Mask with custom stand.
Only six of these molds were made to produce kid's masks of the most popular animation caracters.
Original mold from the Cesar Company (France), once the world's largest mask maker in the world.
The Cesar company originated in the 19th century in France with the Barthélémy family, which owned a writing nib factory. The company wishes to develop but the business declines in 1842. The family decides to change course and use the remaining feathers to adorn masks.
The company was then sold several times until it belonged to Mr. César in 1885. The company took the name of Maison Jules César and moved to Saumur in Maine-et-Loire (France) . This factory then offers papier-mâché masks of characters and animals, on catalog.
The son of Julius Caesar, Guy, took over the company in the 1930s. The latter negotiated a licensing contract with Disney in 1938. The company then marketed flat cardboard masks of Mickey , Minnie and the three little ones . pigs .
Flat cardboard was replaced a year later by stamped cardboard: the material was pressed against a mold to give it the desired shape. To attract an adult clientele, the company makes masks with the likeness of historical and political figures such as Léon Blum , Winston Churchill , Joseph Stalin , etc.
Partnerships with Disney continue with the release of a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs series .
In 1948, the company diversified and offered articulated papier-mâché puppets, still bearing the effigy of characters from the Disney universe.
The year 1954 marked a turning point in the history of the company thanks to the arrival of plastic and the technique of thermoforming . Heated PVC plastic plates are placed on molds and removed cold. From then on, the papier-mâché masks gradually disappeared from their catalog until their total cessation of production in 1958.
Maison César became prosperous by partnering with disguise manufacturers and multiplying licensing contracts, but also by producing masks bearing the likeness of celebrities of the moment.
In 1971, the company marketed a new type of mask: a full-face vinyl mask made from hot-poured latex balls into an inverted mask. During this decade, César was exported in particular to the United States : the company made 50% of its turnover in the United States.
The family business was sold to Masport. A wave of business takeovers followed between 1994 and 2000.
During the 2000s, the group bet on importing the Halloween party to France, which did not bring as much success as in America. Caesar then experienced financial difficulties.
The production of masks in Saumur stopped in 2004. In 2011, the group stopped buying licenses, was placed in receivership and implemented a major redundancy plan.
On April 23, 2019, one of the shareholders, the holding company Skylar France files for bankrupcy.
