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Origin and history

The stationery Le Nile has its origins in the family company Bardou, pioneer of cigarette paper. Jean Bardou created the brand "J.B" (now JOB) around 1845, while his son Joseph launched the brands Papier Bardou and Riz Bardou in 1849. Around 1880, Joseph Bardou collaborated with the Charentaise stationery Lacroix to produce locally, particularly in Angoulême. The brand Le Nile, inspired by exports to Egypt, was registered in 1887 with an exotic visual (sphinx, pyramids, elephant). In 1901 Adolphe Lacroix transferred production to Saint-Cybard stationery, where two paper machines were installed.

In 1919, the company became Bardou Broussaud Bonfils under the direction of Edward Broussaud, a paternalist industrialist and innovative in advertising (ZED brand). The factory in Angoulême, modernized after 1914, employs 200 employees in 1930, mostly women. The stationery, known for its fine papers (cigarettes, Bibles), celebrates its centenary in 1949 with a banquet of 700 guests. Its decline began in 1968 with Bolloré's acquisition (OCB), before the final closure in 1970. The chimney of Saint-Cybard (1887-1890), the only intact vestige, symbolizes this industrial heritage.

The site, purchased by the city in 1979, was partially destroyed and then rehabilitated in a paper museum. The stationery The Nile illustrates the industrial golden age of Angoulême, marked by technical innovation, social paternalism and international fame. His advertising elephant, redesigned by Leonetto Cappiello in 1912 ("The Sound Smokers Smoke Only Le Nile"), remains a cultural emblem, quoted by Alphonse Allais or Le Petit Rapporteur on television.

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