Pernod and Sons ABSINTHE has now spread to all parts of the world; this is no exaggeration ; to be convinced it is enough to attend the loading of the wagons, which, on shipping days, come to line up along the docks of the factory. The destination indicated on each case permits us to follow the famous liqueur in our imagination to the most diverse latitudes, to Canada, the Argentine Republic, Mexico, Cochin China and the Sudan. France was its first and is still its principal outlet. It was introduced into the remote areas by our soldiers for whom it neutralized the effects of the fever produced by the bad quality of the water and the noxious miasmas of the marshes; – and by the many foreigners who for business or pleasure visit our country; after having been introduced to the true Pernod and sons absinthe in the cafes of our towns and aboard our steamliners,our guests, once back home, are not satisfied any more with substitutes and require the authentic trademark.
One should not be astonished that the reputation of the brand, that the prosperity of the House of Pernod and Sons, have sparked much covetousness. They are indeed numerous, those who have sought and still seek to exploit for their own profit a situation acquired by a century of conscientious work and ceaseless effort; numerous, those which, under a banner of respectability, spread shameful products. To safeguard its own interests and those of the public which has placed its confidence in it, it is a daily fight which the House of Pernod and Sons must take to the unscrupulous industrialists who provide it with unfair competition. One cannot imagine the various forms this competition takes; to get an idea of it, it is necessary to peruse the legal archives of the firm, into which every year come to be filed some new judgements, some new arrests. First there is the counterfeiter himself, who eschews complex schemes and goes right for the goal; that type simply orders, from an engraver with an elastic conscience, a false seal imitating that of the House of Pernod and Sons; he affixes it onto bottles he provides himself, carefully chosen primarily because their labels are still intact; needless to say filling those bottles beforehand with an absinthe of inferior quality bought at a low price. This fraud cannot be practiced a long time; sooner or later a misled consumer perceives the trickery; moreover the (Pernod) firm is vigilant; the false seal inevitably has differences from the authentic seal which do not escape the experienced eyes of its agents; the counterfeiter is sure to see a good correctional judgement soon putting a stop to his dishonest activity.