Old Time Wall Papers: An Account of the Pictorial Papers on Our Forefathers' Walls with a Study of the Historical Development of Wall Paper Making and DecorationSanborn, Kate
History
Old Time Wall Papers: An Account of the Pictorial Papers on Our Forefathers' Walls with a Study of the Historical Development of Wall Paper Making and Decoration
Sanborn, Kate
Interior decoration -- History; Wallpaper
Inns often indulge in striking papers. A famous series of hunting
scenes, called "The Eldorado," is now seen in several large hotels; it
has recently been put on in the Parker House, Boston. It was the joint
work of two Alsatian artists, Ehrmann and Zipelius, and was printed from
about two thousand blocks. The Zuber family in Alsace has manufactured
this spirited panel paper for over fifty years; it has proved as
profitable as a gold mine and is constantly called for; I was shown a
photograph of the descendants of the owner and a large crowd of workmen
gathered to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the firm, which was
established in 1797.
An old inn at Groton, Massachusetts, was mentioned as having curious
papers, but they proved to be modern. The walls, I hear, were originally
painted with landscapes. This was an earlier style than scenic
papers--akin to frescoing. A friend writes me:
"The odd papers now on the walls of Groton Inn have the appearance of
being ancient, although the oldest is but thirty years old. Two of them
are not even reproductions, as the one in the hall depicts the Paris
Exposition of 1876, and that in the office gives scenes from the life of
Buffalo Bill.
"The Exposition has the principal buildings in the background, with a
fountain, and a long flight of steps in front leading to a street that
curves round until it meets the same scene again. Persons of many
nations, in characteristic dress, promenade the street. Pagodas and
other unique buildings are dotted here and there. The entire scene is
surrounded with a kind of frame of grasses and leaves, in somewhat of a
Louis Quinze shape. Each one of these scenes has 'Paris Exposition,
1876,' printed on it, like a quack advertisement on a rock.
"The Wild West scenes include the log cabin, the stage coach held up,
the wild riding, and the throwing of the lasso.
"The paper on the dining-room may be a reproduction. It looks like
Holland, although there are no windmills. But the canal is there with
boats and horses, other horses drinking, and men fishing; also a Dutchy
house with a bench outside the door. This paper looks as if it had been
put on the walls a hundred years ago, but in reality it is the most
recent of the three. The date of the beginning of the Inn itself is lost
in the dim past, but we know it is more than two hundred years old.
Tradition has it that there were originally but two rooms which were
occupied by the minister."
When some one writes on our early inns, as has been done so charmingly
for those of England, I prophecy that the queer papers of the long ago
will receive enthusiastic attention.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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