Chocolat Menier

Chocolate Menier is one of the most charming posters in our collection. A schoolgirl stops along her journey, puts down her full basket of Menier sweets and umbrella, and uses a piece of chocolate to graffiti her love of the brand on a wall. It is an alluring image that relates the sweetness of childhood to chocolate while also making us viewers accomplice to the girl’s playful prank.

Chocolate Menier was founded in 1816 by Antione Menier. Menier started his company producing medicine, using cocoa powder to coat the tablets. Chocolate proved to be the star ingredient, and Menier quickly pivoted to becoming a chocolate company. They became the first company in France to use machinery in their process, used the latest advances in transit and production, and owned cocoa estates in Nicaragua. Menier quickly became the largest chocolate manufacturer in France. Their popularity waned after WWII, and the company was eventually bought by Nestle. Nestle uses Chocolate Menier’s Industrial Revolution factory as their French headquarters, and the building is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Firmin Bouisset (1859 - 1925) was a French illustrator and painter. His special area of expertise was depicting children. Bouisset used his daughter as the model for this poster, and it went on to become Chocolate Menier’s mascot. The French Schoolgirl was used not just in this poster, but in all of Menier’s packaging going forward. This was not the only time Bouisset created a smash hit - his illustration of a schoolboy for Lefevre Utile cookies is still used to this day in packaging.

This is an Original Vintage Poster; it is not a reproduction. This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed, and in excellent condition. We guarantee the authenticity of all of our posters.