Hansi

     Jean-Jaques Waltz (1873-1951), also known as Hansi (Little John), was an artist and political activist.  He worked as an illustrator, creating charming drawings of Alsatian life.  

     In 1908, taking a pro-French stance against German control of Alsace, he published satiric cartoons which poked fun at Germans.  He used the psuedonym "Hansi."  His political activism eventually lead to arrest and a year long jail sentence in 1914.  He escaped from German controlled Alsace and joined the French army during World War I.  

     He was again targeted by the Germans during World War II.  He lived in Vichy France, a free zone not occupied by Germany.  The Nazis came after him, beat him, and left him for dead; however, he did not die, and he managed to escape to Switzerland for the remainder of the war.

     Jean-Jacques Waltz was a hero who was decorated in both World Wars.  In the case of Hansi, a paint brush and water colors turned out to be mightier than the sword.   

This is the Hansi museum in Colmar.  There is another Hansi museum in Riquewihr, France.

This candy shop in Riquewihr packages their sweets in tins decorated with Hansi's illustrations.

My French relatives sent this tray to my mother in the late 1940s or 1950s.  If this is not a reproduction of a Hansi drawing, then it is done in his style.  My mother kept this tray on her bedroom dresser for the rest of her life.