A bill for a parachute, a bomb, a fish and a trailer

In an old mansion in the French Charente region, formerly the property of wealthy brandy maker Elie Ferrand, and until recently derelict, last year a very rare luminous walking stick made by Trouvé in 1884 was discovered in a cupboard and we featured it on this Trove.

In a drawer not far from the cupboard, in an old envelope was the Bill shown above. It is the only one from Trouvé’s workshop at 14 rue Vivienne, downtown Paris, that is known to have survived. It is for four toys – a parachute, a bomb, a fish and a trailer.

At the time, Ferrand’s grandson Paul was a little boy so he probably enjoyed playing with them supervised by his grandpa.

The Bill is dated 12th April, 1902 and may well have been among Trouvé’s final bills, because the 62-year-old inventor died of septicaemia in July of that year.

One wonders what other documents are hidden away….