BIOGRAPHY of Edouard Grieshaber (Valence, 1872 - Saint-Maur, 1951)

by Mr Pierre Gillon, from Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie "Le Vieux Saint-Maur"

Originating from a family from Fribourg-en-Brisgau (Württemberg) – his grandfather had settled in Besançon as a knitter shortly before 1825 – he was passionate about photography from the age of 16. In 1890, he established the first public photography course in the Tour Saint-Jacques.

He was the founder in Saint-Maur of one of the oldest photographic product factories: in 1897, the company Grieshaber, Warcollier et Cie settled at 3 Avenue de Condé in the former girls' school. It employed around fifty male and female workers for manufacturing gelatin-bromide or silver chloro-bromide plates or papers, roll films, or radiology articles, and had a 25-horsepower steam engine (Bournon).

In 1907, it became the Société As de Trèfle — named after the brand of photographic plates that Édouard's father had been having manufactured by the Graf house in Le Perreux since 1882. The papers and photographic products of this company would become famous throughout France, as well as in Europe, and as far as Japan and Argentina.

In 1911, the company acquired the Parisian paper factory Tambour. The original 1000m² factory located at 3 Avenue Mahieu, which disappeared in 1932 due to the widening of Avenue de Condé, was joined in 1923-1925 by a new model factory, allowing the plates and paper manufacturing to be consolidated on a one-hectare plot at 57 Avenue de Condé, expanded in 1927 and 1930. The company headquarters were transferred there on April 15th of that year.

The company also established a store in Paris and took a one-third stake in a film manufacturing company in Sully-sur-Loire, which operated from 1928 until the end of 1939."

At its liquidation, As de Trèfle repatriated the film production to Saint-Maur in April 1940. However, in September, the ban on all outdoor photography devastated the market for photosensitive materials, while the reinstallation of equipment from Sully was ongoing. Already running at a deficit in 1939, As de Trèfle could hardly refuse to supply products to a company in Frankfurt and a few industrial companies working for the Germans. This production accounted for nearly 20% of its revenue in 1942. At the end of July 1943, a major fire destroyed most of the buildings – which were not insured – and left the employees unemployed, whom Édouard Grieshaber compensated. The police attributed the fire to Eugène Cas, also known as Maurice, a communist militant and active resistance member, a member of an FTP (Francs-Tireurs et Partisans) group tasked with punishing traitors and collaborators and responsible for numerous bombings. Eugène Cas was arrested in December and executed at Mont Valérien in March 1944.

Despite this, production resumed, and the company's prosperity was evident after the Liberation with a 50% increase in the workforce and an increase in capital from 3 million before the war to 20 million francs in 1948. At that time, the Committee for the Confiscation of Illicit Profits estimated illicit profits made during the Occupation at 75,000 francs, and the case was closed as this amount would have represented only 0.2% of As de Trèfle's overall revenue.

The company operated until the founder's death and then that of his widow in 1953. Acquired by the optical glass group Lissac, the site became home to the SIL company (Société industrielle de lunetterie), which manufactured the Amor eyeglass frames, invented in 1946, and the LOR company (Lentilles ophtalmiques rationnelles), established in 1959, which produced unbreakable lenses. The merger of SIL and LOR was named SILOR in 1968 and later became ESSILOR from 1972 until the closure of the Saint-Maur factory in 2013.

Édouard Grieshaber was very active in professional organizations. He served as the president of the chambre syndicale des industries photographies from 1908 to 1922. He was also an administrator and co-founder in 1924, alongside Léon Gaumont, Charles Pathé, and Louis Lumière, of the École technique de Photographie et Cinématographie, a mixed school that opened in 1926 on Rue de Vaugirard and later became the École nationale supérieure Louis Lumière. He was also passionate about the history of the old neighborhood and served as the vice-president of "Vieux Saint-Maur" from 1948 to 1951.

References: Bournon, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, 1905, p. 146-147; obituary in Le Vieux Saint-Maur, No. 24, 1951, p. 133, and in As de Trèfle magazine, No. 18, May 1951; information and archives from the Grieshaber-Lebard family (including historical records from 1932 and 1942 and production notebooks); F. Denoyelle, "Photography and Collaboration: Purges in the Photography Industry and Agencies," Histoire et archives, No. 9, 2001, p. 125-165; www.museedelaresistanceenligne.org.

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Saint-Maur factory, avenue de Condé

PLATES

Reporter

Plaque universelle anti-halo Ortho
Box of 12 plates 10 x 15 cm
Grieshaber Frères et Cie As de Trèfle's logo is there, but brand name doesn't appear.

Veritas

Plaques Ultra-Rapides
Émulsion spéciale au gélatino-bromure d'argent à grain très fin
Box of 12 plates 6 x 13

Grieshaber Frères et Cie Société des Produits Photographiques As de Trèfle

Plaques Ultra-Rapides
Émulsion spéciale (Grain extra-fin)
Box of 12 plate 6,5 x 9
Grieshaber ... et Cie Société des Produits Photographiques As de Trèfle

Integrum

6 x 13 Plates
E. Grieshaber et Cie



PAPER

Dora

Papier Bromure Artistique DORA
s'employant comme les papiers Bromure Ordinaires, mais donnant des tons chauds. Se manipule à la lumière jaune.
Set of 10 sheets 9 x 12

Luxus

Papier Artistique Mat
Auto Vireur Obtention d'épreuves par noircissement direct
Set of 20 sheets 9 x 12

CAMERAS


Several cameras bear the brand As de Trèfle. As de Trèfle was not the manufacturer but aimed to supplement its range of films, plates, chemicals, to offer photographers a comprehensive range. This reflects a rather common approach among support manufacturers.

 

MISC.

Posas

Slipstick considering the month, day (from 1 to 32...), sensitivity (between 200 and 700 H&D). Aperture ranges from 2 to 28 (and 1 to 32 in the Uniform System).

For 'summer time, read in the table the one that precedes your watch's time.'"

ADS

Dispenser for Aspan film. One column for the 620 format, the other for the 120.

ASPAN

 

Collections A. Saudax, S. Halgand, Famille.