Transval Restaurant from Bucharest (C. A. Fulga) tokens

Transval Restaurant from Bucharest (C. A. Fulga) token


octagon, 22 mm, 3.68 g, white metal face value 1 LEU, outer pearl frame	inscription RESTAURANTUL - • - TRANSVAL - • - C. A. FULGA, with adornments between words, outer pearl frame

The 1 leu Transval token is present on the site courtesy of a donor who wished to remain anonymous.

Two other tokens from the restaurant Transval from Bucharest are presented in [1]. They have the values 40 and 60, which can only be bani. These two are also octagonal in shape.

In the Monitorul Oficial (Official Gazette) no. 218 of December 31, 1913 [2] an "extract" from a legalized document from the Commercial Section I of the Ilfov Courthouse is published, from which we learn that:

The existing association between Mr. Christache A. Fulga and Vasile Niculescu, for the restaurant, brewery and pub trade with headquarters in Bucharest, Brezoianu Street No. 2, under the name "Restaurant at Transval", is dissolved starting from December 19, 1913 [...].

[...] 2. Mr. Chr. A. Fulga assumes the social trade fund, active and passive, as well as the payment of all receipts signed by both partners together on behalf of the company and which have been presented to Mr. Fulga until today, for payment, having the right to collect all the company's debts and to continue this trade on his own account from today onwards.

We also learn that Niculescu received 4,500 lei in capital and benefits and that he dropped the lawsuits filed against Fulga.

Another mention of the Transval restaurant is found in [3], a guide of Bucharest printed after World War I. Here Transval is listed under the category "Main restaurants".

There is something interesting to be said about the name of the restaurant. In southern Africa there were two independent Boer states (whites, mainly descendants of Dutch colonists; "boer" means farmer) in the 19th century. The South African Republic (Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek in Afrikaans language, derived from Dutch) existed between 1852 and 1902. This state was called Transvaal by the English. The second Boer republic in the area was the Orange Free State (Oranje Vrystaat in Afrikaans) which existed between 1854 and 1902. Their names come from the Orange River and one of its tributaries, the Vaal River.

The Orange and Transvaal Republics were at war with the British between 1899 and 1902. Their forces being greatly outnumbered, the Boers were forced to capitulate, and their small countries were transformed into British colonies.

It seems that at the time the Anglo-Boer War was in the international public eye and that there was a very strong sympathy among neutrals for the Boer struggle for freedom. Over 5,000 volunteers from all over the world came to southern Africa to fight on the side of the Boer small states. During communist era in Romania one of the most interesting books for young people was Captain Casse-Cou by L. Boussenard (written in 1901), in which some young Frenchmen go through many adventures fighting on the side of the Boers.

We must admit that the name of the Transval restaurant comes from the name Transvaal. The restaurant must have been opened after the Transvaal came to public attention as a result of the war.

References

1. Schäffer E., România. Jetoane, semne valorice şi mărci, Guttenbrun, 2012.

2. * * *, Monitorul Oficial, nr. 218, 31 decembrie 1913 / 13 ianuarie 1914, Guttenbrun, 2012.

3. Pântea M., Noul plan şi ghid al oraşului Bucureşti şi harta jud. Ilfov. Bucureşti, Institutul de Arte Grafice „EMINESCU” S.A., fără an (dar probabil 1920).

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