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Le Sirop de Gaïarsol

Le Sirop de Gaïarsol

1920? Two crayon-colored cards advertising "Le Sirop de Gaïarsol."  FS and WL.  Illustrated by Benjamin Rabier.  "Image a colorier."  Laboratoires Bouty, Paris.  €4 each at St. Ouen, August, '15.  And nineteen uncolored trade cards from Le Sirop de Gaïarsol, a product of Laboratoires Bouty, Paris.  A larger black-and-white image by Benjamin Rabier and a colored small image as model.  One duplicate: "Bird and Rabbit."  $90 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18.

After finding the two colored cards, I noted that Rabier is easily distinguished by the smile -- or smirk? -- on the fox's face in FS.  Ten of the uncolored cards picture known fables.  I will display them at the top of the second table below.  Others may well be drawn from the diverse other children's books Rabier created.  The combination of cheap paper, large cartoon, and small colored portion is unique, in my experience.  Each card proclaims that this remedy "calms a cough, disinfects the bronchi, fortifies the organism." The verso has two forms, both giving "Conseils d'hygiène familiale."  OF, "Two Goats," and "Two Rats with an Egg" are other vintage displays of Rabier's wit!  The series is replicated in a set of leaflets using the same images in a different format.