Nestlé - Expo Paris 1931

For two hours we have been walking in a dream: Africa, Asia, Oceania have been laying out before our eyes the grace of their palaces and villages, the range of their skins: bronze, brick, copper, anthracite - the shimmer of their costumes and the fur of their animals.

Between the trees of what used to be the Bois de Vincennes, the macadamised road unwinds its ribbon of bluish moire; a strange smell still weighs down the still air. Sitting down, resting, relaxing, drinking... And suddenly, here is the oasis. After the yellows, the reds, the burning greys, here is a pale blue, a springtime sky blue: this building of a tempered "colonialism". Is it a temple? A blue and white octagonal column emerges from it, topped by heads with massive horns. Symbolic bulls? No: peaceful cows. Temple of some pagan deity? Not: Nestlé stand.

A lap of honour. To begin with, let's line up behind the jostling children. A jointed cow turns her head and flaps her eyelids, while a female farmer tugs at the swollen udders. A little Nestle hunter, also articulated, turns the pages of the famous "Wonders of the World" booklet. (This album allows you to collect the beautiful stamps found in the delicious Nestlé, "Gala" Peter, Cailler, Kohler chocolates, and gives you the right to participate in the distribution of numerous premiums).

Pretty saleswomen look after the variety of tempting chocolate bars, which are also offered free of charge. We go along the circular corridor outside, lined with flowers, counters and pretty pictures. But... the floor moves forward by itself: we are on a moving pavement. It's a joy to have no more effort to make, a joy to spare our aching feet. "The tour of Nestlé in a few minutes".

Here we are again at the entrance: a glance at the grey-glazed interior, carpets, armchairs and curtains, with, in the cool half-light, the discreet gold of the candy boxes and the little bellies wisely lined up with the tins of Condensed Milk, Milky Flour, Petit Gruyère and Nescao: tender marvels prepared for the sole pleasure of children and their parents.

Opposite us, at the other end of the stand, the door opens onto an aquarium of greenery: it is the terrace with its well-served tables, between which blue and white polyglot waitresses circulate; blue parasols, blue tables; are we still at the Colonial Exhibition? A kitchen is close by, from which escapes, as from a cassolette, the enticing perfume of hot buns and cakes.

God! How hungry we were and how delectable this Kohler chocolate is! Yes, the Nestlé stand is indeed a temple: the temple of good things; the temple of this goddess of greed that we serve with the fervour of the first ages.
The Nestlé stand... an oasis; close by, two hundred metres away, is the entrance or exit door to the Exhibition; two steps away is the pale green pool with its water jets; close by is the life of Paris or, as the case may be, of the Colonies; here is ecstasy, and it is a corner of pasture.

We often returned to the Colonial Exhibition, and each time, during the beautiful journey, we came back to take strength at the Nestlé pavilion, temple of greed. There, under cool shades, in the greenery, in the azure, we had the joy of tasting things of a truly impeccable quality. We were able to measure the efforts of the largest producer of concentrated milk, children's products and fine chocolates.

©Livre D'Or - Exposition Coloniale Internationale - Paris 1931