B - History
In 1930–31, the Stanislas Esman company, presumably affected by the economic crisis, ceased trading despite offering a wide range of products. Did Alexandre Tchertoff meet Stanislas Esman to draw inspiration from his marketing strategy, or even to take over some of the company’s assets or business? Did he recruit one or more cutters from that company? The technical sophistication of some of the jigsaw puzzles produced in the company’s very early days certainly suggests as much.
The company began operations at 395 Rue de Vaugirard in Paris and moved to 5 Rue Auguste Vitu in Paris in 1931.
Around 1931, Alexandre Tchertoff struck a deal with Louis Vuitton to manufacture jigsaw puzzles under the Louis Vuitton brand.
On 22 January 1934, he founded the company ‘Établissements Vera’ with two partners of Russian origin, Alexandre Poutiatine and Oreste de Klemm. They gave the company the Russian first name ‘Vera’, which means ‘trust in the future’.
The company was registered with the Seine Trade and Companies Register under number 260-176 B, and subsequently 542 070 156 R.C.S. Paris. The share capital consisted of 252 shares of 100 francs each, held in equal shares by the three partners.
1934: a partnership agreement was signed with Kay Kamen (1892–1949), the exclusive worldwide agent for Walt Disney merchandise: this was the first such contract in France. Alexandre Tchertoff commissioned a Russian graphic designer to create the illustrations; these were then approved by Walt Disney before going to press. The Tchertoff family has retained a few originals of these illustrations.
Établissements Vera officially moved to 190 Rue Lecourbe in Paris’s 15th arrondissement on 20 October 1937, into the premises of EMEL – Établissements Mécaniques et Électriques. This move was undoubtedly a consequence of the takeover of EMEL by Établissements Vera; indeed, they used the ‘Spiro’ brand, which had been registered on 5 October 1938 by EMEL.
Pursuant to paragraph 4 of the Order of 23 September 1940 on the seizure and preservation of property in occupied territory, Mr Franz Kott, of 270 Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris 1st arrondissement, was appointed as the company’s Administrative Commissioner. This measure was taken under the German system of provisional administration of property due to his status as a stateless person.
The same order confirmed the appointment of Mr Hans Schlieben, Consul at 5 rue Paul Deroulède, Neuilly, as Commissioner-Administrator of the company for half of the shareholding, replacing Mr Kott.
On 23 December 1941, Mr Schlieben’s appointment was revoked.
In 1945, Alexandre Tchertoff resumed control of the company following his liberation by the Allies, and his son Robert joined him in 1947.
New partnership agreements were signed with Germaine Bouret, a renowned illustrator of children’s scenes around 1946–47, and Alain Saint-Ogan, creator of Zig and Puce, in 1948
On 14 December 1949, the company’s share capital was increased from 25,200 francs to 2,520,000 francs through a cash contribution (1,240,000 francs), with the remainder coming from the capitalisation of reserves, provisions and undistributed profits; the new share capital consisted of 500 shares (496 held by Alexandre Tchertoff and 4 by Mr Wrangel).
The contract with Germaine Bouret was suspended at the end of 1949, and that with Saint-Ogan during the first half of 1950, no doubt for financial reasons (see below).
The exclusive contract with Walt Disney was signed on 31 March 1951 with Consumer Products, a division of the Walt Disney Company established in 1950 following the death of Kay Kamen on 28 October 1949. It is true that a very significant proportion of the company’s production depended on this contract.
Following heavy investment (in research, moulds, etc.) to produce the ‘Jimmy the Skier’ toy, the company found itself in serious financial difficulty and was placed in voluntary liquidation on 11 June 1951.
On 12 June 1951, the Insolvency Judge authorised the company to continue trading whilst the proceedings were ongoing. The contract with Walt Disney undoubtedly facilitated this continuation of operations.
An inventory carried out on 12 June 1951 lists the company’s industrial assets and thus bears witness to the very substantial investments made by Vera in the creation of the ‘Spiro’, ‘Jimmy the Skier’ and ‘Philobar’ toy cars (see Plastic or Rubber Toys):
3 jigsaws with 1/3 CV motors mounted on reinforced concrete frames – value 3 × 20,000 francs,
1 jigsaw with a 1/3 CV motor mounted on a wooden frame – value 12,000 francs,
1 Delta jigsaw without a motor – value 5,000 francs,
tools for Auto Spiro – value 650,000 francs,
all injection moulds for Jimmy Skieur – value 1,100,000 francs,
all injection moulds for ‘Philobar‘ – value 300,000 francs.
Following the signing at the Commercial Court on 17 December 1951 of a composition agreement with the majority of creditors, providing for the repayment of the debt over a period of six years, the company’s continued operation was approved on 7 February 1952.
On 24 April 1952, the Insolvency Judge approved the accounts for the period of compulsory liquidation.
Robert Tchertoff took over the management of the company in the 1960s. Under his leadership, the strategic direction was clear: to ensure production under the most cost-effective conditions.
The industrial organisation was reorganised to boost productivity; working conditions were very demanding: a nine-hour working day, a half-hour lunch break, 1,000 pieces per hour, piecework pay, and the requirement for the cutters to sort their own pieces themselves – unlike the practice at Les Jeux Artistiques, which employed sorters.
1960–61: foundation of the company ‘Fair Play’
In 1965, Vera took over the distribution of Tower Press cardboard jigsaw puzzles from the UK and ‘Fisher-Price’ toys.
1973–74: launch of several new ranges:
numerous brain teasers for all ages,
American marbles,
a series of magnetic chess sets,
a new ‘Design’ collection.
1974: Robert Tchertoff recruited Michèle Wilson on the strength of her expertise: “At last, someone who knows what a jigsaw puzzle is!” he remarked during their first meeting. Michèle Wilson took up her post alongside the two die-cutters, Colette Sargent and “Nana”; the latter was responsible for the Rex jigsaw puzzles, which were cut into four pieces in the first stage (see the 1950–1960 section). Following a moment of carelessness whilst smoking near the saw (her cigarette butt was sucked into the saw’s dust extractor), Michèle Wilson spent the whole night sitting next to the sawdust bin to keep an eye on it. Robert Tchertoff joined her and together they considered the idea of setting up a ‘Michèle Wilson Puzzles’ department within Vera. The idea came to nothing, and Michèle Wilson left Établissements Vera to set up her own company, ‘Puzzles d’Art Michèle Wilson‘.
In late 1975, the American company Fisher-Price terminated its representation contract with Fair Play and set up its own distribution subsidiary. The termination of this contract led to a significant loss of profitability for Fair Play and, by extension, for Vera.
1977: As none of his three sons were interested in taking over the business, Robert Tchertoff sold it to the British group ‘Mettoy’, a toy manufacturer and one of Fair Play’s suppliers.
1980: The Mettoy Group filed for bankruptcy in the UK, leading to the liquidation of Vera and the sale or takeover of the Fair Play brand.
The ‘Jouets Vera’ trademark was registered with the National Institute of Industrial Property on 4 July 1980.
The company was struck off the register on 6 October 1982.