This museum retraces the village of Ainay-le-Vieil on the eve of the 1914 war

In 1914 Ainay-le-Vieil had about 510 inhabitants. It is a very lively village of farmers who work the land in farms or tenant farms, generally for several generations. There are a large number of craftsmen practising skills that have mostly been forgotten, and a "floating" population of boatmen and bargemen work with their barges on the Berry canal.

Created with the collaboration of the Mayor Marie Sartin, the inhabitants of the village and neighbouring villages as well as the Saint-Vic Museum in Saint-Amand-Montrond, our museum is a tribute to this traditional France that has partly disappeared.

Many still remember the craftsmen of Ainay-le-Vieil

Deux charrons : Jean Giraudeau et Antoine Billon
Deux maréchaux-ferrants : Francois Riffault et Camille Boireau
Deux menuisiers : Albert Desalle et Ernest Jaillet
Cinq maçons : Pierre Pupille, Marcelin Sartain, Jean-Marie Fayard, Jean Beaune, Albert Aucouturier
Deux carriers : Desrez, Jean Magnard
Un charpentier : Henri Bonnichon
Trois sabotiers : Ernest Jaillet, Émile Blanchonnet, Arthur Larue

And then...

Trois tailleurs d’habits, une casquetière, dix couturières
Deux épiceries où l’on vend de tout, chez « La Rose Amiot » et chez « La Madeleine Pactat »
Une tuilerie-briqueterie dirigée par Émile Tixier
Un meunier : Blaise Delhomme
Trois boulangers : Francois Delhomme, Jean-Louis Aubailly, Ernest Piteau
Deux Aubergistes : Alfred Lampérière et Andre Mazet  chez qui « On loge à pied, à cheval et en voiture »

And also...

The hurdy-gurdy player Alfred Lampérière and the accordionist Jean-Baptiste Fourdachon who make the whole village dance at every festival.