page_title: Canson
section_title: Annonay, the beginning of the Montgolfier success
hierarchical_section_title: Canson / History / Annonay, the beginning of the Montgolfier success
context_page_description: Canson is a French manufacturer of fine art paper and related products.
context_section_description: In 1485, Antoine Vidalon created a cereal mill. The Vidalon Paper Mills (Vidalon-le-Haut and Vidalon-le-Bas) were most probably created in the sixteenth century on the river Deûme in Davézieux parish near Annonay, France from the cereal mill that was transformed.  Born in the region of Beaujolais, the Vidalon family were friends with Jean Montgolfier, who was also a papermaker in the Réveillon mill. Jean sent his two sons, Raymond and Michel, to Vidalon, so they could improve their knowledge.
  In 1693, Raymond and Michel Montgolfier married the daughters of Antoine Chelles, the owner of the paper mills. The Montgolfier family subsequently ran the mills.
  Pierre Montgolfier (1700–1793), son of Raymond, was a brilliant manufacturer that aimed in modernizing the profession. Thanks to him, Vidalon mills grew up rapidly. For instance, he developed the Dutch beaters to replace the mallet troughs. One of his 16 children, Joseph Montgolfier was a brilliant inventor. He developed the Bleu de Prusse colour and a new device to raise water ... With his brother Etienne Montgolfier, he created the first hot air balloon, the montgolfière. They used their own paper to make the envelope and they engineered a heating system to inflate it. The first flight took place in Vidalon on December 14, 1782. A memorial still exists in the former paper mill's courtyard, nearby the native house of the Montgolfier brothers and the current Papeteries Canson & Montgolfier museum.
  Their mark is visible in the logo, it consists of a stylized hot air balloon - a reference to the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, pioneers of the hot air balloon.
  In 1783, [Louis XVI ennobled Pierre Montgolfier and his family, both on account of the aerostatic invention and on that of the strides that they have spurred in the papermaking industry.
  In 1784, the paper mills were granted the name "Manufacture Royale".
caption: An etching by Paul-Albert Besnard printed on Canson laid paper
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