energetic – not to take away like this rascal but to defend. Remember Maréchal Lyautey's remark in Morocco: "When people know your strength, you will not have to use it." Réglisse, I have just learned, is licorice. What a bad boy that fellow in the cap is!
Young René has developed a pattern. He works poorly all year long, but then races through his work at the end. One day he pays for this fault. His classmates have all been invited to a cup of Nescao with buttered bread. René, sure that he can get there quickly, arrives late. Every drop of that delicious Nescao has been consumed! In the picture we see René just entering through the drapes at the upper right. The other children are not only enjoying the Nescao; they have also found the "vignettes," stickers to put into their Nestle albums, so that they can get 50 Francs for completing an album – and have a chance besides at a ticket in the National Lottery!
In this episode, two young mothers, always wanting the best for their babies, come across a container of Farine Lactée Nestlé. I imagine that this is something like "cream of wheat" with milk. The two argue over whose it is: one saw it first and one found it first. This is the very argument that came up between two men on the beach in La Fontaine's fable. One had seen an oyster first, and one possessed first. Their decision was to ask a passerby, who took the oyster, ate it, and divided the shell between the two. In our story, the two women ask Boby, a wise young man, what they should do. He urges them to cook up a cupful. He promptly consumes the cupful and gives the cup to one woman and the saucer to the other. Boby remembers from his youth the sweet flavor of Farine Lactée Nestlé.
Nestlé's MM illustration is standard enough, except that what this milkmaid drops is a can of "Lait Idéal de Nestlé." What has this little Marion been dreaming about along her way? Of course! Of cooking with Nestlé's creamy product! The verso gives us two cartoons, one of the traditional Perrette and one of the modern Marion. Click on either image to see it enlarged.
Here the family father is advising his children to fill in their Nestlé albums: that is productive work! The verso then reminds us of the story of the laborer who entices his children – albeit after his death – to dig into the family farm. Work, not luck, brings success. As far as I am aware, Europeans more than Americans provided children with advertising albums into which to paste small stamps. This collection has several such promoted by Menier chocolate candy. The verso moralizes that there is no luck involved in assembling a Nestlé album, and work will bring a reward of 50 Francs for a completed album!
There are two mothers. One is hard working, always prepared, and makes sure that her child drinks lots of Nestlé sugared milk. The other is opposite and has to beg for Nestlé sugared milk from the first mother. Apparently she does not get it. The first mother is so careful that she can save money by putting together cards like this into a Nestlé album!
1925? Twelve Nestlé trade cards, all advertising a contest worth a million francs in prizes. Most involve some connection with La Fontaine’s fables. Seven are signed “Beauville.” The others have no signature. 4¾” x 7”. Ten are blue duochrome. £12 from 123colis123colis through Ebay, August, ’21.
Here is a third set of Nestlé trade cards. I present first a verso. There are eight different versions, three of them duplicated. Those duplicates are, roughly, “Did you work hard this week?” and “He’s really hungry!” and “Do you know what a white night is?” (A white night is a sleepless night, caused of course by a child hungry or struggling with digestion. Solution? Something by Nestlé!) Each includes a stipulation of the prizes in Nestlé’s contest. Apparently many Nestlé products suitable for children contained “stamp-vignettes” which children collected in an album “Wonders of the World.” Prizes for filling an album included 200 “Harwood” gold watches and 350 “Griffon” bicycles.
1940? Six large cards (8¼" x 5¼") presenting a colored scene and its black-lined outline to color in. Nestlé. The verso applies the fable presented in the human application in the illustration. $60 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. GA for €9.99 from Lisi47 through Ebay, Sept., '21.
Some significant effort went into developing this set of cards. Each front illustration advertises a different Nestlé product, and the verso works cleverly to view the human situation on the front of the card in terms of a fable named at the top of the verso. Thus one card's verso recalls the story of the laborer who entices his children – albeit after his death – to dig into the family farm. Work, not luck, brings success. The front of the card showed a family grouping where children are learning to paste small Nestlé stamps into a large Nestlé album. The verso moralizes that there is no luck involved in assembling a Nestlé album, and work will bring a reward of 50 Francs for a completed album! Click on any image to see it and its verso on their own page.
1930? Seven Nestlé advertising cards. Text and illustration on the front side of each card in duochrome black and blue. The verso of each, in black and one other color, has questions, suggestions, and a mention of Nestlé.
Because in many ways the backs of these cards are more interesting than the fronts, I will include each here. They seem to be tips for pupils, always including an advertisement for Nestlé chocolate in one form or another. Some backs recommend reaching to Nestlé during the times when one gets hungry between meals, for example. The "applied" fables seem to me to be forced, as when a monkey's opening a can of Nestlé saves the day for a bear family. The true story of FG turns out to include a young student who had his Nestlé and knew that the grapes were good. He got one of them! The versos offer fascinating inquiries. "Did you do your work this week?" "Let's make a collection!" "When your grandparents were babies." "Do you like dishes with cream?" My, what questions! 4¾' x 7".
2022 Five sets of needlepoint pattern pages for finished work displaying fables of La Fontaine. €6.60 each from opointdecroix on Ebay, July, '22.
I thought I would be receiving paper through the mail. What I received was rather a large set of pdf patterns through email. The sets, from 12 pages to 36 per project, fit together to complete the whole picture. I present here the finished designs, with the number of pages needed to create the design.
2004 Needlepoint of FC "Wrought by the Hand." Dorothy Unangst. 9½" x 7½". Unknown source and time of acquisition.
Very nice work! In this case, the crow is perched on top of a roof rather than in a tree. The composition is lovely. Trees on either side frame the house together with the two characters. Beautifully framed.
2010? Necktie "Aesop's Marathon." (The Hare and the Tortoise). Stamford, CT: Alynn Neckwear. Two copies. Unknown source.
There are lots of tortoises and lots of hares in this marathon! Aesop's story keeps stimulating new ways of thinking and visualizing! Alynn Neckwear is still going, but this ties seems to have gone "out of print." The creator has fun with groups and numbers. I see repeated runner's numbers, but they do not seem to be in the same group as the other appearances.
