Anti-absinthe poster of 1910

Abraham Perrenoud was the son of a Neuchâtel writing master who left Switzerland for Holland at the age of 15 to study under an uncle who had a position of some importance.  He studied law at Utrecht University and published several papers in philosophy, jurisprudence and economics.  Abraham became advisor and accountant to the Prince of Orange, and senior tutor to his children.  He died at the Hague in 1784.

Henri-François Perrenoud  (1775-1857) made a fortune in trade, and bequeathed most of it to his native village of La Sagne, founding a hospice for the elderly, infirm and orphans.  He also left a considerable sum to help balance the council budget, as well as making gifts to the schools of La Sagne and Les Ponts-de-Martel.

Abram-Louis Perrenod (1735-1811) was born in Les Ponts-de-Martel, son of a local counsellor and captain of militia.  He was a watchmaker and herbalist, who left a diary which contains a recipe for distilling absinthe.

Abram-Louis' son, Henri-Louis (1776-1851) settled in Couvet, where the family name was modified to Pernod.  He was a drawing master before going to work as a distiller for his future father-in-law Daniel-Henri Dubied, and later setting up his own company in Couvet.  In 1804, he opened a distillery in Pontarlier, just over the border in France, and the company "Pernod fils" was born.   The company prospered, and remained completely in family hands until 1888, when it was sold to the Veil-Picard bank of Besançon.

Absinthe became increasing popular throughout the 19th century, and mass-production made it cheap enough for all social classes to afford.  It was nicknamed "la fée verte" ("the green fairy), and bottles of Pernod can be seen in paintings by Manet and Picasso, among others.  However, absinthe gained a bad reputation, violently opposed by temperance movements and winegrowers' associations, and was banned in Switzerland in 1910, and in France in 1915.  The Pernod distillery at Pontarlier was transformed into a military hospital, and later sold to a chocolate company.