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.
Two wheelwrights: Jean Giraudeau and Antoine Billon
Two farriers: Francois Riffault and Camille Boireau
Two carpenters: Albert Desalle and Ernest Jaillet
Five masons: Pierre Pupille, Marcelin Sartain, Jean-Marie Fayard, Jean Beaune, Albert Aucouturier
Two quarrymen: Desrez, Jean Magnard
One carpenter: Henri Bonnichon
Three shoemakers: Ernest Jaillet, Émile Blanchonnet, Arthur Larue
Three tailors, one helmet maker, ten seamstresses
Two grocery stores selling everything from "La Rose Amiot" to "La Madeleine Pactat"
A tile and brickyard run by Émile Tixier
A miller: Blaise Delhomme
Three bakers: Francois Delhomme, Jean-Louis Aubailly, Ernest Piteau
Two innkeepers: Alfred Lampérière and Andre Mazet "On foot, on horseback and by car".
The hurdy-gurdy player Alfred Lampérière and the accordionist Jean-Baptiste Fourdachon who make the whole village dance at every festival.
