“On October 28, 1899 Maurice Méry launches Le Sourire, to compete against Le Rire, which was very successful since its inception in 1894. As editor he hires Alphonse Allais, one of the masters of French humor and ex-manager of the Chat Noir from 1886 through 1891. Allais becomes the driving force of Le Sourire until his death in 1905. In order to increase sales, the magazine publishes a poster in 1905 in which a Grünette displays an issue of Le Sourire showing Alphonse Allais, caricatured by Cappiello, enthroned on the cover page. In the rear, on a black background, two town councilors are doubled up with laughter. A peculiar and unusual detail: a man’s clenched fist is pulling on her red dress. In May 1905 Le Sourire announces the publication of a special plate: ‘A Bonus-poster! We are pleased to offer this plate free of charge to our subscribers. No copy will ever be sold in the stores and it will attain additional value since it is the result of rare collaboration, especially with artists of such caliber.’ One notes that the value of the posters was already a sales argument. Oddly enough, in view of what is said in the ad, this poster should have been relatively common—which is far from being the case. The answer lies perhaps in the fact that one was charged for the ‘bonus’ plate” (Grün, p. 108).
Imp. Chaix, Paris
literature: Grün, p. 108; Cappiello, 229; PAI-XC, 258