Bar tabac
In France, bar tabac was the name of restaurants ( “ Bistrot ”, “Bar” ), taverns ( “ Brasserie ”, “Maison de la Bière” ) and cafes, which at the same time had the exclusive, state- licensed right to sell tobacco products . Especially in small towns and villages, the bar-tabac was open from morning to late evening and without a weekly rest day and was often the central place for social contacts. The additional offer of simple, small dishes, e.g. B. "Sandwiches", "Pain-beurre" , baguettes with boiled ham ( jambon ), liver pate ( paté ) or butter, and soups.
As a sign of this sales monopoly, Bar-Tabacs had put a red double cone above the shop entrance. Just like the name Bar-Tabac, this identification symbol, which was characteristic of the streetscape of French municipalities in addition to the PMU sign, is still often seen on the facades of restaurants - regardless of its factual loss of meaning and despite the increasing trend in France too Legally restrict smoking in public. The attitude towards life, which for many French people still expresses itself today in the existence of bar tabacs, was also reflected in numerous films (for example Bar Tabac by Serenella Converti or The fabulous world of Amélie , which was played in the famous Parisian Bar Tabac Café des Deux-Moulins ) and chansons , such as the 1999 title Y a une boum (dans le bar-tabac d'en bas) by Michel Leeb .
Designation and typical - or what is thought to be typical - furnishing style can also be found occasionally in catering establishments in other countries, both in the francophone world and, for example, in Germany, Great Britain and the USA.
Background: the French tobacco monopoly
The reason for the emergence of this French peculiarity was the state tobacco products monopoly , which applied equally to cultivation, production and trade, first introduced in 1674 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and - after its repeal (1791) by the National Assembly - renewed in 1810 under Napoléon Bonaparte has been. In April 1970, following a decision by the European Community to introduce a common raw tobacco market, the prerequisites for the abolition of national monopolies arose ; However, it was not formally abolished in France until 1995. The monopoly company Seita , traditional manufacturer of the Gauloises and Gitanes brands and now part of Altadis , has since had to assert itself on the market, as has Groupe France-Tabac , which today mainly represents local tobacco growers.