1985? Frog puppet with attached Aesop's fable "Is There A Doctor In the Pond?" Puppets With a Tale: Folktails" series by Folkmanis, Inc., Emeryville, CA. Made in Korea. Gift of Margaret Carlson Lytton, Christmas, '90. Extra exemplar with a detached card from a flea market, August, ’10.
The card attached to this frog in the “Puppets With a Tale” series tells the story of the frog who suddenly announced to the animals that he was a physician. A clever fox retorted “Well, I’m certainly no doctor, but it looks to me like YOU certainly could use one.” He elaborates on the frog’s nervous, jumpy behavior, his sick sounding croaking, crooked legs, and blotched and wrinkled skin. The four paws have patches of Velcro to put legs together. A clever manipulator can get fingers into the upper and lower jaws as well as both front legs.
"The Frog and the Ox" features a huge, nearly rectangular ox. The story runs as usual. A passing frog says to the dying burst frog that the ox he envied is being fattened for Fairbank.
1980? French wooden puzzle and stacking toy based on Aesop's fables. One fable image on each of the four sides: MM; "The Heron"; FC; and TH. 8" high and 3½" square. $36.89 from FrenchVintageBibelot through Etsy, Dec., '20.
Ingenious and delightful! I wonder if this is a "one-off" created just once. Or was it a manufactured toy made many times over? Ten "storeys" make up four different images. Watch out! Solving one side does not solve the others! Of course, getting the solution "wrong" makes for some surprising characters!
2021 Jean De La Fontaine Euro Souvenir Banknotes. Two copies. $5 each from infomalta2013 through Ebay. March, '24.
I had not known that there was such a thing as this, valueless currency. I am happy to find copies of the La Fontaine version while they are available.
2000? French silk scarf about 33½” square depicting Aesop’s fables with English language quotations around each of nine images. $60 from GravityGoods, Aumsville, OR, through Ebay, August, ’21.
It is surprising to find a French scarf representing Aesop, since La Fontaine is so widely known and loved in France. This sheer scarf surprises also by its size. It has fun with the stories and their images! Click on any portion to see it enlarged.
1950? French Railways (SNCF) advertisement based on GA from a British magazine. 4¼" x 11¼". Gift of Susan Carlson, Dec., '24.
As Susie said in giving me this extraordinary piece of advertising, it is a "crossover" of my interests in railways and fables. The text here has little reference to the story of GA. The ant takes charge of the pair's holiday together. "Ideal travel is a combination of speed, comfort, and economy!" The grasshopper answers that those are his very thoughts and that is why he has already bought the tickets. The best clue I can find for dating this unusual piece is that trains in France are in the process of "more electrification." Good going, SNCF!
1952? Five La Fontaine puzzles made of numbered tiles. Four with "solution" images. €45 from cameleon 1958, Feb., '23.
Here is a different approach to fable puzzles. Each fable image has a frame with room inside for 23 hexagonal pieces, each numbered on its verso. All except TMCM have a matching image that can help to solve the puzzle. I am surprised by the good condition of these puzzles. The pieces still fit! FS has a surprising but consistent misalignment. Other puzzles are FS, CP, and "The Monkey and the Cat."
1932 French political cartoon. Nov. 20, 1932. L'Huitre & les Plaideurs." €9.99 from saintemariefrance through Ebay, July, '20.
In La Fontaine's fable, the "judge" eats the oyster and gives half a shell each to the two men arguing over the oyster, since one saw it first and the other got there first. Here the "litigants" go away angry, but the judge gets sick and has to keep running to the toilet. Moral: theft and gluttony deserve punishment.
1932 French political cartoon. Dec. 11, 1932. "Le Corbeau et le Renard." Signed "Tétras." €9.99 from saintemariefrance through Ebay, July, '20.
In La Fontaine's fable, the flattering fox gets the crow to forget and release the cheese in his beak. This time the crow with his cheese comes determined not to let that happen again. The fox shows up but acts as though he sees nothing. The angry crow finally shouts at him "Hey, fox, I'm here!" He again loses his cheese.
1927 French political cartoon. April, '27. "Le Loup et la Cigogne." "Jupiter." €9.99 from saintmichelfrance through Ebay, July, '20.
Here the "Lenine" Russian wolf, having gorged himself on the fat bourgeois of Russia, calls to his assistance his ally, the (English) stork. The latter does her best to assist him, at the risk of getting strangled and devoured when he will have recovered.
I have put together four different purchases of Seita matchboxes. Let me describe them first and then present images. Those images will match those that I have listed under French matchbox covers.
1950? Thirty French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian.
Here is a complete set of thirty matchboxes.
1950? Twenty-nine French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian.
This almost-complete set, missing only "Les Deux Pigeons," replicates the full set of covers in both sets of SEITA illustrations, minus the two larger covers apparently used for packages of ten. Their images are thus the same as that set.
1950? Twenty-nine French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian.
It is comic that I have two sets that are complete except for one matchbox. Luckily, the missing matchbox is not the same in this set as in the other. Here the missing matchbox is "The Lion and the Mosquito." Again, this almost-complete set replicates the full set of covers in both sets of SEITA illustrations, minus the two larger covers apparently used for packages of ten. Their images are thus the same as that set.
1950? Fourteen French matchboxes, each giving the title and an illustration for a fable of either Jean de La Fontaine or Florian.
These are the first that I found, and they are those pictured first below. What a pleasure to see covers I had found in two other places now on their boxes. FG, TMCM, and "La Taupe et les Lapins" repeat from there. Strong new designs here include "La Belette Entrée dans un Grenier," FK, "Le Heron," and "Le Renard et le Bouc." Just below are those first-found fourteen.
2020? Two French Fable Tokens. Nickel. €10.95 each from NumisCorner.Com through todocoleccion, Oct., '24.
This is something new to me. The verso of each is the same, a representation of "Republique Française," apparently a 1 Franc coin from 1960. The other side is a small -- not quite 1" -- representation of a fable of La Fontaine with its title. These images are so small as to be difficult to photograph well!
1990? French kitchen towel. "The Fox and the Goat." 16½" square. Cotton. Where and when?
Here is another lively design! Is this fox waving goodbye to the silly goat? Perfect condition.
1990? French kitchen towel. FC. 16½" square. Cotton. €5 from Michel Prigent, Lavernose-Lacasse, France, through Ebay, May, '22.
What a lovely and lively design! This crow has no generic cheese. It is Camembert! Perfect condition.
1980? French kitchen towel. TH. 18½" x 27". Cotton. Where and when?
This is one of the less flattering portraits of La Fontaine, I would say. The bright yellow is attractive, but there is not much spirit in this design.
1880? A full set of twelve gold-background cards with La Fontaine scenes and French titles. 2½" x 4". The scenes are again identical with those pictured on cards by Charles Wemple and Martin Kronheim of NY. $35 from Lee Fichtner, South Grafton, MA, through eBay, May, '10. Also 11 of 12 cards picturing La Fontaine fable scenes against a gold background. 2½" x 4". The scenes are identical with those pictured on cards by Charles Wemple and Martin Kronheim of NY. $13.50 from joseebunk, Kennebunk, ME, through eBay, Sept., '09. Also ten of the complete set of twelve (minus "Frog and Mouse" and "Heron") for $12 from Pat and Michael Madden, Schaumburg IL, March, '19.
Several years ago I found a full set of Wemple/Kronheim cards with green backgrounds after struggling to find eight individual cards. They bear no markings besides the fable's name in French. The card lacking from the second set is FM. The gold background invites scratches. Some of the printing here is not exact. The versos are all blank.
1934? French FC dust-jacket, 9½" x 7½", apparently for a school book, advertising "Pastilles Salmon" for protection against coughing. Imageries Réunies de Jarville-Nancy. Gift of Mimi Gras, Chambly, France, Nov., '01.
This "protege-cahier" puts a colored image of FC on its cover against a checkerboard background. The back cover offers the text of La Fontaine's fable under addition and multiplication tables. Mimi mentioned to me that this, along with the accompanying BF dust-jacket, belonged to her mother in 1934. The inside has simple 1½" stapled flaps.
1975? French colored postcard of FC. "Imprimé en France." 30 Francs at Clignancourt, August, '99.
This card quotes the first line of La Fontaine's fable. It sketches a simple and colorful village in the background. Except for the identifying phrase above as to its origin, the back is blank. Does this card not seem very much in the style of Jim Patt's postcard of FC?
1952? French dust-jacket, 9½" x 7", apparently for a school book, advertising "Amora: La Moutarde de Dijon." €5 at St. Ouen, August, '17. One duplicate for $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '05.
The colorful mix of reds, yellows, and greens follows the pattern on Amora's blotter of the same era. Here La Fontaine appears in a medallion in the upper center. Around him are five fables. Four are named and illustrated: WL; "The Fox and the Goat"; LM; and "The Little Fish and the Angler." Another, FC, is pictured on a glass container of Amora mustard. As the back of the cover makes clear, there is a set of twelve glasses in the set, each with a different fable. Now that would be a set to find!
