The Taverne drugstore, a family business for 130 years, in the city center of Toulouse
By Philip Salvador
Published on
Push the door of drugstore tavern amounts to doing a link in time. It’s been 130 years since the small shop has been planted at 14 rue Saint-Antoine-du-T, in the city center of Toulouse. And not much seems to have changed since then. The smells of shoe polish, washing powder and paper from Armenia. Claims from the turn of the last century of forgotten brands. The weathered furniture, the century-old tools and the gaslight on the ceiling, which we preferred to keep. “There’s a soul here” summary Christiane Espinasse, 92 years oldthe granddaughter of the founder, François Taverne.
It all starts with a paint shop…
Bon pied bon œil, this little piece of woman still runs the store, with her daughter Béatrice and her grandson Sébastien. Most often seated on one of the four chairs arranged in front of the counter, which are precisely there for those who would like to cut a bib. She recounts the life of her ancestor. Commentary, in what was at the start a paint shop, he traced and painted the letters of the storefronts or panels, “in three layers”. “It wasn’t gnognotte! And it was better not to make a spelling mistake, otherwise you would have to start all over again. » How he had become too attribute specialist.
“He made drawings to translate certain words on the signs. Boots for a shoemaker, a hat for a hatter… Because most people couldn’t read. We have no idea what life was like at that time”.
The craftsmen’s street
The dean describes the rue Saint-Antoine-du-T of the Belle Epoque. “The buildings we knew were all there already. Except that there was a craftsman on each ground floor. So much so that my grandfather was very hesitant to settle here, because of the competition. My grandmother Alida had finally convinced him by telling him that all the others would disappear, that only the Tavern would remain. His words were prescient”. The shop has had no neighbors other than ready-to-wear sellers for a long time.
The only qualified druggist in Toulouse
It was after the Second World War that the place became exclusively a drugstore. And that Christiane started working there. She says she is the only one in Toulouse to have obtained a druggist CAP, in 1953. “It is ridiculous to have abolished this diploma, because we sell dangerous products all the same. His father, “a loud-mouthed squadron leader” only handed over to him at the age of 91. The story repeats itself at Taverns.
Ali Baba’s Tavern
“If I look at the photos of the interior of the store, I say to myself: ”But what stuff!” When you’re inside, you don’t realize it. It’s Ali Baba’s Tavern here,” laughs Christiane Espinasse. Around her, over a thousand items. Bristle brushes or brooms and ostrich feather dusters. Encaustic waxes, baking soda, black soap and white vinegar. Potting soil and fertilizers, insecticides and whetstones. Corkscrews, nutcrackers or tablecloth clips. Even though almost everything can now be bought online, customers will continue to flock to the Taverne drugstore to seek advice. These are not found anywhere else.
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