Cafes Gilbert seem to be very elusive, and all I have been able to find out about them is what is on the back of our card - that they had a branch in Paris, and another in Poitiers. If you look closely on the card though, right at the very bottom right of the reverse, there is a printer`s name, J. Naudeau-Redon et Cie, of Poitiers - so the Poitiers branch, despite being at the bottom of the card, must have been the primary branch.
Looking at this led me to a Maurice Gilbert, who founded the business in 1902, and called himself an importer and coffee grinder. They seem to have been regulars at all the French exhibitions, and were known for their steam grinding machines. In 1915 Maurice took over a place called Le Manoir de Beauvoir, in Mignaloux-Beauvoir, from the widow of the former owner, Charles-Théodore Allenet, which he seems to have used as a country retreat, because he still kept his own house in Poitiers, at least until the War came a bit too close to Poitiers, at which time he relocated to the Manor.
He also had a hotel, which was built for him, in Art Deco style, in 1933. It was not completed until 1935. That was confiscated by the German army in 1941. Maurice Gilbert died in 1944, aged eighty, leaving a widow and at least one son, but for some reason they did not get the hotel back after the war, it was taken over as the headquarters of the organisation responsible for restoring order and even for pardoning people who were suspected of being collaborators if they were not. In 1946 ownership,but only of half of the building, was given back to his widow, but when she died in 1960 it was bought by the city and used as an adjunct to the University. In 1994 it became the local administrative court.
The description on our card is also odd, for the fish is titled "Trigle ou Rouget", but when you search for Trigle there is no such thing, only the Italian for red mullet, which is "Triglie". Rouget is the French word for the same fish - but on no other card are there two words for the same fish.
Another curiosity is card six, the Morue, for that is the French word for a cod, but only after it has been dried and salted, before that, whilst it is still swimming, as on our card, it is known as a cabillaud.
The set comprises
- Carrelet et Sole - [plaice and sole]
- Doree ou Saint Pierre [john dory]
- Hippocampe - [sea horse]
- Maquereau - [mackerel]
- Merlan - [whiting]
- Morue - [salt cod]
- Raie bouclee - [thornback ray]
- Regalec - [giant oarfish]
- Requin - [shark]
- Thon - [tuna]
- Trigle ou Rouget - [red mullet]
- Zanclus cornulus - [Moorish idol]