Historic Paperhanging Techniques: A Bibliographic Essay

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to provide a context for installing reproduction wallpaper inhistoric homes. The trimming and borderwork found in surviving installations is discussed.Techniques for hanging wallpaper are described and linked to a bibliography about historicpaperhanging. Four chronological divisions are made:Early (1750-1860) - scissor trimming; overlapping; tacks, battens & canvas. Middle (1860-1900) - trimming machines; straightedges; track trimmers; muslin on boards.Late (1900-1940) - perforated selvedges; trimming knives; paneling; miter boxes.Modern (1940-1975) - butt seams; factory trimming; inlaid and overlaid borders; handscreens.Contemporary professional paperhangers follow rules about placing and balancing patterns inorder to hang wallpaper the right way. The installer either knows these parameters, or findsthem out. Another rule is that seams should show as little as possible. But, pursuit of a seamlessinstallation, if carried too far, can lead to a paradox: these days, a wallpaper installation issometimes most admired when it looks the least like a wallpaper installation. That is, when itshows no seams at all.This background helps to explain why overlapping, mismatching, and wavering scissortrimming — all marks of historic paperhanging — can challenge the contemporary eye. This canlead to uncertainty while restoring a historic home with reproduction wallpaper. Everyoneagrees that paper should be hung “the right way” for each period, but that way can be hard tofind. Other than examining well-preserved installations, it’s difficult to know much about howwallpaper was hung. Most information in the trade has been passed along by peers, or learnedon the job. Trade magazines are helpful, but they don’t begin until around 1875. Otherinformation is found tucked into books on wallpaper history, and in archival sources. It’simportant for researchers to know that wallpaper was most often called “paper-hangings” priorto 1900.