ZIG-ZAG - "the zouave" Cigarette paper. Lithographed sheet metal circa 1920-30. Good condition, very slight damage to margins. 36.5 x 16.5 cm. Printed by: "imp.sur métaux Tournemire Azera & Cie - Bordeaux". Founded in Paris in 1855 by brothers Maurice and Jacques Braunstein. The Zouave character (which appeared on the packaging in 1879), inspired by elite French soldiers of North African origin, has become a symbol of reliability and tradition. Legend has it that a Zouave soldier, Captain Zigzag, was in the middle of battle when his clay pipe was fired and broke in his hands. In serious need of a smoke, he decided to try rolling tobacco using a piece of paper torn from a musket cartridge during the Crimean War, which inspired the brand to adopt him as its icon. These two brothers also designed a wrapper that allowed the leaves to unfold into a "z", hence the name Zig-Zag (the second version of the name). This invention won them a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900. It belonged to the Bolloré group until 2000, with the OCB and JOB brands, and is now owned by the American company Republic technologies (source: Wikipedia and others).