September 6, 1987
By David M. Buchanan
Vigo County Historical Society
In 1900, city company set pace for wholesale wallpaper sales
In October 1900 the Terre Haute Express printed a “Historical Industrial Record of the Prairie City.” The edition was to celebrate the 77th anniversary of the founding of the newspaper.
Featured on its 62 pages were advertisements and reviews of many of the town’s businesses, community leaders, organizations, a history of the city, and short sketches covering almost every aspect of the community life as it was in 1900.
One of the businesses reviewed in the anniversary edition was the Terre Haute Decorating Co. According to the article, the company was the only wholesaler of wallpaper in the state of Indiana, had prices to match those in Chicago, and had more than 60,000 rolls of wallpaper in stock. The company also carried decorative molding and hardware.
The Terre Haute Decorating Co. started in 1880 as the use of wallpaper for decoration was just growing to its greatest height. The 19th century love of decoration caused a boom in the use of wallpaper that never had been equaled.
The stock of papers offered by the company ranged from the less expensive, machine-printed rolls to cut velvet, flocked, and Lincustra Walton, a pressed parchment paper whose embossed designs were lifted away from the surface. Often this type of paper was handpainted or varnished after it was hung. Rolls could cost up to $5 each--1900 values in money!
Hanging decorated paper on walls is a relatively new development in decorating history, only about 300 years old. Wealthy homeowners had previously hung either tapestries or painted convases on their walls. At times, embossed and gilded leather was used as a wallcovering. The majority of homeowners settled for just plain or whitewashed walls.
Though not common, wallpaper was available in the late 1600s. A Boston merchant, advertised in 1700 that he carried “painted paper” (wallpaper) and that people no longer needed to order it from London.
Wallpaper in the 18th century was made of an inferior grade of paper made from unbleached rags. The rags were beaten into a pulp and spread over a wire mesh. The mesh allowed the water to drip away, and the thin layer of dry pulp then was pressed flat and smoothed.
The sheets of wallpaper unusually measured about 28 inches by 23 inches. These sheets then were joined together and printed with an embossed plate. It was a labor-intensive method of manufacture.
With the development of paper made from woodpulp and industrial revolution’s machine-made abilities, wallpaper became easy to manufacture and at a relatively inexpensive price. For the first time the average homeowner could afford the paper.
Manufacturers began offering a bewildering variety of styles and types of papers, and magazines like “Godey’s Ladies Magazine,” began offering advice on decorating to keep current with styles.
The 1800s, especially the latter half, saw an explosion of decorating styles and tastes. Many of the printed patterns offered were done in styles based on earlier periods like the Tudor, Egyptian and Gothic. Even more were a blending of styles from different areas and places. Homemakers could pick and choose, hanging new papers as the styles changed, and covering up the past year’s stylish decoration.
It’s not unusual to find five or more different styles of paper, one over another, in many of the old Victorian homes.
Wallpaper is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, and many of the old patterns are being printed today. Many of the finer museums in the country now are actively collecting examples of original wallpaper, realizing its worth, for it tells of the first decoration by the average person, a decoration that is indicative of its era.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.