Discovering the home of a mustard factory in Paris is amusing but not surprising. One hundred years ago the city was home to many similar institutions, with Parisians producing a variety of things that ranged from paper to cars. Today the smoke and odours have disappeared but several traces of this industrial past, such as this factory in Belleville, remain.

At first it is difficult to see that there was ever a factory here at all. The only surviving clue is the lettering and medals displayed on the street-facing walls, but a reasonable assumption would be to conclude that this was perhaps company offices. In fact it was rare that a factory was allowed to be simply a factory in Paris, particularly this close to the centre. Perhaps for reasons of prestige, the plant which created the Bornibus condiments was hidden behind a traditional Haussmannian neo-classical facade. The Bornibus label is not familiar to me, but the medals proudly displayed to the street show that these were multi award winning products (Paris 1867, Vienne 1873!). So what happened to the Bornibus products and recipes, and what happened to the factory itself?

>Here’s what happened