A bit of History
The mask collections and original moulds featured on BENIX.shop—a unique opportunity to acquire a small piece of heritage.
A little history…
Maison César
The origins of Maison César date back to the 19th century. The Barthélémy family, based in Anjou, then ran what would today be called a stationery shop, selling mainly feathers for writing.
With the advent of the fountain pen, business declined, and around 1842 the Barthélemys decided to redirect their activity toward fancy dress, using their stock of feathers to decorate masks and wolf masks.
- 1885: Jules César acquires a feather manufactory and founds Maison César, the “first French mask manufactory” in Saumur.
- 1938: First Disney licenses. Masks are made of cardboard, waxed buckram, or gauze.
- 1954: PVC makes its appearance.
- 1960: Production of children’s plastic masks is in full swing.
- 1995: Gradual halt of mask manufacturing in Saumur.
- 2024: The company closes its doors permanently.
The masks of our childhood
These masks are a concentrate of intergenerational delight—true time machines.
The Christmas holidays of 1978 sparked a revolution in the world of toys and merchandise featuring small-screen heroes. César masks are the perfect example of these innovative products.
They are 100% French objects, made in small runs with artisanal quality and hand-painted. Attention to detail and finesse of execution make them unique objects, ultimately quite far removed from mass-produced items.
Mask-making involves a semi-artisanal, semi-industrial know-how typical of the first half of the 20th century. César plastic masks joyfully contribute to the collective memory of pop culture, as companions of our childhood and witnesses to a bygone era.
From the 60s to the 90s, Maison César’s creative frenzy was paced by the steady broadcast of our childhood heroes’ adventures. Focused mainly on television series, these creations are an intergenerational concentrate of delight—true time machines.
Far from our era of overconsumption, these masks made entirely by hand in France were not overproduced; some have miraculously stood the test of time, to our greatest delight.
Find on BENIX.shop our collections of original vintage masks!
A BENIX.shop exclusive: the original moulds used to make these madeleine-flavoured masks!
