Superheroes Galore

QUESTION: When I was a kid, I read comic books all the time. I’d even sneak a flashlight under the covers and read them when I was supposed to be a asleep. But over the years I drifted away from them. Recently, I went to a comic book show with a friend just to accompany him, but once there I got hooked again. Now I think I’d like to collect them. Can you give me a brief history of comic books so I have an idea of what’s involved? 

ANSWER: Comic books are not only fun to collect but are affordable. While there are some that sell at auction for stratospheric sums, the majority can be bought for reasonable amounts. 

Less than two decades ago, blockbuster movies featuring a raging green hulk, a group of mutant humans, a spider, and a man blinded by radioactive waste spurred the resurgence in comic book collecting. And who can forget the comic book store frequented by the nerdy guys in the hit T.V. show The Big Bang Theory.

While interest in comic books featuring superhuman characters increased in the early 21st Century, their origin goes back much earlier.

American comic books trace their roots back to 1933 when a syndicated newspaper published part of its Sunday comic's page on 7 by 9-inch plates. Eastern Printing employees Max Gaines and Harry Wildenherg believed two such plates could fit a tabloid-size page, producing a 7 by l0-inch book when folded. The two took newspaper strips and reprinted them in a booklet titled Funnies On Parade, which the Proctor and Gamble Company used as a premium.

Gaines convinced Eastern executives he could sell similar comics to large advertising firms. Eastern then produced and distributed Famous Funnies and Century of Comics. Both were highly successful.

Surprised with the popularity of the giveaway comics, Caine believed he could sell them to kids if it were reasonably priced, so the company printed Famous Funnies Series One and sold it for 10 cents. The comic was an immediate sellout. It became the first monthly comic and continued to be published until 1955.

Early comic books featured nothing more than reprinted material. In 1935, New Fun became the first comic to break the "reprinted material" barrier by featuring the antics of Oswald the Rabbit.

The comic book industry took a gigantic leap forward in June 1938 when the first issue of Action Comics featured the amazing feats of Superman. Just as his flying abilities allowed him to leap tall buildings in a single bound, they also catapulted him to the top of the sales charts.

But it took five years before Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman, to sell their character to National Periodicals Publications. They had tried to market Superman to every newspaper syndicate but were repeatedly rejected. Superman was the first of many superheroes to become part of the Golden Age of Comics.

Superman’s success gave birth to dozens of other superheroes, such as Batman, who first appeared in Detective Comics 27. Artist Bob Kane modeled Superman on drawings of Leonardo da Vinci's flying machines. Although Batman had no superpowers, he appealed to young readers: He was costumed, smart, and had a variety of neat gadgets at his disposal.

Batman received his own title in the spring of 1940 when Batman No. I appeared on newsstands. This issue also featured the first appearances of Catwoman and The Joker. Other main characters made their appearances in issues of Detective Cornics, which later became DC, before crossing over to the Batman title. Robin, the Boy Wonder, debuted in Detective Comics No. 38. The Penguin made his first appearance in Detective Comics No. 58. Robin made history in 1988 when fans voted to have him killed off.

In the fall of 1939, Timely Comics published Marvel Comics No. I, which contained the first appearances of The Human Torch. Eventually, Timely became Marvel Comics, who along with DC dominated the comic book publishing industry for decades.

Captain America, appearing in his own comic right from the beginning, made his debut in March 1941. Previously, all new characters appeared in another comic before being granted their own title. This way, publishers could judge reader reaction through comic book sales to see if the new character could stand on his own. Captain America began his career fighting Nazis months before America declared war.

In the spring of 1941, Wonder Woman appeared on newsstands, followed by Captain Marvel and The Green Lantern. By the end of the year, over 150 different comic titles appeared on the newsstands. 

World War II had a profound effect on comic books. Dell published the first war comic, appropriately titled War Comics No. I. Many superheroes rushed into the armed forces to battle the enemy, much as many young men did. Commando Yank, Major Victory, Jungle Jim, Spy Smasher and The Unknown Soldier all played hero to many teens on the home front.

The 1940s saw the creation of two teen idols—Archie Andrews and Katy Keene. After debuting in Pep Comics, Archie Andrews got his own comic title in 1942. Katy Keene made her first appearance in Wilbur Comics in 1945. Following appearances in three other comics, Pep gave the beauty queen her own title in 1950.

The end of World War II brought about the desire for change. Adventure writers were having problems developing new plots, while humor writers found it hard to be funny after a war that cost millions their lives. The comic book industry wasn’t any different. It needed to come up with new titles, categories, and formats if it was to survive.

The western comic was one of those new categories. In 1948, Hopalong Cassidy produced a huge hit for comic book publisher Fawcett. Other publishers scrambled to take advantage of the new category. All American Western, Annie Oakley, and The Two-Gun Kid all rode onto newsstands with the fury of a cornered desperado.

With the onset of the 1950s, comic book readership continued its downward trend. Even Superman began to falter. In an attempt to regain customers, several publishers turned to violence. William Gaines, the son of Max Gaines, left DC in the mid-1940s and formed Educational Comics. When Max died, his son inherited the Eastern Printing. William changed the name to Entertaining Comics (E.C.), launching several titles that caused serious controversy.

E.C. comics contained gruesome stories and gory covers. Crypt of Terror, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror. The extreme violence .eventually brought about the company's downfall. The only E..C. title that weathered the controversy was Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad No. 1, which later became Mad Magazine.

The Silver Age of comics began in 1956 with the publication of Showcase No. 4, featuring the adventures of the fastest man alive—The Flash. This character had the same name and same powers as his golden age counterpart, but the stories were completely different.

Marvel comics introduce a superhero team in November 1961 with Fantastic Four No. I. The title's main characters obtained their super powers when their spacecraft traveled though a cosmic storm. 

The most recognized Marvel superhero, Spider Man, first scurried across the pages of Amazing Fantasy 15 in August 1962. Peter Parker, aka Spider Man, was a geeky high school student who attained the traits of an arachnoid when a radioactive spider bit him. In March 1963, Spider-Man received his own title when The Amazing Spider-Man No. 1 hit the newsstands.

But even some of Spider-Man stories were controversial. In the early 1970s, a Spider-Man one showcased the harmful effects of drugs. Two years later, The Amazing Spider Man #121 jolted the comic book world with the murder of Spider Man's girlfriend.  Marvel's next superhero, The Incredible Hulk, was the result of exposure to radiation. The Incredible Hulk No. 1 burst onto newsstands featuring the exploits of Dr. Bruce Banner.

The 1970s arrived with the birth of Conan the Barbarian, The Swamp Thing, and The Micronauts. Major publishers reprinted the most valuable comic titles from the past. Several of these, including Action Comics I, were stripped of their covers and sold as the real thing. 

Learn more about Marvel Comics by reading "Marvelous Superheroes" in #TheAntiquesAlmanac.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about railroad antiques in "All Aboard!" in the 2021 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Symbols of Worldliness

 

QUESTION: Back in the late 1960s, I made a road trip across the United States, stopping at numerous national parks and monuments. Early on, I noticed that on the desk in the visitor centers was a display of travel stickers for various national parks. So I decided to purchase one for each park and monument I visited, as well as other places like cities and museums. By the time my trip was over I had amassed quite a collection. Are these travel stickers collectible? 

ANSWER: While you collected travel stickers, their original use was to affix to luggage as a way of telling the world where a traveler had been. During the Golden Age of Travel during the second half of the 19th century, sticker labels like these appeared on  steamer trunks. Colorful mementos of foreign locales, luggage labels can take us back to a time of grand hotels, luxury trains, and elegant ships.

Originally, they were a way of identifying a guest’s luggage when they arrived at one of those posh resorts. Forerunners of baggage tags, travel labels became the hallmark of a world traveler—a symbol of worldliness.

Often designed in the artistic style of the time, many of luggage labels are exquisite examples of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. However, even the best artists didn’t take such work too seriously. Prominent poster and graphic artists who affixed their name to larger works frequently left their luggage label commissions unsigned, but those which had been signed by the artist are the most valuable. 

By the mid-19th century, the Industrial Revolution's creation of wealth and more reliable modes of transportation, such as steamships, railroads, and passenger planes inaugurated an explosion in travel. A growing middle class, with access to more leisure time, joined businessmen, diplomats, explorers, and the rich on their travels to locales around the globe.

The earliest examples of hotel luggage labels date to the 1860s when printers produced them in small batches. But production really took off by the end of the 19th century. By that time, many more people were traveling, making the need to identify the hotel that would serve as the final destination for luggage coming off ships and trains a necessity.

To encourage this increased traffic, hotels and transportation companies turned to advertising. Newspaper and magazine ads increased in size and number. Many companies commissioned posters and luggage labels by noted graphic artists. Steamship companies, railroads, airlines, and bellhops at hotels around the world affixed labels to all sorts of luggage from small cases to trunks, proclaiming to all that the luggage’s owner was an adventurer at a time when travel was still not that fast, easy, or inexpensive. In those days, suitcases were rigid, making it easy for bellboys or concierges to stick their labels on.

Besides hotels, other businesses and organizations also employed luggage labels to promote themselves. Airlines like Pan Am began using them as soon as air travel became accessible to travelers around the 1920s. Even restaurants and national parks used them. 

Many of these labels simulated small travel posters but weren’t meant to be permanently preserved. Affixed with gum, it was extremely difficult to remove labels without damaging them, so some travelers would ask for an extra label or two to be tucked into their wallet or journal as a memento of their trip, and it is these specimens that most often turn up in the collectibles markets today. In fact, a piece of antique or vintage luggage covered with labels is often worth more than a comparable piece without.

Regarded by many as miniature works of art, most early labels were actually lithographed, and many bear the printer's imprint. Some travel companies commissioned important illustrators to produce their luggage labels. Dan Sweeney for instance was an American illustrator who contributed illustrations for books, posters, magazines, and luggage labels for the Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotel Group. Italian graphic designer Mario Borgoni was also renowned for his Art Nouveau labels and posters.

Nostalgia is one reason collectors love luggage labels. But even more so because they’re small, easy to store and display, and relatively inexpensive. Collectors have such a variety of designs to choose from that most focus on a particular style like Art Nouveau or Art Deco; a country or transportation company, hotels, a printer like Richter & Company, or a designer like Mario Borgoni. Original luggage labels can be found at flea markets and antique shows, and of course, online. 

The majority of labels sell for under $25, and depending on their rarity, condition, style, and the renown of the illustrator or the hotel or airline, can sell for several hundred. But with such reasonable prices, it pays to be aware of reproductions. A good jeweler's loupe will help distinguish the solid colors of an original lithographed label from the dots of a four-color-process reproduction or the lines of a scanned image. 

Travel stickers slowly started to lose their popularity by the 1960s as soft suitcases began to replace hard luggage, making it harder to stick labels on them.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about railroad antiques in "All Aboard!" in the 2021 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Downsizing Antiques and Collectibles

 

QUESTION: For the past 53 years of our marriage, my wife and I have inherited, purchased and collected a complete household of Victorian and related historical furniture, heirlooms, decorations, accessories and more. Since we both are in our late 70s, we expect to be selling our Neo-Victorian house in the next three to five years, and that means making the considerable effort to sell, donate and otherwise dispose of all these wonderful furnishings. Could you advise us about the best way(s) of selling or otherwise disposing of our items? 

ANSWER: For older folks, disposing of antiques and collectibles is a common problem today. While the process may seem daunting, it’s not impossible. Buying and gathering items over the years seemed effortless and fun. But the years of enjoying your antiques and collectibles is really what it’s all about.  

As older folks start to de-clutter and downsize, most attempt to give their prized possessions to their children, if they have any. But many of today’s middle-age children aren’t interested. Either they have families and possessions of their own or don’t want any more stuff. Those in their 30s and early 40s are more transient or living in small condos rather than buying large homes. They want to be able to move easily from city to city to find jobs that will advance their careers and don’t want lots of collectibles or large pieces of antique furniture that they’ll have to pay to move.

And single older people also face this same problem. In their case, they don’t have children and must consider other ways to dispose of their possessions.

Either way, both groups may have family members who want specific heirlooms and/or collectibles. So once you take inventory of what you have, you may want to contact members of your greater family to see if they may be interested in any antiques or collectibles you may have to see if they’re interested.

But don’t be offended if no one wants your items. Remember you don’t want to burden your children with items they don’t want. Let your children decide what they want, just as you were able to decide that you wanted to collect.

Once you know what items other family members want, make a list of what’s left and divide the remainder into groups of items that you might offer to friends, donate, throw away, or attempt to sell. For those items you decide to sell, be aware that your heirlooms and collectibles may sell at a much lower price than what you think they’re worth, or not at all.

The antiques market has been hit hard since the 2008 recession. Baby Boomers have inundated antiques stores with their castaways. The generation that’s buying and/or collecting antiques is also the one that’s trying to sell them. 

Most older people only plan how to dispose of their antiques and forget about smaller items. Unless these are collectibles, it’s probably best to donate them to Goodwill or church sales.

Where to sell antiques depends on how many and what type of antiques you own. Some people have dozens of items while others only have a piece or two. You can either opt to sell antiques online or find a way to get rid of them locally. Either way, your decision on where to sell will affect into how much money you can get for them.

First, determine what your antiques or collectibles are worth (Learn more: “What’s It Worth?” and “You, Too, Can Determine If What You Own Has Value”) Next, decide whether you want to sell them wholesale or retail. 

The first place people think of selling antiques is to local antiques dealers. If you walk into an antique shop with an item for sale, the dealer will likely offer to purchase it for half of what it’s worth (wholesale), that is if he or she is interested. If they’re not interested in purchasing your item, they may even recommend another dealer who might be. 

An alternative to selling directly to an antiques dealer is to consign your antiques to a consignment shop (retail). This type of shop differs from a regular antiques shop because all the items inside are for sale on consignment. You agree on a price and the shop owner puts it in their store for sale. You get paid when the item sells, minus the owner’s commission which usually runs around 20 percent or more.

The Internet has changed the way people buy and sell antiques and collectibles. It has made it easier to discover how much an item is worth, which makes selling antiques much simpler. Because the Internet allows access to more buyers, theoretically you could get more money for your antiques. However, you’ll also have to consider shipping costs which could be considerable for larger items. Plus, it will take a while to learn how to sell your items online. 

Selling antiques on eBay is probably the easiest way to get started selling online. You’ll be able to put your collections in front of thousands of people without having to have an antiques business. Another possibility is to sell your items on Etsy.

If you have something particular to sell, it might be worthwhile reaching out to some antiques dealers on the Internet who sell that particular type of antique or collectible. Check out their Web sites and shop policies to see if they purchase items from the public. And as with local dealers, you’ll probably only get half of what your items are worth, but you’ll save time and listing fees in favor of an immediate sale.

Social media sites like Facebook offer selling options as well. Facebook Marketplace is a good place to sell individual items, including antiques, but don’t expect to get top dollar.

If you have a lot of lower-end collectibles you want to sell, consider renting a space at a local flea market. But remember, most buyers here will be looking for a bargain and is often part of the sales process.

You can get rid of older items that don’t have too much value by holding a garage or yard sale (Learn more: “So You Want to Hold a Yard Sale”). Use keywords like “antiques,” “vintage” and “collectibles” in your online listings for the sale to attract the right buyers.

If you need to clear out an entire house, seek out a reputable estate sale company. Different companies may offer different packages depending on the estimated value of the house contents.

If you have valuable items or collections you want to sell, consider listing them with a local or national auction house. Well-advertised auctions are a great way to sell a specialty item. If you’re worried your antiques won’t sell for market value, you can always put a reserve price on them. Remember, you’ll have to pay the auction house a commission on the sale.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about railroad antiques in "All Aboard!" in the 2021 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Collecting is More Than a Passion

 

QUESTION: My passion for collecting seems to becoming an obsession. How can I control this? And how can I judge what things are worth collecting?

ANSWER: You’ve obviously been bitten hard by the collecting bug. Ever since the launching of the Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars, as well as eBay, Ruby Lane, and other antiques and collectibles, many people think that everything is worth something. And if something is old, it must certainly be valuable. If you believe this, then you’re wrong on both counts.

The first question you need to ask yourself is “Why do you collect things?” Is it for their intrinsic or monetary value, is it for the pleasure they give you, or is it for some vague idea of self-worth?

Asking avid collectors why they do what they do is like asking, "Why do you breathe?" They might reply that something about human behavior wants—or is fated—to gather and accumulate, to crave and classify, to seek out and hoard. Passion plays a part in many serious collectors' pursuits, as does, many admit, the thrill of the hunt.

This can be true even, or perhaps especially, when time is long between looking, finding and acquiring. The rarer an object of desire, the less frequent or instant the gratification of its discovery; for some determined collectors, though, pleasure resides in the long, unpredictable search for a coveted item. Inexplicably, it may also dissolve when it leads to a find.

For many people, collecting is a way of getting in touch with a past era, even if they didn't live through that particular period themselves. Some enjoy owning objects from what they may imagine was a simpler, less stressful age. Or they may have a strong nostalgic or family connection to a certain period and place.

Some people collect with investment value in mind, others to develop an informed knowledge of a our material culture. Either way, passion plays a part in many serious collectors' pursuits, as does the thrill of the hunt. Identifying personally with the objects one admires can also feed the collecting impulse.

Some collectors embrace—and celebrate—their magnificent obsessions. Like entertainers, they enjoy displaying what they have amassed and sharing their enthusiasm with friends. Conversely, many people keep their treasured collections to themselves.

Collecting has broaden in scope over the decades. It used to be that antiques included only decorative objects and furnishings. Today, collectors consider any object 100 years old or older an antique. Anything newer a collectible. And while some antiques may be considered collectibles, not all collectibles are antiques. Take typewriters, for instance. The oldest ones are antiques but newer ones from the late 20th century are technically collectibles.

What's old is new in the evermore-diverse collectibles market, and as long as someone, somewhere values something enough to acquire it and stimulate trading in its field, it can become a common practice to do so. Thus, along with such old favorites as stamps and coins, items like Barbie dolls, comic books, and computers, in fact, just about everything can be deemed a collectible.

So where do you draw the line.  The first rule of collecting is collect what you like. The second rule is to be knowledgeable about your collection. The third rule is buy low and sell high. 

Understand why you’re collecting what you do. What got you started? Have you kept up with your collection or has it run its course? If your collection is languishing, then perhaps you’ve lost interest. Life changes. You change. 

Do you know a lot about what you collect? Have you studied up on the history of the objects? Do you know the makers and the marks? Do you know the last word on the subject? Have you kept up with the market value?

Too many people get caught up in the entertainment value of auction sites like eBay. For some it’s like playing poker. They even get to “win.” Many pay far more than an object is worth just because they want to be the winner. If you’re a true collector, you’ll not even bid on an item unless you know you can get it for a good deal below market value. And that means you have to know what it’s worth before you bid. 

Do you just collect things or do you keep an inventory of your collection? To understand the true value of your collection, you need to know when and where you purchased each piece, how much you paid and how much it’s worth now. You may even want to photograph each item as a record for insurance purposes.

Of course, as any collector knows, there’s a price to pay. Thus, beginners and seasoned veterans alike usually pursue their collecting passion at some cost. No matter what your field is, there's something all of us inevitably collect and unless you pick the pieces off the junk pile, you’ll have to pay for them.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about railroad antiques in "All Aboard!" in the 2021 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

How Do Antiques Dealers Price Their Items?

 

QUESTION: I’ve always wondered how dealers decide on the price of an antique. Sometimes, the prices seem deliberately inflated. And at other times, they seem downright cheap. What governs pricing in the antiques business?

ANSWER: That’s a great question. Most of the time, collectors dwell on the value of an antique. They usually don’t think about the price, unless it has a direct relationship to that value. 

The important thing to remember is that buying and selling antiques is a business. And just like any other business, dealers have overhead—if operating a shop, then electricity, heating, phone, and other utilities; if selling at shows, then the booth fee, advertising, etc. 

The key to making a profit in any retail business is to buy low and sell high. Most dealers mark up the price of their antiques by 50 percent over the buying price. But the higher the buying price, the less they can mark items up. High-end dealers selling antique for four to six figures often only use a 20 percent or less mark up. In this case, they need to sell the item quickly to make enough turnover to make a profit.

But a lot of dealers have antiques inventory that’s been in their shops too long. The longer an item remains unsold, the less the dealer makes on it because unlike the static price of an antique, the cost of running a business continues to change. 

And what about sales and bargaining? Many antiques dealers will bargain with a customer over the price of an antique. They know how much they must make on the item and won’t go below a certain price. Bargaining lowers the mark up and cuts into overhead costs.

Some antiques dealers, much like other retail business owners, will occasionally have sales to move merchandise. But don’t expect deep discounts on these items. Remember the mark up. Usually, sales bring customers into the shop who most likely will find something else that they like and buy that instead. Or they may buy several smaller items.

Generally, the higher the prices of the antiques, the less likely a dealer will bargain much for them. And those same dealers will not have sales.

Unlike antiques dealers who operate shops and do shows, flea market and antiques mall dealers usually deal in much smaller and less expensive merchandise. They’re more willing to bargain the price down a bit to make a sale. And often will lower prices on items that have been in their inventory for too long.

Antiques are such subjective items that prices vary tremendously depending on demand, current trends, and rarity. Prices can vary from dealer to dealer, so it’s difficult to compare the price of one piece with that of a similar or identical one. Antiques appreciate over the long term. Like the stock market, antiques rise and fall in value depending on demand and trends.

So how do antiques dealers ultimately figure the price of the items in their inventory? First and foremost is what the dealer paid for the item. Obviously, the higher the original price, the higher the retail price. And thanks to T.V. shows like The Antiques Roadshow and Pawnbrokers, the buying public has an inflated idea of what an antiques value actually is. 

The value of an antique is what someone is willing to pay for it. So the value is essentially what the last person paid for the piece. Values for high-end pieces usually result from auction sales while those for lesser valued collectibles may result from books dealing with a specific category of collectibles such as Depression Glass or world’s fair collectibles. While the prices of the former are kept in proprietary, subscription-only databases, those of the latter are available to the general public. And then there are auction/buy-it-now sites like eBay online. 

And many antiques dealers consult online auction results and other sites to determine what the going rate will be for the items they’re pricing. 

Finally, dealers add the percentage of markup, determined by the amount of their overhead and what their local market will bear.

One of the reasons many antiques sell for many times over their auction estimate is that many live on-site antiques auctions now include phone bids while many online auctions allow bidders to bid in real time. These phone and live online bids now come from anywhere, thus the final selling price of the item isn’t affected by the local market.

So the next time you’re out antiquing and come across that piece that you just can’t live without, remember the complexities of antiques pricing. And if you can purchase the piece for a reasonable price in the end, all the better. 

To learn more about what it’s like to start your own antiques business, read How to Start a Home-Based Antiques Business.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about railroad antiques in "All Aboard!" in the 2021 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Stuck on Beauty

 

18th-century paper 

QUESTION: While touring some historic houses, I’ve often marveled at the beautiful wallpapers on their interior walls. I’ve always loved wallpaper. In fact, every room in the house I grew up in had wallpaper on the walls. But getting it off was such a chore that many people turned to painted walls instead. I’d love to know how wallpaper originated and some of the history behind its use. Can you help me?

ANSWER: People have adorned their walls for centuries. During the Middle Ages, the wealthy hung woolen tapestries to help keep out the cold. Later, painted cloths came into fashion. And through the evolution of interior decoration—wallpaper. 

Early on, makers of wallpaper used the same wooden printing blocks used on textiles on heavy paper. Most likely its introduction to Europe occurred in the 16th century, following the Dutch trade with China and Japan. Dutch ships returned from the Far East with exotic decorated papers when they then exported to England and France. 

Hanging wallpaper sheet

The first wallpapers to appear in Europe were small, approximately 12 to 18 inches square and very expensive. Merchants used the earliest wallpapers to decorate the insides of cupboards and smaller rooms in their houses. 

Up until the late 18th century, creators of these small squares of wallpaper hand painted them. That made hanging the paper difficult because many times those smaller pieces didn’t join together very well. As a result, there were gaps, and designs and patterns didn’t meld together that well.

Others attached pieces to frames and let them hang freely. The dark, damp halls of chateaus and manor houses were usually drafty, so people placed these hanging papers where they might cut down on drafts that blew through the large open areas and hallways.

Ancient Roman scene in frame

Many early wallpapers featured stylized floral motifs and simple pictorial scenes copied from contemporary embroideries and other textiles. Makers printed them in monochrome, in black ink on small sheets of paper. It wasn’t until the mid-17th century that wallpaper makers joined the single sheets together to form long rolls, a development that also encouraged the production of larger repeats and the introduction of block-printing. In this process, printers engraved onto the surface of a rectangular wooden block. Then they inked the block with paint and placed it face down on the paper for printing. Polychrome patterns required the use of several blocks----one for every color. They printed each color separately along the length of the roll, which they then hung up to dry before the next color could be applied. “Pitch” pins on the corners of the blocks helped the printer to line up the design. The process was laborious and required considerable skill.

French wallpapers

A number of fine French wallpapers offered different themes than those of the classic English papers. Often, the French papers displayed floral patterns, and many rendered figures from history and literature, whereas the English wallpapers favored landscape and bucolic compositions.

When wallpaper arrived in Colonial America, it was much too expensive for many to afford. Rather than pay the expensive costs for the wallpaper, many continued to paint or stencil their walls. However, some people found the imitation French papers affordable and applied them to their walls in small pieces instead.

Out of proportion design

The floral designs and landscape scenes commonly found were sometimes primitive, with houses and trees out of proportion. The skill of the artist or paperhanger directly affected the appearance of wallpaper. The progression leading to those long rolls of wallpaper allowed people to decorate large expanses of wall space without dividing the areas into those small panels.

By the early 19th century, expensive, imported wallpapers decorated the walls of prominent New England homes. Those papers were of various designs and patterns, and some of them depicted scenes from Greek and Roman mythology. American historical scenes were also popular.

Block printing wallpaper

Up until 1840 all wallpaper makers employed the slow, labor intensive block printing process. So manufacturers wanted to find ways to speed up production. Potters & Ross, a cotton printing firm based in Darwen, Lancashire, England, patented the first wallpaper printing machine in 1839. Adapting the methods used in the printing of calico fabric, the paper passed over the surface of a large cylindrical drum and received an impression of the pattern from a number of rollers arranged around its base. Troughs beneath each one simultaneously inked the rollers with colors. The first machine-printed papers appeared thin and colorless beside the richer and more complex effects of block-printing and most had simple floral and geometric designs with small repeats.

Wallpaper evolved into an art form. One example depicted the Scottish Highlands, complete with sportsmen stalking deer. Another showed a scene of Italian peasants dancing and harvesting grapes. And yet another depicted riders leaping fences.

Historic panorama scene wallpaper

Victorian wallpaper floral

The frieze-filling-dado wallpaper scheme highlights the popularity of wallpaper in Victorian homes. In 1868 as a way of breaking up the monotony of a single pattern on the wall, and by 1880 it was a standard feature in many fashionable interiors. The dado paper covered the lower part of the wall, between the skirting board and chair rail; above this hung the filling, and above this the frieze. And as if three different wallpapers weren’t enough decoration for any room, the scheme was often combined with ceiling papers to complete the densely-patterned effects. Ideally, the frieze should have been light and lively, the filling, a retiring, all-over pattern, and the dado should be darker to withstand dirt and wear and tear. Co-ordinating papers, printed in muted greens, reds, yellows and golds, could be extremely attractive but the frieze-filling-dado-ceiling combination often led to visual overload. Hallways and stairs benefitted best from this wallpaper treatment. But by 1900 ceiling papers had disappeared and, in artistic interiors, wide friezes hung above plain or simple paneled walls.

Antique wallpapers are of interest to several kinds of collectors. Some might be interested in specific themes or designs, such as papers depicting historical scenes, or those displaying floral patterns; wallpapers from England or France or some other country might engage the attention of others; still, some individuals like to collect papers produced by certain manufacturers, such as Cole & Son or William Morris. And some of  those assembling a collection might be interested in a certain time period such as wallpapers manufactured in the 17th or 18th century.

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