Desmarais Frères Kiosk
Object/Work Type
Exhibition Kiosks
Title Text
Desmarais Frères Kiosk
Descriptive Note Text
The Desmarais Frères kiosk was devoted to one of the earliest oil companies in France. Founded in 1861 by Charles (1824-1878) and Henri (1825-1887) Desmarais, it was originally devoted to plant oil refinery and supply. In 1886, the company created Automobiline, "an homogeneous gasoline for automobiles, small cars and tricycles" and the Oriflamme extra-white petrol, sold for lighting. The company also manufactured the Notre-Dame-de-l'Océan soap in Le Havre, as well as groundnut and rapeseed oil. In 1921, Desmarais established a network of gas pumps for the Automobiline gasoline. Desmarais became the main private shareholder of the state-owned Compagnie Française des Pétroles (CFP), founded in 1924 to organize the French oil market.
In the 1920s, Desmarais began producing the Déesse gasoline, registered in 1932 as Azur; which was made of alcohol, benzol and gasoline and became greatly successful as it could be used by most types of automobiles. Desmarais was absorbed in 1965 by CFP, subsequently renamed Total.
The Desmarais Frères kiosk was located in the gardens of the French section and designed by architect Albert Guilbert. According to Les Français à Turin en 1911, in front of the kiosk there was an elegant statue of Minerva. The kiosk was listed as number 18 in the Plan Officiel de la Section Française.
Code in the 1911 Map
SIM a (18 French Map)
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