Rue Le Regrattier on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris is named after one of the contractors who was in charge of dividing up the island's land in the first half of the 17th century. It was one of the most successful urban projects of the time. Pastures for cows were turned into building lots for wealthy Parisian families looking for space to build urban estates.
The street was inaugurated in 1627 as Rue de la Regretie. But in 1710 the street changed its name to Rue de la Femme Sans Teste, after an advertising sign for a tavern that opened on the spot, showing a headless woman raising a glass of wine, with the slogan: “All is well.” The old name of the street can still be seen carved into the stone. Above it is a statue with its upper body missing, but not to be confused with the woman. It is a statue of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, commissioned by a wealthy shipowner who lived in the building. In 1793, the statue was beheaded with a sword by a revolutionary resident of the street, and in 1870 the street was restored to its former name, La Regretie.
The Origin of the Headless Woman and the Dandyism Movement
The advertising sign for the tavern, which featured a drawing of a headless woman with the caption “All is well,” originated from a sexist proverb that was very popular in 17th-century France: Femme sans teste, tout en est bon (A woman without a head, all is well in her). The proverb gave rise to a series of engravings by the caricaturist and publisher Jacques Lagnier (1600-1675) that flooded the market starting in 1660. They show a blacksmith named Lustucru, sometimes cutting off a woman’s head and sometimes “fixing” it with a hammer. The name comes from the phrase L’eusses-tu cru, which means “Would you believe it?”
Indeed, who could believe that a woman's head could be cured? During this period, the mid-17th century, when young, wealthy women from the upper cultural classes tried to free themselves from the yoke of men, acquire an education, define and glorify their personalities, and stand out with refined dress and speech, misogyny (hatred of women) was on the rise.
The so-called, Le mouvement précieux or in Hebrew “the dandy movement”, was a short but significant social phenomenon that survived less than a decade (1654-1663). The “dandies” or “gentlewomen” emphasized the refinement of the art of conversation, manners, behavior, love relationships and literature. The salons they opened in their luxurious homes were also attended by many men, writers and intellectuals. They played board games, composed poems and talked about philosophy, science, grammar, language, friendship and love.
The “pleasures” demanded independence and equal rights in married life, and there were even those who opposed the institution and proposed alternative ways, a very bold idea at that time. The movement quickly faded, but it drew attention to the status of women, paved the way for a discussion of their role in society, and laid the foundation for the emergence of various movements for women’s liberation in France and other countries. The “pleasures,” who sometimes tended to exaggerate in their dress, speech, and behavior, served as a target for the mockery of many satirists. Molière’s play, “The Ridiculous Pleasures,” is especially well-known.
The Engravings of Lustocrow – Misogyny at Its Best
The engravings belonging to the Lustocrow tradition express the misogyny of the men who are threatened more crudely. In one of them, we see a crowd of husbands forcibly dragging their wives to the “clinic” of the blacksmith Lustocrow. Donkeys loaded with baskets full of women’s heads arrive at Lustocrow and his assistants. They promise the husbands that after the “treatment” the recalcitrant, treacherous, cunning, and devilish women will return, and will be disciplined and obedient, in a word – good. Absolute control is guaranteed, in return for payment, to the grumpy husbands.
For the underprivileged, free of charge. In one hand, Lustocro, wearing a beret, holds the woman's head with tongs, and with the other he hits it with a hammer, just like the Roman god Vulcan (Hephaestus, in his Greek name), patron of blacksmiths, the god of fire, volcanoes and metals, who is represented in a similar pose with the craftsmen's cap on his head. It should be noted that the god Vulcan embodies the good fire, on which human industry and culture rely, but also the burning and consuming fire. He has the power to unleash lightning, storms and destructive volcanic forces, but he is the one who can calm them and bring them to an end. A similar ambivalence is seen later in the development of the image of his counterpart, Lustocro.
In other engravings, from the same series of Lustocrows, men behead their wives as punishment for their disobedience, and they throw themselves at Lustocrows, who is shown as a judge. Lustocrows was originally invented as a humorous-carnival character with a comical name and a grotesque and ridiculous appearance. But in the engravings, full of severed heads, there is an expression of wild, violent and cruel impulses. The women, whose revenge is not long in coming, also participate in the “carnivals.”
In an engraving by Sébastien Leclerc (1637-1714), for example, we see how women's heads are "repaired," reshaped after being beheaded.
Sebastian Leclerc, head laborer. Source: Wikimedia, in the public domain
A few years later, in 1663, an engraving appeared in which they hit Lustocrow on the head with a hammer and regain their severed heads, which were then attached to their bodies. This is an engraving by the same Sebastien Leclerc, called “The Grandiose Execution of Lustocrow by the Strong and Worthy Women.” In the catalog of Sebastien Leclerc’s works, published in 1774, it is explained that this engraving is a kind of correction that Leclerc made to the women whom he had plundered in his previous engraving.
The scenes have changed. Whereas before Lustocro had punished women who were described as evil and devilish, here, a woman hits Lustocro on the head with a hammer along with one of her friends. Another woman kicks him in the back and hits one of the blacksmiths, who is lying on the floor, with a bunch of keys. Another of Lustocro's assistants, laden with women's heads, is beaten with a stick, and more women run to help their friends. In the background, more women who find their heads hanging in a boutique, take them down to reattach them to their shoulders.
Sébastien Leclerc, The Grandiose Elimination of Lustocrou. Source: Wikimedia, Public Domain
Many other engravings depicting the execution of Lustocro appear in his wake, in which the women are seen beheading him or stoning him. The legendary-folkloristic-popular figure of Lustocro has undergone many different incarnations over time. Lustocro, who served as a punishment device for husbands against their wives, helps fathers in the last century to threaten their children. Thus, the lullabies of Narbonne and Montpellier scare the children of Narbonne and Montpellier in their book about a monstrous Lustocro equipped with a backpack who passes by the windows to kidnap the bad children who are not sleeping, his voice like a growl and his steps like the sound of a storm – echoes of his image of the fire god Vulcan, who was also deformed and lame.
Lustocrow turns his skin
But over time, the character lost his dark dimensions and became a kind-hearted, cheerful and funny giant. In 1911, after an illustrators' competition, the image of Lustocrou was chosen as the trademark of a French noodle company founded as a family business in Grenoble. A giant who feeds children turns Lustocrou into a giant who feeds, satisfies children and helps their mothers, a favorite of housewives.
Advertising poster for the brand from 1931. Source: Wikimedia, in the public domain
In 1982, the company, which grew and was bought by an international giant, launched the Lustocro brand of fresh noodles. In 2002, Panzani bought Lustocro. The brand exists and thrives and also markets all types of rice. Would you believe it?
The proof by the egg, a video showing an exhibition of the brand's posters and advertisements as well as related products that took place in 2020