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The counterfeit museum is backed by the Union des Fabricants,
which is a manufacturers group that has its roots going as far back as 1872 and is
dedicated to the fight against replicas and commercial fakes, from items such as imitation
Rolex watches that are even sold by street peddlers right through to fake Peugeot hubcaps.
Situated in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris, the
Musée de la Contrefaçon, which is also known as The Museum of Counterfeiting was created
in 1951 by the Union des Fabricants in a listed mansion, with a purpose of trying to
educate people on the differences between the real things and their copies.
This unusual museum in Paris does not deal with things like art forgeries or replicas,
although they do have some reproduction Régency chairs. The museum does change and
has done so over time, as trends change. For example the museum used to have major
displays of items such as fraudulent inner soles and spools of thread and tins of herring,
but now days these have been virtually replaced with everyday items that you would
recognise, such as mobile phones.
One particular display is a wax mannequin that is dressed from head to toe in awful fake
designer clothes and other displays include Swiss Army knives, cigarette lighters, Levis
jeans, Bic razors, Barbie dolls, pens, numerous different sports shoes and much, much
more.
The oldest item on display in this museum dates from around the first century BC and is
French. It seems that Greek wines and Roman wines were considered the best, with a
28 litre amphora having the same market value as one Gaelic slave. It was at that
time the French wines were considered inferior and
the counterfeit museum has an amphora whose stopper is a crude imitation of the mark of
Marcus Cassius Caius, trying to imitate the superior wine, rather than what it supposedly
held.
Other items on display where you can view the original and the copy are things such as
perfumes, cigarettes, crockery, software, CD's, dictionaries, toys, electrical goods,
clothes and other textiles, car parts, etc.
A very original and fascinating French museum that you
can visit whilst on holiday in Paris, and the nearest Metro stop is Porte Dauphine.
The Musée de la Contrafaçon is open on a Tuesday through to a Sunday from 2pm to 5.30pm,
but is closed on a Monday. It is also closed on national holidays and at weekends
during the month of August.
So why not consider experiencing something slightly different and see what items the
masters of counterfeiting have created over the years.
Address & Contact Details:
Musée de la Contrafaçon
16 Rue de la Faisanderie
75016
Paris
France
Telephone: 1 56 26 14 00
Fax: 1 56 26 14 01
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