| Absinthe Journals VI - Guguss and the Vaud Referendum |
| Move cursor over the link bars to see contents. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| This website and all its contents Copyright 2002- 2007 Oxygenee Ltd. No pictures or text may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission of the site owner. |
Guguss was produced and edited by the remarkable Genevois, Louis Bron, a larger than life (literally - he weighed nearly
150kg) bon vivant, satirist, politican and publisher. This ground-braking satirical journal was first published in Geneva in 1894.
Featuring a tight integration of handwritten text and hard-hitting caricatures by Albert Gantner (under the name Polyte). Guguss
new edition distributed at bars and cafés every Saturday. A passionate devotee of La Fee Verte, Bron ensured that Guguss was
at the forefront of the fight to save absinthe from prohibition, and in the years from 1905 many articles and sometimes entire
issues of the magazine were devoted to attacking the prohibitionist movement, and campaigning in favour of absinthe,
invariably nicknamed "coueste" by Bron.
Printed in Saint Gervais, where Bron was for a time the honorary mayor, Guguss was an ephemeral publication produced on
cheap paper, and surviving runs of the journal are very rare (and missing even from most Swiss institutional libraries).
The extracts below show Guguss' reaction to the uproar generated by the Lanfray murders, and the subsequent referendum in
the canton of Vaud, the first serious legislative attempt to ban absinthe in Switzerland. The temperance movement seized on the
horrific Lanfray murders in Commugny to bolster their argument for the prohibition of the drink. Jean Lanfray, a Swiss
peasant of French stock, having drunk two glasses of absinthe, shot his pregnant wife and two daughters, before attempting to
kill himself. He failed, and was found the next morning collapsed across their dead bodies. Public reaction to the case, inflamed
by lurid press coverage -was extraordinary, and focused on just one detail – the two glasses of absinthe he had drunk
beforehand. Forgotten was the fact that Lanfray was a thoroughgoing alcoholic who habitually drank up to 5 litres of wine a
day. Forgotten also, was that on the day of the attack he had consumed not only the two absinthes before going to work –
hours before the tragedy – but also a crème de menthe, a cognac, six glasses of wine to help his lunch down, another glass of
wine before leaving work, a cup of coffee with brandy in it, an entire litre of wine on getting home, and then another coffee
with marc in it. People were in no doubt. It must have been the absinthe that did it. Within weeks, a petition demanding that
absinthe be banned in Switzerland was signed by over 82 000 local people. (See also our FAQ for more detail on Lanfray.)
Because of the large image sizes of most of the scans below, a broadband connection is recommended for viewing this page.
150kg) bon vivant, satirist, politican and publisher. This ground-braking satirical journal was first published in Geneva in 1894.
Featuring a tight integration of handwritten text and hard-hitting caricatures by Albert Gantner (under the name Polyte). Guguss
new edition distributed at bars and cafés every Saturday. A passionate devotee of La Fee Verte, Bron ensured that Guguss was
at the forefront of the fight to save absinthe from prohibition, and in the years from 1905 many articles and sometimes entire
issues of the magazine were devoted to attacking the prohibitionist movement, and campaigning in favour of absinthe,
invariably nicknamed "coueste" by Bron.
Printed in Saint Gervais, where Bron was for a time the honorary mayor, Guguss was an ephemeral publication produced on
cheap paper, and surviving runs of the journal are very rare (and missing even from most Swiss institutional libraries).
The extracts below show Guguss' reaction to the uproar generated by the Lanfray murders, and the subsequent referendum in
the canton of Vaud, the first serious legislative attempt to ban absinthe in Switzerland. The temperance movement seized on the
horrific Lanfray murders in Commugny to bolster their argument for the prohibition of the drink. Jean Lanfray, a Swiss
peasant of French stock, having drunk two glasses of absinthe, shot his pregnant wife and two daughters, before attempting to
kill himself. He failed, and was found the next morning collapsed across their dead bodies. Public reaction to the case, inflamed
by lurid press coverage -was extraordinary, and focused on just one detail – the two glasses of absinthe he had drunk
beforehand. Forgotten was the fact that Lanfray was a thoroughgoing alcoholic who habitually drank up to 5 litres of wine a
day. Forgotten also, was that on the day of the attack he had consumed not only the two absinthes before going to work –
hours before the tragedy – but also a crème de menthe, a cognac, six glasses of wine to help his lunch down, another glass of
wine before leaving work, a cup of coffee with brandy in it, an entire litre of wine on getting home, and then another coffee
with marc in it. People were in no doubt. It must have been the absinthe that did it. Within weeks, a petition demanding that
absinthe be banned in Switzerland was signed by over 82 000 local people. (See also our FAQ for more detail on Lanfray.)
Because of the large image sizes of most of the scans below, a broadband connection is recommended for viewing this page.
Guguss Vol 22 #4 11 Nov 1905
Bron criticizes the temperance campaigners as interfering busybodies, always looking for the next target to attack, like Don
Quichotte and his windmills. He complains that they interfere where the have no right to be, and simply rehash the details of
the Lanfray murder in gruesome detail over and over again. He mentions how the wine producers are behind the lunch for a
bible none will have one on him - ask them for a corkscrew though, and every one, without exception, will produce one from
his pocket. He speaks about the virtues of drinking absinthe in moderation - he himself has only one a day - and points out
that many people have been killed in the name of religion, without drinking absinthe at all!
Bron criticizes the temperance campaigners as interfering busybodies, always looking for the next target to attack, like Don
Quichotte and his windmills. He complains that they interfere where the have no right to be, and simply rehash the details of
the Lanfray murder in gruesome detail over and over again. He mentions how the wine producers are behind the lunch for a
bible none will have one on him - ask them for a corkscrew though, and every one, without exception, will produce one from
his pocket. He speaks about the virtues of drinking absinthe in moderation - he himself has only one a day - and points out
that many people have been killed in the name of religion, without drinking absinthe at all!
Guguss Vol 22 #5 18 Nov 1905
Bron mocks the teetolling women who are flocking to
sign the Vaud anti-absinthe petition - why not ask
drunkards to sign a petition banning tea or coffee!. He
asks why they seek to destroy the absinthe industry
which provides so many jobs - why not prohibit the
car industry, because people die in acidents? And
absinthe has made Switzerland internationally
renowned for something other than cheese!
Bron mocks the teetolling women who are flocking to
sign the Vaud anti-absinthe petition - why not ask
drunkards to sign a petition banning tea or coffee!. He
asks why they seek to destroy the absinthe industry
which provides so many jobs - why not prohibit the
car industry, because people die in acidents? And
absinthe has made Switzerland internationally
renowned for something other than cheese!
Guguss Vol 22 #7 2 Dec 1905
Even the the advertisers in Guguss - like this Brasserie -
mocked the scapegoating of absinthe.
Even the the advertisers in Guguss - like this Brasserie -
mocked the scapegoating of absinthe.
Guguss Vol 23 #5 19 May 1906
Bron mocks the fact that by a vote of 126 to 40 in the
Vaud Cantonal council from 1 January 1907 the sale of
absinthe in cafés will be prohibited, but wholesale
sales will still be permitted - better then to drink your
absinthe straight from the barrel he suggests!
Bron mocks the fact that by a vote of 126 to 40 in the
Vaud Cantonal council from 1 January 1907 the sale of
absinthe in cafés will be prohibited, but wholesale
sales will still be permitted - better then to drink your
absinthe straight from the barrel he suggests!
Guguss Vol 23 #7 2 Jun 1906
The full page caricature by Gantner than
accompanied this article graphically shows how
the Swiss wine producers (and the
manufacturers of rival aperitifs) conspired to
ensure absinthe's downfall.
The full page caricature by Gantner than
accompanied this article graphically shows how
the Swiss wine producers (and the
manufacturers of rival aperitifs) conspired to
ensure absinthe's downfall.
Guguss Vol 23 #18 18 Aug 1906
This article laments the recent rise in the cost of both absinthe and coincidentally of milk (already relatively expensive in Geneva).
Bron is sure that only profiteers will benefit, not small producers.
This article laments the recent rise in the cost of both absinthe and coincidentally of milk (already relatively expensive in Geneva).
Bron is sure that only profiteers will benefit, not small producers.
Guguss Vol 23 #23 22 Sep 1906
This entire issue -printed in absinthe green - was devoted to the Vaud referendum scheduled for the following day, Sunday the 23rd
1906. Bron makes a final impassioned plea for the survival of the Green Fairy. He emphasizes that banning absinthe will not end
1906. Bron makes a final impassioned plea for the survival of the Green Fairy. He emphasizes that banning absinthe will not end
alcoholism, but will just drive drinking underground, where it will be harder to control. He predicts - accurately - that clandestine
alcoholism, but will just drive drinking underground, where it will be harder to control. He predicts - accurately - that clandestine
producers will immediately step in to fill the vacuum left by the prohibition of the legal product. Following Bron's polemic, a series of
producers will immediately step in to fill the vacuum left by the prohibition of the legal product. Following Bron's polemic, a series of
satirical verses contrasts the virtues of absinthe and chamomile tea, the favoured drink of the temperance campaigners.
This entire issue -printed in absinthe green - was devoted to the Vaud referendum scheduled for the following day, Sunday the 23rd
1906. Bron makes a final impassioned plea for the survival of the Green Fairy. He emphasizes that banning absinthe will not end
1906. Bron makes a final impassioned plea for the survival of the Green Fairy. He emphasizes that banning absinthe will not end
alcoholism, but will just drive drinking underground, where it will be harder to control. He predicts - accurately - that clandestine
alcoholism, but will just drive drinking underground, where it will be harder to control. He predicts - accurately - that clandestine
producers will immediately step in to fill the vacuum left by the prohibition of the legal product. Following Bron's polemic, a series of
producers will immediately step in to fill the vacuum left by the prohibition of the legal product. Following Bron's polemic, a series of
satirical verses contrasts the virtues of absinthe and chamomile tea, the favoured drink of the temperance campaigners.
Reflecting the result of the Vaud referendum - an
overwhelming vote to ban absinthe - this powerful
caricature by Gantner accompanying Bron's article
shows the helpless Green Fairy - also a symbol of
Swiss liberty and free-trade - being ravished by a
maniacal prohibitionist.
Guguss Vol 23 #25 6 Oct 1906
Bron, using very colourful language,
laments the shock result of the Vaud
referendum, which resulted in a ban on the
Green Fairy. He mocks the absurd lengths
temperance campaigners will go to
absinthe to chickens, so that children in
schools can be shown the dangers of drink.
Bron, using very colourful language,
laments the shock result of the Vaud
referendum, which resulted in a ban on the
Green Fairy. He mocks the absurd lengths
temperance campaigners will go to
absinthe to chickens, so that children in
schools can be shown the dangers of drink.
| Click on the thumbnails above, to view enlarged images. |
Very good condition. Extremely rare. Missing in all the French national libraries, and in all but one of the
Swiss national and cantonal libraries.
The price includes worldwide shipping.
Swiss national and cantonal libraries.
The price includes worldwide shipping.