Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century France

[David Wilson]

As promised, on to a review of Jopen-Marseille Match fins. We'll start with the Match Standard, which was what I have previous called a "semi-open-heel" fin in this thread.

Match Standard fin

Image 1 above derives from the Lillywhites catalogues of 1959 and 1960. Lillywhites of London was a stockist of Match diving gear. The catalogue description and pricing was as follows: "Match Standard Fins. Floating rubber fin with adjustable heel strap and with heel plate. Extremely comfortable to wear. Colours include blue and black. Four sizes.
Size No. 0 (Baby: EU 26-30). Size No. 1 (Small): £1 17s 6d (Lillywhites, 1959-1960). Size No. 2 (Medium): £2 2s 6d (Lillywhites, 1959-1960). Size No. 3 (Large: EU 42-46): £2 6s 6d (Lillywhites, 1959-1960).

Images 2 and 3 above derive from the fin collection page at ENSEMBLE ENFANT JOPEN MATCH. The site is well worth a visit and includes pictures of regulators as well as basic underwater swimming equipment. As for the provenance of Image 4, it's the Musée Dumas, whose excellent diving museum site can be found at http://museedumas.fr/.

So here we have an entry-level fin in a full range of child and adults sizes with a heel strap and an extended heel plate for added sole protection. The blades are reinforced with tall side rails and one centre rib.

 

[David Wilson]

Second fin of the day is the Match Super, which was a "semi-open-heel" model too.

Match Super fin

The Match Super only appeared in the 1959 Lillywhites catalogue, where the description was as follows: "Match Super Fins. Top quality fins. Entirely new French design in blue floating rubber, with offset blade and shoe fitting with adjustable strap. Super, streamlined and lightweight. Exclusive to Lillywhites. Small size: £2 10s 0d (Lillywhites, 1959). Medium size: £2 12s 6d (Lillywhites, 1959). Large size: £2 19s 6d (Lillywhites, 1959).

The phrase "Exclusive to Lillywhites" may explain why I have been unable, despite extensive searches, to locate an image of this model other than the drawing above. I suspect from my research that Jopen-Marseille, like Marin, made diving products for other companies.

The Match Super is an unusual design from the foot attachment perspective. The heelpiece is sandal-like, with apertures on either side, an extended protective sole underfoot and a backpiece incorporating an instep strap with a single buckle for a secure fit. The foot attachment feature is reminiscent of two fins showcased in the Skin Diving History site, namely an early version of the A6 Voit Viking made in the USA:

the Desco Continental made in the USA:

the Florida Sandal made in the UK:

two Aquatic models made in Italy:

and the Kent Submarine made in France:

Note how the first three sandal-like fins are non-adjustable, like full-foot fins with apertures on both sides of their heelpieces, while the last two come with a buckled strap for adjustment. This sandal style of fin appears to be unique to the 1950s, unless anybody knows different...

I'll leave it there for today and return in several days' time to review the remaining three models in the Jopen-Marseille Match fin range, all of them full-foots.

 

[АлександрД]

a "semi-open-heel" model too

I think, opposite to Match Standard as Semi-Opened - Match Super should be called as Semi-Closed

 

[David Wilson]

I think, opposite to Match Standard as Semi-Opened - Match Super should be called as Semi-Closed

Well said, АлександрД!

On now to the three remaining models in the Jopen-Marseille Match range. Let's begin with one intriguingly named "Anti-dérive", which is French for "anti-drift". It had slipped my notice that this model too came with a semi-open heel. When I sat down to post my contribution here today, I assumed I had covered every Match semi-open/semi-closed heel fin and was ready to move on to closed-heel fins.

Match Anti-Dérive fins

I am grateful to the Jimdo collection at ENSEMBLE ENFANT JOPEN MATCH for the first two images above. The smaller third picture appears in a Musée Dumas blog about fins ancient and modern at Palmes d'hier et d'aujourd'hui - Le blog de histoire-plongée.over-blog.com.

So the Match "Anti-Dérive" came with an extended heel plate for complete protection of the sole of the foot. A robust strap and metal twin buckles provided a secure fit. An open toe contributed to wearing comfort. But the principal selling point was the length and design of the blade, which identified this model as an excellent candidate for freediving and competitive finswimming use. I wish my sources dated the years of production of the "Anti-Dérive", but I would hazard a guess that the fin might have been available around the late 1960s, when there was a growing demand for long-bladed fins designed to win finswimming races and to establish new freediving depth records before the rise in popularity of the monofin during the early 1970s. If anybody has any further information on this score, please speak up!

I wish I knew more about this fin, which is labelled as "breveté" or patented, but without detailing the nationality, date or number of the patent.

 

[David Wilson]

And now we come to the closed-heel Match fins proper, starting with the "Compétition" model.

Match Compétition fins

These images too are from the Jimdo collection. So what we have here is the full-foot version of the open-heel Match "Standard": a floating rubber fin available in black or blue in the following sizes: Size No. 1 (EU 37-40). Size No. 2 (EU 40-42). Size No. 3 (EU 42-43). Size No. 4 (EU 44-46). I have a pair of Size No. 4 Compétition fins in my collection and the sizing runs small. Note the three centre ribs, which serve more as branding than as reinforcement, which is provided anyway by the thick side rails and the centre rib on the bottom. Here is a blue version of the fins:

 

[David Wilson]

And finally for Match fins, we have an anonymous closed-heel fin bearing the brand name "Match" but no product name.

Match full-foot fins

The paper label identifies these fins as EU 35/36, which is a size below Size 1 (EU 37-40) of the Match Compétition fins, suggesting that these "anonymous" fins were intended for children or young people. They came with side rails but no centre ribs. They do not have the three-line branding of other Match fins and I would hazard a guess that they were manufactured later than the others reviewed today and may indeed have been made by an OEM manufacturer.

That's all for today and for Match products too, but maybe not quite. I am going to review "Tahiti" brand basic equipment next. This gear was also made in France and bore the the three-line branding of Match products, suggesting a separate, perhaps more economic line, for the same company to market.

 

[David Wilson]

OK, Tahiti here we come. No, not the island in French Polynesia made famous by Paul Gauguin's paintings (example above from the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg). Tahiti the basic diving equipment brand. And you may experience a little déjà vu, as I have done, when comparing the branding of Match and Tahiti. Anyway, here goes... We'll start with the Tahiti diving mask.

Tahiti diving mask

Note the sloping typeface used to emboss the word "TAHITI" on the top of the mask. And then note the similar three-line feature on this genuine Jopen Match mask:

A coincidence? Perhaps in this case, but other items of "Tahiti" gear will provide further evidence of a possible link. In the meantime, here are two more images of a different "Tahiti" mask:

Note the different, plainer font used to emboss the word "TAHITI" on the top of this mask and the inclusion of provenance "Made in France" absent from the first version. I'm inclined to conclude from the shift in graphic design that the mask above is a later product, possibly from the same time as the last Match fin I reviewed:

The plot thickens! Anyway, what we have here is a plain diving mask without a compensator or a split strap, perhaps evidence that Jopen-Marseille had an "economy" line as well as a "professional" one.

 

[David Wilson]

Our second Tahiti article of underwater swimming equipment is a combined snorkel mask (above).

Tahiti snorkel mask

Note again the "earlier" WordArt-style sloping typeface for the word "TAHITI" plus the three-line feature. Note too in the case of the first image how this snorkel-mask came in a junior as well as a "senior" version. As for the product itself, I have an example in my home collection. It is a remarkably light affair, considering the length of the single snorkel with ball valve protruding from the top of the mask. The rubber skirt is incredibly soft for something that must be around 40 years old and it seals very well to my narrowish face when I do the nose inhalation test. By the way, it's clearly an eyes-and-nose enclosing mask, not the full-face variety, and it leaves the mouth free. It's a complete myth that all vintage snorkel-masks covered the mouth as well as the eyes and nose.

 

[David Wilson]

And finally, for today and for the brand, we come to Tahiti fins. Just one kind, a semi-open-heel model.

Tahiti fins

The above images come from the online Jimdo fin collection at ENSEMBLE ENFANT JOPEN MATCH. They are the only pictures I have of this model. And here is the Match equivalent for comparative purposes:

The Tahiti fin comes with the now familiar sloped writing, but more significantly, a toe opening, while the genuine Match fins are closed-toed. Differences too in the blade tips.

So no complete resolution to the mystery. I'll leave it there for today and will return in a few days' time to consider another early French basic gear brand, probably the "Watersports" brand based in the Medierranean city of Nice.

 

[David Wilson]

On, as promised, to Watersport(s) brand equipment manufactured by a company based in the Mediterranean city of Nice. For background information here, I am indebted to a tattered tome languishing on my diving book shelves, Initiation à la Chasse sous-marine, authored by Robert Devaux and published in Cannes in 1947. I don't recall exactly where I picked up this book, but it was probably at one of the bouquinistes (used book sellers) with stalls along the river Seine in Paris. The spine has dropped off, the pages have grown brown with age and the edges of the paper have been crudely cut by the book's first purchaser; French publications back then often came with their pages uncut. Nevertheless, it has proved a valuable source of information for this section of our French thread.

Many of the French diving equipment manufacturers under discussion in this thread were late 1940s or early 1950s start-ups by individuals who hunted fish in the Mediterranean for the table during World War II to eke out their meagre rations in Vichy France. They became very skilled spearfishermen, not only in catching their prey but also in devising and making basic gear from scratch in their workshops at home. Some went on in the aftermath of war to make their fortunes in diving equipment manufacturing, while others sadly proved to be poor businessmen incapable of marketing their often brilliant inventions, which their more successful rivals would copy brazenly without acknowledgement.

The founder of the Watersport or Watersports brand was Raymond Pulvénis, whose entry to the world of work would have puzzled and entertained the competitors on the TV panel game show What's my line?

Pulvénis first worked as a "syphiligraphe", which is the French term for a researcher and writer working in the field of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. Information here about his co-authored experimental study in French:

Let's spare our blushes and move on swiftly to Raymond Pulvénis's contributions to underwater hunting. He is credited not only with writing the first book on the subject in 1940, La chasse aux poissons,

but also with inventing and manufacturing the following Pulvénis “lunettes” (goggles) in 1938,

According to the above diagram from Robert Devaux’s Initiation à la Chasse sous-marine and the above photograph from Raymond Pulvénis’s La chasse aux poissons, the goggles were designed to enclose the nose and to be fastened to the head with two straps. The rubber bulbs were designed to squeeze air into the goggles at depth, compensating for rises in pressure. Note too the breathing tube, which Pulvénis dubbed a "tuba" in French, the word still used for a snorkel in the Francophone diving community. Here is a surviving example of this device in the Musée Dumas:

You can find more details about this exhibit at Enregistrement 612.

Finally for today, Raymond Pulvénis also invented a speargun with a watertight tube, which he named "Waterless" in English. I suspect that his name for this gun may have led in turn to the name of the underwater equipment brand "Watersport(s)" or perhaps it was vice versa. As you have already seen, several French underwater pioneers liked giving their companies or gear Anglo-American names. I'll return with a review of "Watersport(s)" masks, snorkels and fins in a few days' time.