Last week Jérôme Elion in Philadelphia ventured into his grandfather’s attic and came across this picnic kit for the Traction Avant.
Jérôme’s grandfather, Robert Lemoine, was born in 1903 loved cars. He was a driver instructor in the army and developed a patent for what would be 3 lights tail light (Red for brake / Orange for turn signal / Green for Ok to pass) to be mounted on the left rear of large trucks. Cars didn’t have the acceleration power they have today and imagine if you wanted to pass a truck with a 2CV.
Jérôme recalled that that his grandfather had a Traction 11, a 15 as well as several DS. His mother had a gun battle grey 2CV and first car that he drove at the age of 13 was a 2CV with a centrifugal clutch, where you had to use the clutch to change gears but didn’t need to start off in 1st gear. Obviously a family with a passion for Citroëns!
Upon seeing these photos that Jérôme sent, we first thought that it may be from the pre-Traction era of Citroën. Maybe something that was produced for one of the Croisiere expeditions and came with one of the Kegressee models. Fascinating and amazingly preserved!
After cleaning the various pieces of the 43lbs suitcase, Jérôme was able to identify various stamps that clearly identify this picnic suitcase as a Kiss Ply designed by Jacques Hitier.
From what he was able to find online these were marketed between 1950 and 1955 and are recognized as collectible French mid-century modernist design. He loves the “modernist” reference.
Jérôme reports that the Kiss Ply suitcase is almost complete; 3 forks instead of 4, and the leather handle is missing. Everything else seems to be there, from what he can tell. The plates may not be all original. Even though they all look the same, (slight difference on the color of the rim) 3 plates have a different manufacturer stamp. He was surprised by the water heater (for coffee he imagines) and the two sided salt & pepper shaker. The glasses are different sizes as they store inside one another and are wicker covered.
Doing some online research Jérôme found that the picnic kit today has a value of $800 to $1500 USD, and potentially $1500 to $2500 to mid-century design collectors. Being complete and in a very good condition, he thinks that $1000 may not be excessive as an asking price for it.
If you are interested in a purchasing the kit, you can contact Jérôme at 267-471-0210 or email: jeromeelion@gmail.com.