Bambocheuse ?

[Jim Strawbridge]

I am currently researching WW1 French female casualties. One of these is Sophie Augustine Bomme who was killed in an explosion in 1916. Her mother was Françoise Bomme (nee Doutrelon). The mother's occupation is shown as a Bambocheuse. I have Googled the word without success. Does anyone know what this translates to ?

[charlie962]

As far as I know this word is hardly a description of occupation but more lifestyle. A woman who likes to party a lot!

 

 

[Jim Strawbridge]

I have been using geneanet and here is the link. Where the word has been placed has always been for that of an occupation so I think that it is unlikely to relate to her lifestyle. Perhaps Marilyne, who often peeks into the Womens Section here, knows.    https://gw.geneanet.org/18ponts?lang=en&p=francoise&n=doutrelon

[stevenbecker]

So its not someone who works with bambo?

You lean all types of things here

S.B

[TullochArd]

charlie962 certainly hits it right on the head but there is an aged and obsolete, but far less interesting, use of male/bambocheur and female/bambocheuse

A Puppeteer or Marionnettiste  Définition de bambocheur | Dictionnaire français (lalanguefrancaise.com)

Example: Letters from Jacques, master bambocheur, to the author of the memorandum presented to the economic office. — (Response to the Letter of Jacques, master bambocheur at Saint-Cyprien, by a member of the board -1778)

Some explosion by the way ........ 

Edited 11 January , 2023 by TullochArd
Photo: gw.geneanet.org/18ponts

[TullochArd]

On 29/12/2022 at 02:11, stevenbecker said:

So its not someone who works with bambo?

You lean all types of things here

S.B

Yep.  I went down that bamboo worker rabbit hole S.B. ......... but we wern't far off.  My local puppet theatre in Rawtenstall (we have everything here) is the "Horse and Bamboo" or "Boo" as it is now known.  The horse bit comes from the fact it started as a horse drawn travelling puppet show and the bamboo is likely from the old French bambo for puppets.  

Edited 31 December , 2022 by TullochArd

[charlie962]

'Faire le bamboche' is an expression I've heard used locally although somewhat dated and refers to heavy partying. I asked French friends last night and no-one had any other ideas.

Fascinated to learn about puppeteers.  Can't quite work out the connection to party animal unless it's connected to the way the puppets move?

I look forward to further revelations on this learned forum. 

Charlie

[Jim Strawbridge]

I have found another one. Her husband was a spinning supervisor. I am wondering if it was a specific job in the spinning of cotton or flax.

https://gw.geneanet.org/18ponts?lang=en&p=rosalie+aurore&n=gohr

[TullochArd]

2 hours ago, Jim Strawbridge said:

I am wondering if it was a specific job in the spinning of cotton or flax.

She's also a puppeteer/bambocheuse J.S. This was popular form of entertainment in those days. 

The two ladies were probably connected some way to a local entertainment venture and making a few francs together.

 

[TullochArd]

8 hours ago, charlie962 said:

Can't quite work out the connection to party animal unless it's connected to the way the puppets move?

Reckon you're right there Charlie.  If you had seen me dancing on Christmas Eve that would have confirmed your theory.

[charlie962]

Haha!

[TullochArd]

I really need to get a new hobby ........ but until then I'll stick with these more obscure corners of the GWF.  To continue ...... here's ultimate corroborative evidence that these ladies were employed as puppeteers (male/bambocheur and female/bambocheuse) at the time of their death in the Lille explosion of 1916.

"In the second half of the 19th century, in Roubaix, Lille, and all of Flanders where the Picard dialect was spoken, puppet theatres developed in parallel with heavy industry. The showmen were almost always workers who found much-needed extra income in this supplemental activity. Only Louis Richard (1850-1915) was able to devote himself entirely to his “Théat’Louis”, founded in 1884 and continued by his family until 1940. All the northern figures were rod marionettes with four strings connected to the arms and legs. The public’s hero – whose origins are unknown – was named Jacques, protagonist of the “bamboches”, the satirical fantasies played in patois that ended each show. But the heart of the programme was serious: cloak and dagger dramas, adaptations from French history or from the repertoire of the actors’ theatre. The puppets gave the illiterate public access to what they otherwise would find difficult to read or understand."

(source: France | World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts (unima.org)

Edited 3 January , 2023 by TullochArd

[TullochArd]

Patois translates directly as 'slang' and here we are talking Picard/Picardy slang. 

Connect the above "The public’s hero – whose origins are unknown – was named Jacques, protagonist of the “bamboches”, the satirical fantasies played in patois that ended each show."

I confidently reason that the newly resident Germans/Bosch were the butt of many a well concealed Picard/patois end of show joke executed by these ladies well before and up to their death in 1916. 

Sadly we'll never have a laugh with them but we can now acknowledge their existence ...... and their likely clandestine, subversive contribution.

Edited 4 January , 2023 by TullochArd

[charlie962]

Thanks for this education.

Charlie

[Jim Strawbridge]

Wonderful, thank you.

[TullochArd]

To end my long overdue participation in this unusual thread I would offer a photo of a couple of Bambocheur holding their the unique and peculiar Picardy rod marionettes, with rod to head and four strings connected to the arms and legs, as likely used by the late Mme. Bomme and Mme. Gohr in their role as Bambocheuse prior to their demise in the Lille explosion of 1916.

Edited 11 January , 2023 by TullochArd

[charlie962]

Great contribution to this obscure subject. I love these little detours. 

Charlie

[JMB1943]

I have just had the pleasure of reading this wonderful thread!

Many thanks to all who contributed to my ongoing education.

Regards,

JMB

[David26]

Fascinating. Thank you.

David.

[Jim Strawbridge]

I am still researching French female casualties and yet another bambocheuse. HOWEVER - this one is shown as bambocheuse de lin. To me that translates to linen bambocheuse. In one of my earlier postings I said :- "I am wondering if it was a specific job in the spinning of cotton or flax." As much as I like the idea of puppeteer I am veering back to thinking that it was a specific job in the textile industry.

https://gw.geneanet.org/18ponts?lang=en&p=celine+anaise&n=cottignies

[TullochArd]

5 hours ago, Jim Strawbridge said:

I am still researching French female casualties and yet another bambocheuse. HOWEVER - this one is shown as bambocheuse de lin. To me that translates to linen bambocheuse. In one of my earlier postings I said :- "I am wondering if it was a specific job in the spinning of cotton or flax." As much as I like the idea of puppeteer I am veering back to thinking that it was a specific job in the textile industry.

Crikey JS you are fighting the evidence here which dates back to pre-Revolutionary France. However this is a Forum and as more detail is required it shall be given.  

In this case we have Bambocheuse (Puppet Mistress) de lin (of flax/cloth) ......... which categorised the late Mme. Cottignies as a specialist in another version of puppetry distinct from the peculiar local Picardy rod marionette entertainment provided by the late Mme. Bomme and Mme. Gohr. 

Her speciality, rather alien to Picardy, merits further definition on her documentation.  It is cloth puppetry or glove puppetry ......... not locally traditional and, probably perceived as less professional to rod marionettes, by the Picardy puppetry purists. 

Edited 9 January , 2023 by TullochArd

[charlie962]

4 minutes ago, TullochArd said:

probably perceived as less professional to rod marionettes, by the Picardy puppetry purists. 

I call your bluff, sir!!

[TullochArd]

20 minutes ago, charlie962 said:

I call your bluff, sir!!

Probably a bit Punch and Judy-ish Charlie ....... ask my 1930's French pals below .......  better believe it or they might pay you a visit late one night!

 

[charlie962]

You mix with a strange crowd. They'll be strung up if they try to get close.

Edited 9 January , 2023 by charlie962

[Jim Strawbridge]

17 hours ago, TullochArd said:

Crikey JS you are fighting the evidence here which dates back to pre-Revolutionary France. 

 

I am not trying to do other than get at the truth. You put up a good case and you are probably right. But in the cloth and spinning industry there were jobs with strange names. The machinery in spinning and cloth manufacture could imitate a puppet as it flicks up and down when in motion - just like a puppet on strings. So a bambocheuse could be an operator of such a machine. Did Magna Carta die in vain?  Probably. But I am still very much sitting on the fence with this one. What is strange is that Google and Wiki seem to be devoid of anything that can help with contemporary evidence..