Chocolat Menier Kiosk
Object/Work Type
Exhibition Kiosks
Title Text
Chocolat Menier Kiosk
Descriptive Note Text
The Chocolat Menier Company was founded by Antoine Brutus Menier in 1816 as a pharmaceutical manufacturing business in Paris, at a time when chocolate was used as a medicinal product. In 1825 the company acquired a production facility on the banks of the Marne River at Noisiel, in the outkirts of Paris. This facility became the first mechanized mass production factory for cocoa powder in France. In 1836, Menier introduced a signature product: a chocolate tablet with six semi-cylindrical divisions wrapped in yellow paper. By the 1850s, the company concentrated exclusively on the manufacturing of chocolate products and the Menier Chocolate company soon became the largest chocolate manufacturer in France. Menier set up "chocolate kiosques" all over the main cities in France and their hexagon shape and peaked roof became iconic.
The Menier Chocolate Company was a familair presence at Universal Expositions, and at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago Menier was hailed as the leading chocolate makers in the world.
This kiosk was located in the gardens of the French section, on the bank of the river Po. Attributed to French architect Eugène Bliault, the kiosk was a replica of a "pavillon the chasse" (hunting lodge) of the Plaine Monceau, an area of Paris that was part of the royal hunting grounds until the 18th century.
Code in the 1911 Map
SIM b 113 (11 French Map)
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