THE CRAZE FOR LIGHTER THAN AIR

In 1879, a Frenchman made a maiden balloon fligth that changed the course of his life forever. His name was Maurice MALLET, and in 1896 he founded the company that later became Zodiac. MALLET struck up a friendship with one of the century's great balloonists, Paul JOVIS. Together, they set up a ballooning society named the Union Aéronautique de France.

Having observed his compatriots' new taste for balloon ascents, he formed a partnership with two friends under the name Société Mallet, Mélandri et de Pitray. Installed in the Bois de Boulogne in spring 1897, their "ballooning park" was an immediate success.

Renamed Ateliers de Constructions Aéronautiques Maurice Mallet in 1899, the Mallet workshops prospered thanks to regular orders from the Aéro-Club de France, the French flying club. A firm believer in the future of aerial navigation, Mallet convinced his young aeronaut friends to join him in a business partnership. Under an agreement between Maurice Mallet and Count Henri de la Vaulx, the Société Française des Ballons Dirigeables ("French Airship Company") was formed on March 5, 1908. Mallet's workshops were among the only ones in their day to develop into a full-fledged industrial concern. Mallet set his sights on two previously undeveloped markets: private individuals and large commercial and industrial firms, to which he suggested using airships as a novel and conspicuous advertising medium. His craft-the first prototype of the future Zodiac sport airships-was so easy to transport and dismantle that it established the firm's reputation.

Designed on the same principles, the first collapsible Zodiac balloon - the Zodiac I - was built in 1909.

The origin of its trade name, registered in 1909, and its logo-the signs of the Zodiac with an airship moving across them-remain an enigma, as does the choice of the English spelling "Zodiac." The company laid the foundations of its foreign sales organization (Balkan States, Japan, Canada, United States) consisting of sole agents. By 1909, Mallet had carved out a specialized market niche as manufacturer of compact "autoballoons."