Early Absinthe
By 1805, the Pernod Fils absinthe company was set up in Pontarlier in the Doubs region, run by Dubied's son-in-law, Henri-Louis Pernod.
Initially there were just two stills producing only 16 litres of absinthe per day. Shortly afterwards the elder Dubied and his son split from
Pernod to return to their own firm, which was later passed down to a cousin named Fritz Duval.
Pernod Fils went from strength to strength. Henri-Louis's dynamic younger son Louis purchased 36 000 square meters of land on the
outskirts of Pontarlier alongside the Doubs River, and built a factory with a daily production exceeding 400 litres. By 1850, when Louis died,
the factory had 26 stills producing 20 000 liters a day. Louis's sons Fritz and Louis-Alfred took over the reins, and assisted by financing
from the Veil-Picard banking family (and also by a brilliant Swiss engineer Arthur Borel, a close associate of the Pernod's for 3 generations,
who designed most of the factories innovative distilling, bottling and packaging equipment) continued to expand.
Pernod Fils went on to become one of the largest and most successful companies in France, and was a pioneer in the humane and
enlightened treatment of its mostly female workers. As early as 1873 a profit-sharing and pension scheme was introduced, and the
company at its own expense insured its workers against accidents, gave them unemployment compensation and provided medical
benefits.
The popularity of absinthe spread further as it was used as a fever preventative by French troops fighting in Algeria from 1844 to 1847.
Mixed with wine or water - jokingly referred to as "absinthe soup" - it was believed to kill germs and fend off dysentry (no doubt, this high
alcohol combination also helped to relieve the boredom of barracks life). When the troops of the Bataillon d'Afrique returned to France,
they brought with them their taste for the refreshingly bitter drink, and absinthe became a hit in bars and bistros all over France.
The reign of Napoleon III - from 1852 to his downfall with the Prussian invasion in 1870 - was something of a golden age for absinthe. Still
relatively expensive, it was primarily a drink of the fashionable bourgeoisie. It was supposed to sharpen the appetite for dinner, and in the
early evening, the smell of absinthe wafted over the Parisian boulevards. By the 1870s, it had become common practice to begin a meal
with an aperitif, and of 1500 available liqueurs, absinthe accounted for 90% of the apéritifs drunk.
Licensing laws were relaxed during the 1860's, which resulted in a proliferation of new cabarets and cafés - more than 30,000 existed in
Paris by 1869, and 5 p.m. signified l'Heure Verte - the Green Hour - in almost every one. The cafés were an extremely popular place to
socialize, since most of Paris' citizens were living in cramped apartments, often in squalor and poverty.
Nowhere was this cafe culture more vibrant than in the Parisian district of Montmartre, already by the mid 19th century the favourite haunt
of the bohemian literary and artistic set. Amongst the best known establishments were the Brasserie des Martyrs, a particular favourite of
Baudelaire, the Cafe du Rat Mort, popular with writers by day and a lesbian hangout at night, and most famous of all, the Chat Noir,
founded in 1881 by Theodore Salis, an unsuccessful painter. Erik Satie played the piano here and Alfred Jarry was a regular, as was the
remarkable poet and inventor Charles Cross, who reputedly drank 20 absinthes a night.
In 1860, a young Parisian author, Henri Balesta, wrote Absinthe et Absintheurs, the first book to record the social context of heavy absinthe
drinking. He describes a typical cafe scene:
"In the morning, at lunchtime, the habitués invaded the bistrot. The professors of absinthe were already at their station, yes, the teachers
of absinthe, for it is a science, or rather an art to drink absinthe properly, and certainly to drink it in quantity. They put themselves on the trail
of the novice drinkers, teaching them to raise their elbow high and frequently, to water their absinthe artistically, and when, after the tenth
little glass, the pupil rolled under the table, the master went on to another, always drinking, always holding forth, always steady and
unshakeable at his post."
Initially there were just two stills producing only 16 litres of absinthe per day. Shortly afterwards the elder Dubied and his son split from
Pernod to return to their own firm, which was later passed down to a cousin named Fritz Duval.
Pernod Fils went from strength to strength. Henri-Louis's dynamic younger son Louis purchased 36 000 square meters of land on the
outskirts of Pontarlier alongside the Doubs River, and built a factory with a daily production exceeding 400 litres. By 1850, when Louis died,
the factory had 26 stills producing 20 000 liters a day. Louis's sons Fritz and Louis-Alfred took over the reins, and assisted by financing
from the Veil-Picard banking family (and also by a brilliant Swiss engineer Arthur Borel, a close associate of the Pernod's for 3 generations,
who designed most of the factories innovative distilling, bottling and packaging equipment) continued to expand.
Pernod Fils went on to become one of the largest and most successful companies in France, and was a pioneer in the humane and
enlightened treatment of its mostly female workers. As early as 1873 a profit-sharing and pension scheme was introduced, and the
company at its own expense insured its workers against accidents, gave them unemployment compensation and provided medical
benefits.
The popularity of absinthe spread further as it was used as a fever preventative by French troops fighting in Algeria from 1844 to 1847.
Mixed with wine or water - jokingly referred to as "absinthe soup" - it was believed to kill germs and fend off dysentry (no doubt, this high
alcohol combination also helped to relieve the boredom of barracks life). When the troops of the Bataillon d'Afrique returned to France,
they brought with them their taste for the refreshingly bitter drink, and absinthe became a hit in bars and bistros all over France.
The reign of Napoleon III - from 1852 to his downfall with the Prussian invasion in 1870 - was something of a golden age for absinthe. Still
relatively expensive, it was primarily a drink of the fashionable bourgeoisie. It was supposed to sharpen the appetite for dinner, and in the
early evening, the smell of absinthe wafted over the Parisian boulevards. By the 1870s, it had become common practice to begin a meal
with an aperitif, and of 1500 available liqueurs, absinthe accounted for 90% of the apéritifs drunk.
Licensing laws were relaxed during the 1860's, which resulted in a proliferation of new cabarets and cafés - more than 30,000 existed in
Paris by 1869, and 5 p.m. signified l'Heure Verte - the Green Hour - in almost every one. The cafés were an extremely popular place to
socialize, since most of Paris' citizens were living in cramped apartments, often in squalor and poverty.
Nowhere was this cafe culture more vibrant than in the Parisian district of Montmartre, already by the mid 19th century the favourite haunt
of the bohemian literary and artistic set. Amongst the best known establishments were the Brasserie des Martyrs, a particular favourite of
Baudelaire, the Cafe du Rat Mort, popular with writers by day and a lesbian hangout at night, and most famous of all, the Chat Noir,
founded in 1881 by Theodore Salis, an unsuccessful painter. Erik Satie played the piano here and Alfred Jarry was a regular, as was the
remarkable poet and inventor Charles Cross, who reputedly drank 20 absinthes a night.
In 1860, a young Parisian author, Henri Balesta, wrote Absinthe et Absintheurs, the first book to record the social context of heavy absinthe
drinking. He describes a typical cafe scene:
"In the morning, at lunchtime, the habitués invaded the bistrot. The professors of absinthe were already at their station, yes, the teachers
of absinthe, for it is a science, or rather an art to drink absinthe properly, and certainly to drink it in quantity. They put themselves on the trail
of the novice drinkers, teaching them to raise their elbow high and frequently, to water their absinthe artistically, and when, after the tenth
little glass, the pupil rolled under the table, the master went on to another, always drinking, always holding forth, always steady and
unshakeable at his post."
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