rolling paper
Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardboard ...
s are a popular brand of
cigarette
A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...
paper produced by
Republic Tobacco
Republic Tobacco Limited partnership, LP is a Multinational corporation, multinational wholesaler, distributor, and retailer of tobacco, based in the Chicago, Illinois, Chicago suburb of Glenview, Cook County, Illinois, Glenview, Illinois, United ...
in
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
History
In 1838, a French craftsman named Jean Bardou came up with the idea for a booklet of rolling papers made of thin, pure rice paper. Bardou's trademark was the initials "JB" separated by a large diamond. The diamond was often mistaken for a capital O by consumers, who began referring to the papers as JOB, thus the brand-name was born. By 1849 he filed for a patent for "Papier JOB".
Jean Bardou died in 1852.
The JOB brand was auctioned in August 1853 and bought for 16,000 francs by Jean Bardou's son Pierre Bardou.
His brother Joseph Bardou had formed a separate company making "le Nil" cigarette papers, with a laughing elephant as its logo.
In January 1854 Pierre began making his own paper in Perpignan.
A range of flavored papers included licorice, anise, vanilla, juniper, camphor and so on.
Careful attention to marketing included development of premium or luxury papers, with attractive boxes designed for ladies.
At the end of 1858 Pierre Bardou bought a large house at 18 rue St Sauveur in Perpignan for 40,000 francs, originally an apartment building, which he divided into one area for manufacturing and another for his residence.
Pierre had a glass skylight installed in his "Hôtel de l’Industrie du Papier a Cigarette" factory for illumination.
It was used for manufacture from 1861 to 1879, and employed 80 workers in 1861.
In 1865–66 a workshop was installed for lithography and printing.
A second building was acquired at 13 St Sauveur, then additional buildings until an entire block was occupied, with the manufacturing process becoming increasingly automated, driven by steam power. By 1889 the Job company employed 290 women and 40 men.
In the late 1890s, the company hired
art nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
artist Alphonse Mucha, as well as many other artists, to design advertising posters for the brand. Mucha drew a sinuous long-haired
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
holding a rolled cigarette. The image was inspired by
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
's
Sibyls
The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece.
The sibyls prophesied at holy sites.
A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditio ...
from the Sistine Chapel. The poster image was so popular that it was sold as a
lithograph
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
.
In 2008, the company commissioned
Stuckist
Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art.Paul Harvey to create a campaign series of posters with a stylistic reference to Alphonse Mucha.Fahy, Michael "Zig Zag has a new paper round" ''
Crain Crain may refer to:
People
* Crain (surname)
Places
* Crain, Yonne, a commune in the region Bourgogne, France
Other
* Crain (band), an indie rock band
* Crain Communications, an American publishing conglomerate
* ''Crain crain'', the common na ...
's Manchester Business'', 16 June 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2010. Harvey made works featuring famous double acts to emphasise the sales message of "The Original Double", a reference to the twin-size packets of papers made by Job. Harvey's enthusiasm for the project came about because "Mucha is one of his heroes", said Mark Ross, the director of Glorious Creative agency managing the campaign. The work created some controversy:"Famous doubles" '' 3:AM Magazine'', 19 October 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
Gilbert and George
Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art du ...
gave their endorsement to the images, but The Mighty Boosh and The White Stripes were not pleased to be featured. ''Famous Doubles'', a show of the original paintings used for the posters, was promoted at the Wanted Gallery in Notting Hill by
Fraser Kee Scott
The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott.
Founding
The A Gallery was founded by Fraser Kee Scott in 1997.Groves, Nancy"The science of art" Newsquest, 13 April 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2008. Th ...
, director of the
A Gallery
The A Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Wimbledon, London run by Fraser Kee Scott.
Founding
The A Gallery was founded by Fraser Kee Scott in 1997.Groves, Nancy"The science of art" Newsquest, 13 April 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2008. ...
Maximum Overdrive
''Maximum Overdrive'' is a 1986 American comedy horror film written and directed by Stephen King. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, and Yeardley Smith. The screenplay was inspired by and loosely based on King's short ...
'', which featured Emilio Estevez being chased by 'possessed' trucks, a JOB 1.5 truck was shown as one of the key vehicles.
Reptiles
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...
, a 1943 lithograph by
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints.
Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...
shows a package of JOB rolling papers.
In the 1981 film
Nice Dreams
''Nice Dreams'' is a 1981 American action adventure comedy film directed by Tommy Chong and starring Cheech & Chong, in their third feature film. Released in 1981 by Columbia Pictures, the film focuses on the duo having gotten rich selling canna ...
, Tommy Chong says he has been sponsored by JOB papers.
In an episode of The Office titled "Viewing Party", a poster for JOB papers can be seen on Gabe Lewis's wall. It is pointed out that the poster used to be a real french advertisement by Kelly Erin Hannon.
JOB cigarette papers can be seen on the front cover of Mott The Hoople's debut album.
See also
*
List of rolling papers
Rolling papers are small sheets, rolls, or leaves of paper which are sold for rolling cigarettes either by hand or with a rolling machine. When rolling a cigarette, one fills the rolling paper with tobacco, cannabis, cloves, damiana, hash or o ...
References
In June 2020, Job Rolling Papers were featured in th Hemper Monthly Box.