Most newsagents in France have a bright orange red elongated diamond shaped sign with flashing lights hung above their door. In white letters down the middle it says 'TABAC'. What does it all mean?!
Since 1906 newsagents have been obliged to display the carrot sign to show they sell tobacco. But why?
The 'carrot' in Veigné.
One of the explanations of the origins of this symbol that you will often hear is that being stored with a carrot allowed tobacco to keep better. And it is true that people did put a piece of carrot in their tobacco tin to keep it fresh. But this isn't the real explanation for the sign.
The 'carrot' has evolved over time. Initially it wasn't necessarily orange. It was sometimes brown. Today it has to be shiny and illuminated.
The 'carrot' in Preuilly sur Claise.
The number of newsagents selling tobacco is decreasing, and especially in rural areas the 'carrot' is disappearing. Newsagents today often want to modernise their offerings and don't necessarily want to sell tobacco. Today there are 24 000 newsagents in France, down from 49 000 in 1970. Those that still exist have done so by following the trends of what their customers want.
The real origin of the shape of the sign comes from how tobacco was sold in the 16th century. In those days tobacco was sold as leaves that you chewed or smoked. The leaves were not attached to their stalks, but in rolls that were wrapped in calico and tightly wound round with string in a way that made them resemble carrots. In order to use the tobacco one grated the 'carrot'. Later, the form changed to cigars and cigarettes, but the carrot symbol for shops stuck.
The first tobacco shops in France opened in 1716, very soon after the French ambassador to Portugal, Jean Nicot, introduced it to France and grew it in his own garden. He gave powdered tobacco to Catherine de Medici, to give to her son François II to cure his migraines. At the time, it was often called the 'Queen's herb' or 'Nicot's herb'. Tobacco was considered medicinal and drunk as a tisane (herbal tea).
In 1906 it became a legal obligation to display a 'carotte de tabac' outside any shop selling tobacco. The 'carrot' must be illuminated and in the shape of a diamond. It has to be either red, or tricolour (red, white and blue), and can contain the word 'tabac'.
These days the carotte de tabac is part of French cultural heritage.
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