Lincoln, La Lustre

If the ghost sign for Lincoln washing machines in Saint-André-de-Cubzac has somehow lost its colours, this one in the small hamlet of La Lustre is still relatively well preserved.
For some information about the Lincoln brand, please refer to the post about the aforementioned ghost sign.

The fact this ghost sign includes the town where the authorized dealer, Blanc, was located gives us an idea about its age. Indeed the two municipalities of Prignac-et-Cazelles and Marcamps merged in 1965 to form Prignac-et-Marcamps. Thus this ghost sign was painted before.

S^té Salvaco
2. P^ce Tourny, Bordeaux
Lincoln
Machines à laver
Blanc agent agréé Prignac et Cazelles

The name of the painter and what may be his phone number appear just underneath this ghost sign:

Limnaïos
21.7.68

The advertising space on this wall was managed by the Société Salvaco, based in Bordeaux, as was the case for the wall in Saint-André-de-Cubzac.

Location: D669, La Lustre, Bourg, Gironde / Pictures taken in May 2012

Igol, Prignac-et-Marcamps

In spite of the fading paint and the creeper, it is still possible to identify the two signs that were painted on the side wall of this house, near the Café du Centre in Prignac.

The original ghost sign advertised the Atlantic brand of washing machines. Only the last part of the name, written diagonally in lower case in yellow on a black background, and part of the slogan "La machine à bien laver", on a red background, have survived. The origins of Atlantic go back to 1945, the year Jean Esswein began manfacturing spare parts for the automobile industry in La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée. Ten years later he launched the Atlantic brand of washing machines to tap into the expanding household appliances market. A few years later the company began producing fridges as well. However in the late 1960s, under new leadership, it was decided the company should specialize in electrical heaters and water boilers. For that reason Atlantic sold in 1969 its washing machine and other domestic appliances branches to Thomson-Brandt.

The Atlantic ghost sign has largely disappeared under a second ghost sign for the Igol brand of oil and lubricants.

Machine
à bien laver
Atlantic
Igol

Its design has very little to do with the Igol sign from Saint-Porchaire posted previously. Painted here is the first version of the Igol logo. It featured the brand's name painted in white inside a blue rectangle with the head of a red cockerel above. This particular design was used between 1950, when the brand was launched, and 1970.

Location: Avenue des Côtes de Bourg, Prignac-et-Marcamps, Gironde / Pictures taken in May 2012

Café du Centre, Prignac-et-Marcamps

The Café du Centre in Prignac hasn't seen any patron for a long time but the façade still displays a fine late 19th or early 20th century ghost sign.

Bière Limonade

Café du Centre

Vins Liqueurs

One can imagine how busy it must have been on Bastille Day, with flags hanging from the windows and maybe an orchestra playing nearby.

Café du Centre

Bière
Limonade

Vins
Liqueurs

Location: Avenue des Côtes de Bourg, Prignac-et-Marcamps, Gironde / Pictures taken in May 2012

Total, Prignac-et-Marcamps

This sign in the small hamlet of Prignac between Saint-André-de-Cubzac and Bourg-sur-Gironde must have been a relief for drivers running low on petrol! Seven hundred metres further, they would have been able to refuel with Total, the petrol brand launched on 14 July 1954 by the Compagnie Française des Pétroles (CFP). The following year the CFP created a subsidiary, Total Compagnie Française de Distribution, for the purpose of developing a distibution network for the Total brand.

The CFP was created in 1924. In the aftermath of the First World War the French government wanted to encourage the creation of an instrument capable of implementing an independent national oil policy. It also needed a company to manage the interests previously held by Deutsche Bank in the Turkish Petroleum Company and seized as war reparations. The CFP group adopted the name Total in June 1991. To find out more about the evolution of the CFP and about the other companies that merged to form present-day Total, you can check the illustrated history available on Total's website. It includes pictures of service stations with adverts painted on their walls.

This wall is a real palimpsest. Indeed there are two Total signs, plus another, older one.
The particular design of both signs for Total (the name in red on a diagonal white stripe at a 30 degree angle surrounded by two blue triangles and with the 'A' slightly tilting towards the left) indicates they were painted between 1954 and the mid-1960s. The company chaged the Total logo in 1963 but signs painters may have continued to use the original design for a while. Still there are some differences between the two. On one the name is right in the centre of the frame formed by the white stripe and blue triangles. However on the other, the name appears more towards the left. The reason is this ghost sign incorporated towards the right the gas pump logo, designed in 1955, with a red flame on a blue circle against a white background. The distance to the petrol station was painted at the same time. My guess is this rather unusual design may well have been used first but was replaced by the simpler and much more common sign design mentioned first.

Total
à 700 m.

The blue triangle above the Total signs is the logo of the advertising company that rented this wall: AMO.

With regards to the ghost sign painted before the Total ones, it stood against a yellow background. All I managed to read from it is:

À Bourg-sur-Gironde
Coopérative
...
.o...

Location: Avenue des Côtes de Bourg, Prignac-et-Marcamps, Gironde / Pictures taken in May 2012

Chateau du Bouilh, Saint-André-de-Cubzac (2)

Since there are two entrances leading to the Château du Bouilh, one could expect to find two painted signs.

Indeed, another one can be seen on this house by the road between Saint-André-de-Cubzac and Bourg-sur-Gironde. The message and typeface differ from those on yesterday's sign. The colours are more vibrant too. This may be because this sign was painted more recently. It may also be due to the fact it faces north and, consequently, is much less exposed to the sun, when the previous sign faced south.

This sign not only encourages to taste and buy the wine produced at the Château du Bouilh but also lists the different kinds of wines available: red, white and rosé.

Ici
Chateau du Bouilh
Vin Rouge - Blanc - Rosé
Dégustation Vente

As mentioned yesterday, the Château du Bouilh is more famous for its architecture than its wine (even if it is fine enough). Although it was closed when I was there, I could still take a few pictures. Click on each one to enlarge.

The western corps de logis

The semi-elliptical gallery that was supposed to link both corps de logis. However only the western one was built (left, in the background), leaving the gallery to end abruptly (right)

The dovecote (fuie) is all that is left from the previous castle. It is 12 m wide and contains 1200 pigeonholes.

Location: Route de Bourg, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde / Pictures taken in May 2012

Chateau du Bouilh, Saint-André-de-Cubzac (1)

This unassuming ghost sign on the side of the Route départementale 115 a couple of kilometres to the northwest of Saint-André-de-Cubzac invites tourists to turn left for a wine tasting session at the Château du Bouilh. The 48-ha vineyard produces a Bordeaux Supérieur.

However most people head towards the Château du Bouilh not so much for the wine but to discover one of Victor Louis's masterpieces. In 1786 Jean-Frédéric de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet, lieutenant general of the armies of king Louis XVI, contracted the famous architect of the Grand Théâtre in Bordeaux to build a castle fit to receive the king. Victor Louis's neo-classical design included two corps de logis linked by a semi-elliptical gallery. Unfortunately only the gallery and the western corps de logis were ever completed. Work stopped in 1789 after de La Tour du Pin Gouvernet was appointed minister of war. Four years later, following the trial and execution of Marie-Antoinette in favour of whom he had testified, he was guillotined.
For some photos, see the second post about the Château du Bouilh.

Chateau du Bouilh
Vins		à 500 m
Dégustation - Vente

Location: Route du Bouilh, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde / Pictures taken in May 2012

Dubonnet, Saint-André-de-Cubzac

This series of French ghost signs would not have been complete without a ghost sign for Dubonnet, one of the most ubiquitous aperitifs on the country's walls. However, contrary to other Dubonnet ghost signs presented on this blog, this one has almost completely faded away. If you wish to find out more about this once popular drink, click here.
Dubonnet was not the only product advertised on this wall. Unfortunately all I have identified is the first letter: 'P'.

Dubonnet

Location: Rue Nationale, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde / Picture taken in May 2012