1930s Citroën internal memo repurposed as a draft for dimensioned mechanical sketches

In this document

Two repurposed internal forms

Pages 18 and 19 each feature an identical printed header: "SOCIÉTÉ ANONYME / ANDRÉ CITROËN", with the usual pre-filled fields for internal correspondence — "Note N°... du... 193.", "Service... à Service...", "M... à M..." p. 18-19. On page 19, this header appears turned 180°, proof that the sheet was rotated to serve as a drawing surface p. 19.

Dimensioned mechanical sketches

On these forms, several pencil sketches can be distinguished superimposed over the printed text:

• Page 18: a filigree part in the upper section (circle and T-shaped elements), then, in the lower half, an irregular plate or flange pierced with several holes, with numerical dimensions (8, 11, 16, 18, 21, 22, 28, 91), some written in inverted script. On the left is an elongated part suggesting a rod or an axle; on the right, a small dimensioned profile sketch (21, 22, 12) p. 18.

• Page 19: a T or L-shaped dimensioned sketch (25, 23, 20, 32, 16, 99, 117); a cylindrical part mounted on a rectangular support with small fixing circles, accompanied by barely legible handwritten annotations ("Service", the numbers 20 and 12, and two uncertain legends); at the bottom, a square plate with four corner holes with a dimensioned central bore (22, 25) and hatching representing a thread; finally, an elongated part in cross-section dimensioned 10 p. 19.

None of these dimensions bear a legend precisely identifying the part or its use — the annotations remain too uncertain to draw an unequivocal meaning from them.

Context

In the 1930s, Citroën engineers, as in many design offices of the time, readily recycled available administrative paper — internal memos, blank forms — to quickly sketch mechanical ideas. This behavior, common and paper-saving, is found elsewhere in the Magès collection, notably on tool sheets or workshop forms repurposed in the same way.

Nothing in these two pages allows the sketches to be linked to a named project (suspension, injection, etc.): the connection with Paul Magès's hydropneumatic work remains, at this stage, a working hypothesis rather than a fact established by the document itself.

Archivist's perspective

These two sheets clearly illustrate Paul Magès's working method: dimension measurements scribbled in pencil, in haste, on the first available surface, including turning the page to take advantage of blank space p. 19. The gesture — turning a form 180° — betrays a logic of a quick draft rather than a document intended to be kept as is.

Without complete legends or a usable date, it is difficult to identify the intended part; these are likely preparatory sketches for small mechanical parts (flanges, axles, supports), comparable in their style to other sketches in the collection made on repurposed "Tool Sheet" forms or on K 39-31 forms.

The dating remains broad: only the form's print ("193.") places the archive in the 1930s, with no day or month specifiable from the visible text.