You may be wondering why we have a sunflower - especially as I forgot to tell you on Wednesday night ! The truth is that this represents the 1960s, which is really when the latest version of community gardening began. We are not entirely sure why, but all of a sudden people power started brightening up their local areas and bringing them back to use, and, curiously, it was a worldwide idea all at the same time - just think of the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, who suggested that anyone protesting the Vietnam war should carry flowers, and hand them to police and politicians, to show that their protest, and beliefs, were peaceful. This simple act became known as "flower power".
Sunflowers also have a lot of power in themselves, strength, to grow such a long stem from a simple seed, and also to make children start getting interested in gardening, for that is why they are so popular in community gardens, and, often, there are competitions, to see which child can grow the tallest one.
This card was printed by Ferdinand Champenois, who was based at 66, Boulevard St. Michel, in Paris. He was born in 1859 and died in 1927, and for much of that time he was a printer, beginning when he was twenty-one, and only closing the works when he was sixty one. His claim to fame is that he produced not only trade cards and postcards, but posters, and that the great Alphonse Mucha thought his printing to be the best of all, favouring him above all else to print his works - indeed Mucha even designed a poster to advertise the business of Ferdinand Champenois, a true mark of his respect for the company.
We have had a bit of a breakthrough with the identification of this set, thanks to several readers. At first several were suggested - "Fleurs" meaning flowers, though the card also has a country name - then "Fleurs des Pays", which translates to flowers of the countries - or "Pays et l`industries", which means countries and their industries - and this card does translate to the sunflower being "used for manufacturing oil in Russia". Then someone suggested "embleme vegetal", or national floral emblems, but this is not the case, for the sunflower is not the emblem of Russia, instead it stands for Ukraine.
However, the real clue came from someone who sent me this card by another maker, Guerin-Boutron. Their cards are titled "Botanique Illustree", and also they state there are eighty-four of them. They are not numbered, but I have numbered them here, until we find all eighty-four, so that I can track my progress towards a complete set. The first word always seems to be La, La, or Les, which means "the", so I have moved that to the back and gone with the first letter of the actual plant
- Absinthe, L` - medicament, liqueur funeste (G)
- Acacia d`Arabie, L` (G)
- Amandier, L` - huile et savons, nougats (G)
- Amaryllis, L` - parfum (G)
- Ananas, L` (G)
- Arnica (G)
- Artichaut, L` - modele de dessin, mets recherche (G)
- Avoine, L` (G)
- Belladone, La - la douce amere, medicament (G)
- Ble, Le - farine, pain, chaume (G)
- Bourrache, La - sudorifique (G)
- Cacaoyer, Le - chocolat, cacao, bonbons (G)
- Cafeier, Le (G)
- Camomille, La - infusion (G)
- Canne a Sucre (G)
- Caprier, Le (G)
- Carotte, La (G)
- Cerisier, Le - confitures, cerises a l`eau-de-vie (G)
- Champignons, Les (G)
- Chanvre, Le - la toile, les cordes, huile de chenevis (G)
- Chataigne, La - remede contre la toux des chevaux (G)
- Chene, Le - les glands, le tannin, meubles (G)
- Chrysanthemes, Les (G)
- Citronnier, Le (G)
- Clou de Girofle - la muscade (G)
- Cocotier, Le (G)
- Colza, Le - l`oeilette(G)
- Coton, Le (G)
- Cresson Le (G)
- Dattier, Le (G)
- Digitale, La (G)
- Epinards, Les (G)
- Figuier, Le - donne le caotchouc
- Fraises, Les (G)
- Frene, Le - bois pour le tour (G)
- Garance, La - sert a la teinture (G)
- Geneivre, Le - liqueur forte (G)
- Heliotrope, L` (G)
- Houblon, Le - la biere (G)
- Iris, L` - le scahet, poudre de riz (G)
- Jonc, Le - feuri vannerie (G)
- Lin, Le - le toile, l`huile (G)
- Mais, Le - engraisse les volailles (G)
- Mauve, La - sort de tisane (G)
- Menthe, La - vulneraire, pastilles et boisson (G)
- Moutarde, La - sert de revulsif (G)
- Noisette, La - dessert et patisserie (G)
- Olivier, L` - huile d`olives (G)
- Oranger, L` (G)
- Orme, L` - bois dur (G)
- Oseille. L` - le poireau (G)
- Pavot, Le - opium, narcotique (G)
- Petits Pois, Le (G)
- Pin, Le - terebentine, goudron, colophane (G)
- Poirier, La - le poire, meubles (G)
- Poivre, Le (G)
- Pomme de Terre, La (G)
- Pommier, Le - le cidre, la tarte aux pommes (G)
- Prunes, Les - eau de vie, confiture (G)
- Quinine, La - medicament contre la fievre (G)
- Radis, Le - et sa fleur (G)
- Riz, Le (G)
- Rose, La - le bois de rose (G)
- Safran, Le - condiment du midi (G)
- Sureau, Le - poison les poules, la moelle, infusion (G)
- Tabac, Le (G)
- The, Le - torrefaction le five o`clock (G)
- Tournesol, La - sert a la fabrication de l`huile en Russie (G)(P)
- Trefle, Le (G)
- Trufle, La - mets trottes (G)
- Valeriane, La - redoutee des chats, son emploi en pharmacie (G)
- Vareche, Le (G)
- Violette, La (G)