Du Bo... Du Bon... Dubonnet

In a comment on an earlier post of mine featuring ghost signs, Claude reminded me of the signs you used to see in the subway tunnels of the Paris métro — DU BO... DU BON... DUBONNET. I remember those well from the 1970s. Look at this picture, and this one.

Here's one I found on the web. This is not wall advertising, however (que je sache).

There are at least two Dubonnet signs around Saint-Aignan. This one is on the road to Selles-sur-Cher, on the N76, not far from the Suze sign I posted earlier. The sign is nearly hidden by bushes that are growing out of control near the old house.

As seen in July 2004 on the N76 between Saint-Aignan and Selles-sur-Cher

The article in the Loir & Cher Info publication that inspired me to post these pictures of old signs says that wall advertising was banned outside of built-up areas starting in 1936! So these signs must all be about 75 years old.

« Puis, en 1943, la surface de l'affiche est limitée à 16 m2 avec un message bref, sans illustration, au nom de la marque, » the article says. Well, the Dubonnet signs seem to respect at least some of those rules. Here's a close-up of the one pictured above.

Dubonnet, like Suze, is an apéritif wine, also called un vin cuit or
"cooked" wine. We would call it a fortified wine.

So what is Dubonnet? The tag lines on the ads say it is a Vin tonique au quinquina, or Vin de liqueur au quinquina. The French quinquina is related to the word quinine in English, and one dictionary says a vin au quinquina is a quinine tonic wine in English. Quinine or quinquina is a extract derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. I guess that's the derivation of the name of that other famous apéritif wine, Cinzano.

A tonic has medicinal qualities. It also stimulates the appetite. That's the point of drinking an apéritif before lunch or dinner. Such wines, including Dubonnet, Martini & Rossi, St-Raphaël, Campari, Suze, and Cinzano, are syrupy and bitter-sweet.

Here's another Dubonnet wall sign. This one is in the town of Selles-sur-Cher, about 10 miles upriver from Saint-Aignan. There's a big outdoor market in Selles on Thursday mornings.

Photo prise à Selles-sur-Cher en juin 2006