Eulan | 1939
“Vaccinés pour la vie contre les mites”: vaccinated for life against moths. In July 1939, a giant syringe pointed at a cardigan to sell the knitwear of Tricots BZ and the wools of Laines Sainte-Geneviève, all “treated with Eulan from the I.G.”
Eulan was a moth-proofing agent developed by chemists at Bayer in Leverkusen in the early 1920s; the name joins the Greek eu, “good”, and the Latin lana, “wool”. From 1925 Bayer was part of IG Farben, the “I.G.” on the seal.
Two months after this ad, war broke out. IG Farben later used forced labour, including at Auschwitz, and was broken up by the Allies.
The ad itself shows a time when moths were a serious threat to the family wardrobe.
Text in the ad
Vaccinés pour la vie contre les mites
LES TRICOTS BZ. F 1939 (layette, sweaters, liseuses, etc.), et LES LAINES Ste-GENEVIÈVE · CABLÉ SCOUT, MÉRINOS CACHEMIRE · CABRI, HENRI II (pour tapisserie)
(Sceau :) Traité à l'Eulan de l'I.G. · EULAN · Résiste aux mites
Translation:
Vaccinated for life against moths
TRICOTS BZ F 1939 knitwear (baby clothes, sweaters, bed jackets, etc.), and LAINES Ste-GENEVIÈVE wools · CABLÉ SCOUT, CASHMERE MERINO · CABRI, HENRI II (for tapestry)
(Seal:) Treated with Eulan from the I.G. · EULAN · Moth-resistant
- Brand
- Eulan
- Year
- 1939
- Decade
- 1930s
- Country
- France
- Medium
- Magazine
- Themes
- Fashion
- Original publication
- Plaisir de France, juillet 1939
