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Germalyne

 1950? "La revanche de la cigale." Buvard offert par Germalyne. 5" x 8½". $5 from Mme Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, Feb., '02.Three extra copies, one rendered in green, from Denise Debuigne, Rennes, France, August, '07.

Blue ink on a cream background. This blotter does not just present a La Fontaine fable. It builds on the fable of GA to offer a new point. This cicada comes back one year later and gets her revenge. She claims now, in verse, to be ready for the tough winter--because she has Germalyne food supplement! "Now I can dance without fear!" she proclaims. The advertisement announces "100 pour 100 germes de blé." Might that mean that each of a one hundred pills contains the equivalent of one hundred grains of wheat?

 

1960?  "Le corbeau et le renard."  Buvard offert par Germalyne.  5" x 8½".  3e Série.  $6 from Bertrand Cocq, Calonne Ricouart, France, Sept., '18. 

Red ink on a cream background.  This blotter, like the  does not just present a La Fontaine fable. It builds on the fable of FC to offer a new point.  The crow is carrying not a "fromage" but an "emballage."  The fox speaks not of the crow's possible singing voice but about his "science diététique."  The crow lets his package of Germalyne fall, and the fox knows that it will help make up whatever he might be lacking in endurance.  This advertisement also announces "100 pour 100 germes de blé."