Lustucru

Lustucru Torchon Rack

Lustucru Milk Pail

I have liked Lustucru ware for a long while and ask my French contacts to buy any they see as it is very collectible and always seems to sell.  Both the blue and the red would go in my kitchen but I have chosen to have the blue; this allumettes container and torchon rack are mine.

These storage tins and utensil rack are for sale and on my website.

Lustucru Utensil Rack and Cannisters

In 1824 a manufacturer located in Grenoble, France began producing 15 tons of pasta a day capitalising on a new drying process which enabled pasta to be made at a much lower cost.  In 1911 a contest between the best illustrators of the time produced a name, brand logo and mascot.  This was a simple blue checkerboard (to evoke a kitchen) and Pere Lustucru, a 17th century fictional character.  To raise awareness of the firm they produced kitchen items bearing this checkerboard design.  The French housewife would collect tokens from the pasta packaging and redeem these for her chosen kitchen items such as cannisters, utensil racks, clocks, milk pails, coffee pots and trivets.  Square and round cannister sets were especially popular in the 1920s and as well as the red/cream, blue/cream  colours they also produced light blue/royal blue and green/yellow (very rare).