France - Metz, Belfort, Grenoble, Cannes, Nice, Marseille, Montpellier, Perpignan, Pau, Bordeaux, Nantes and; Butagaz U.R.G. - Le Tour Butagaz. - 1921-1950

The composition presents a lively representation of France, with azure seas, green territory and ochre-toned mountainous ridges. A 60-slot numbered itinerary, starting and ending in Paris, crosses the country passing through numerous towns, including Metz, Belfort, Grenoble, Cannes, Nice, Marseille, Montpellier, Perpignan, Pau, Bordeaux, Nantes and Caen.

The map is animated by small illustrated scenes dedicated to the life and activities of the French regions: farmers at work, animals grazing, vineyards, factories, buildings, boats and cyclists. The Pyrenees and the Alps are depicted with a painterly, stylized drawing.

Along the route there are advertising trucks for Butagaz; on the right a large cylinder bears the brand “Butagaz U.R.G.”. Completing the composition is the motto “Le gaz qui voyage,” accompanied, in the blue lower margin, by a sequence of transport means: bicycle, carriages, pack animals, ship, automobile and train.

The French texts illustrate the rules of the game, integrating the playful function into the advertising map.

An interesting testimony of French figurative cartography and commercial graphics from the 1930s, linked to the cycling and travel imagination.

Verse: an illustrated advertising composition for Butagaz, printed in red and brown on a cream background, dedicated to the production, transport and domestic uses of gas.

Through short texts in French and small vignettes, it tells the journey of the product: from oil extraction in producing countries to transport via pipelines and tanker ships, to the French refineries at Petit-Couronne and Pauillac, to storage and distribution of cylinders.

Pictured are oil facilities, an oil tanker, storage tanks, trucks loaded with cylinders and a depot. A house shown in section illustrates domestic uses of gas for cooking, heating, hot water and lighting.

In the lower band rises a large Butagaz truck, accompanied by a landscape and the slogan: “BUTAGAZ, le gaz qui voyage, apporte la joie dans tous les foyers” (“Butagaz, the gas that travels, brings joy to every home”).

The verso completes the item’s interest as a testimony of French advertising graphics and energy distribution in the 1930s.

Shows signs of age and use, folds, abrasions, small stains and edge and corner wear, with marginal tears visible. Colors still vivid and overall readability good.
Small tear
See photo