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L’Épicier | The Spice Merchant

The épicier, or spice merchant, sold spices, sugar, honey and coffee as well as drugs and medical products by weight, usually in an “épicerie”.

In medieval France, the épicier and the apothecary belonged to the same professional guild and could perform some of the same functions. Starting in the mid-1600s, a distinction began to appear between the apothicaire-épicier (apothecary-spice dealer) and the marchand épicier (spice merchant). By the late 18th-century, these professions were distinct one from the other.

Over time, the “épicerie” evolved from a spice store to a one that sells a variety of food products (a grocery store). In present-day French-speaking Canada, a small neighbourhood épicerie, or convenience store, is called a “dépanneur”.

Known persons who had this occupation: James P. Allen, Pierre Bedigarré, François-Xavier Bélanger, Denis Bogue, Hector Breton, Louis Napoléon Coallier, Simon Coffinier, J. U. Corbeil, .J.H. Delisle, Auguste Dionne, Jesse Dunn Armstrong, Louis M. Goupil, Louis Hébert, Thomas Heffernm, Percy Hunt, François Huot, Peter/Pierre Langlois, Nicolas Levallée, Thomas Legallée, Joseph Lippé, George McDonald, John McLeod, John/Jean William/Guillaume Pezet, Charles O. Simard, Alexander Stewart, J.D. Thomson, R. Tougas, S.D. Vallières, William John Whithall

Sources:

• Alfred Franklin, Dictionnaire historique des arts, métiers et professions exercés dans Paris depuis le treizième siècle (Paris, H. Welter, 1906), 307.

• “Dépanneur”. Terminology sheet. Office québécois de la langue française. http://gdt.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ficheOqlf.aspx?Id_Fiche=1299675.