Wallpaper is not, as far as I know, a very trendy topic of late. I think that too many of us were scarred by the geese and cows that appeared in EVERYONE's kitchen in the early 1990s to consider using wallpaper again anytime soon. (If that was your kitchen, btw, no shame. You were very stylish.) That being said, though, there have been many times throughout history when wallpaper was the style trend of the moment. In fact in the Victorian era, wallpaper was sometimes cheaper than paint, and was, therefore, very, very common.
Like everything else, though, wallpaper had to come from somewhere, and had to be invented for some purpose. I had always assumed that it probably came about as a way to deal with bad plaster. As many historic home owners know, sometimes the glue on the wallpaper is the only thing holding an old plaster wall together. This week, though, I learned differently, thanks to Amanda Vickery's wonderful book Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England. According to Amanda, the earliest known wallpaper is from 1509, but the product didn't come into significant popular use until the late 17th century. And why was it invented? Not to hold together the plaster - oops! Instead, it was marketed as a cheaper alternative to covering your walls with fabric, which had been (and would continue to be) - the style for the upper classes. Most people couldn't afford yards upon yards of silk or damask to glue on the walls, but they could afford paper.
Bingo!
Isn't history interesting?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That is very interesting! I can't imagine cleaning silk-covered walls, though!
I had that ugly blue goose border in my kitchen when I first got married in 1984. I thought it was awesome!! Never, never again!
And now DIYers everywhere are using stenciling as a less-expensive (if somewhat labor intensive) alternative to fancy wallpapers.
Post a Comment