We started the week by talking about a certain Guy Degrenne, born August 3, 1925 in Normandy. He is the founder of the famous eponymous house of tableware. A visionary industrialist, he transformed a father's forge into a flourishing industry, reinventing goldsmithing and revolutionizing tableware. He is also a fine communicator: to promote his cutlery, the entrepreneur uses television in an advertisement which marked the spirits in the 1970s. " My poor Guy Degrenne, that's not how you will succeed in life " ? then called the headmaster to the kid who spent his time scribbling cutlery on notebooks. The following to prove the contrary.
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A pioneer of tableware. On August 3, 1925, industrialist Guy Degrenne was born in Tinchebray in Orne. Taking over the paternal forge in Sourdeval in 1948, he recovered the armor plating of tanks abandoned by combatants on the Normandy beaches to design his tools. His project: to make stainless steel cutlery. Products that he democratized. It's a success. In the 60s, he started the factory of dishes and launched into high-end cutlery. The historic site soon too narrow, he set up a unit in Vire (Calvados). This brand established itself in the 1970s and is part of French heritage. From 1987, Guy Degrenne sells his business to the holding company "Table de France" and then opens up to other markets: porcelain, glassware, kitchenware. Credit: André Durand / AFP #Artsdelatable #guydegrenne #degrenne #vire #normandie #couvert
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Another designer whose fame is well established: Louis Vuitton, born August 4, 1821. Its name originally evokes travel articles, more particularly the famous trunks. An evocation of circumstance when some go on vacation. Recognizable by the famous monogram, they were revolutionary at the time, fitted with a single lock, a non-pickable lock. From the flat trunk (quite innovative) to the trunks of different models which can conceal a lot of things: special hat trunk, the dress trunk guaranteeing the toilets against any shaking, the perfume trunk and "the one with cage bed which can render the greatest service when traveling with children ”, specifies Le Figaro in 1904. All this luggage has been assembled at the Asnières factory since 1859. Today, this factory continues to manufacture emblematic pieces such as as trunks or special orders.
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Louis Vuitton, famous 19th century leather goods maker, was born on August 4, 1822 in a modest environment, a family of millers and carpenters. At 14, the young man left for the capital on foot. He is hired as a layetier-packeur-briefet maker. Very quickly he established himself as a renowned craftsman and built up a clientele and opened his own workshop, near Place Vendôme, at 4 rue Neuve-des-Capucines. Louis Vuitton will revolutionize the luggage sector, with the invention of the flat trunk and above all it develops unique know-how. His son Georges took over the company after his father's death: it is to him that we owe the LV monogram canvas, which has become the brand's emblem. A bold print to deter all imitations. Credit: Wikimedia commons and Rue des Archives #louisvuitton #vuitton #bagages
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Read also: Louis Vuitton: behind the scenes of the Asnières factory in 1904
We paid homage to another Guy: the immense writer Guy de Maupassant born August 5, 1850 in Normandy near Dieppe. Very attached to his region, he often refers in his works to the Normandy countryside, to coastal towns such as Le Havre. His mentor Gustave Flaubert encouraged him in writing. Recognized for his talent for describing ordinary reality in simple words, Maupassant contributed to numerous newspapers of the time: Gil Blas , L'Echo de Paris , Le Gaulois and Le Figaro : in 1884, the daily announced “the entry of a brilliant rookie author so appreciated of Une Vie, in its columns. Guy de Maupassant wrote no less than fourteen chronicles from 1884 to 1890. In 1887, he captivated readers with the enthusiastic account of his adventure in the sky: on board the Horla balloon he marveled at these new aeronautical techniques and with his poetic verve he describes the beauty of the landscapes seen from above.
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On August 5, 1850, the writer Guy de Maupassant was born at the Château de Miromesnil in Tourville-sur-Arques in Normandy. According to Le Figaro he "had studied at the Yvetot college and at the Lycée in Rouen, undecided on the choice of a profession, only passionately loving letters". The newspaper specifies "that it had for godfather Flaubert to whom it communicated - very timidly - its first lines. Attached to the ministry for the navy for several years, literature monopolizes it and it blackens pages. It is in 1880 that 'arrives an overwhelming success with the publication of his first tale "Boule de suif". "From the first attempt, he gave the decisive work, he ranked among the masters [...] From that day on, he never stopped to produce with abundance and masterful force "said Émile Zola in July 1893. In ten years, Maupassant wrote short stories, tales, novels without forgetting his collaboration with the press, in particular Le Figaro. Credit: wikimedia commons / here portrait by Nadar #guydemaupassant #litteraturefrancaise #letters
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Read also: Maupassant's balloon trip: "Nothing is more fun, more delicate and more exciting"
We also evoked Louis Lépine, famous head of the Parisian police force and whose name remains attached to the French competition of inventions.
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