Omaha daily bee., 1885-04-03
THE PAPER ON THE WALL.
About the way Wall
Paper is Made and How it
Is Sold.

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
There Is a paper on the wall. Every
where. The bedroom of the lowliest
cot and the receptlon.room of the mil.
liousirs's castle are ornamented with it.
1t Is In all %colors, all designs, all pat.
terms. 1t Is constantly before us, go
where we will. 1t Is the first thing we
see when we awake. 1t has become 80
familiar to our eyes, and so much q part
Of our lives that unless it be of some ex.
traordinary color or design, we do not
notice 1t. We enter a dwelling or a
room, and when we have departed 1t
would be as difficult for us to tell the
shade or the figures of the wall paper az
it would to recall the number of the
horse-csr we rode In the day before. And
yet, who, not connected with Its manu-
facture, or Its sale, knows where and
how the paper on the wall is made? The
query Is occasionally propounded, 81
wonder where wallpaper comes from9"
But no one answers the question. 1t is
quite evident that there is a superabund.
ance of Ignorance about this common
household decoration.
"Come with me and l will enlighten
you about wall paper" said q leading
merchant In the trade yesterday to a
Democrat and Chronicle representative.
''Oh, yes, the question Is often asked
here In my store, where does the wall
paper come from, who makes 1t and how
is it madel 1t Is sometimes surprising
to me that there i, SO little known about
the trade among the people. 1t Is uu-
necessary to tell you that the industry
has assumed enormous proportions. In
the past five years the manufacture has
quadrupled, nearly. The great bulk of
wall paper sold In this country is made
In the cities of New York and Brooklyn.
There are the largest manufactures and
the most moneyinvested liz the business.
There are In this country twenty-seven or
twenty-eight factories, and the principal
ones are In the cities l have mentioned.
There are two largo factories In New
Brunswick, N. j., and one In Newark.
Seven or eight of these factories have
started in the past five years and the
amount of money invested in the indus.
try, considering the number of maui
factories, Is something enormous"
''The great bulk of paper sold Is made
by machinery, of course2" queried the
reporter.
"All except the finer grades. The ma.
chlnery Is of the most pondrous oharac-
ter. Some of these enormous presse.
print IS many as twelve colors at once. A
roll of blank paper Is run In at one end
and rurs out the other end all stamped
and colored and ready to go upon the
wall. This machinery, of such enorm-
GUS dimensions, is very expensive. Only
one firm on this continent manufactures
1t, and that Is Wsldron & Co., of New
ark, N. J. All of the cheap and middle
grades of paper are made with these ma.
chimes. These goods are known by the
trade as machine goods.' The cheapest
paper nov sold by the trade Is called
brown blanks 1t Is a staple article,
sold at s cents per roll, and is to our
trade what brown sugar is to the grocer"
"You stated that the finer grades of
paper we're not made by machine. How
are they made?'
"By hand. Why. you have no idea
of the amount of labor that is expended
on these expensive goods. 1t has become
really an art. Here Is a paper, printed
on a velvet body, and all the flowers and
figures are put on by the old fashioned
hand lever system. The workman will
finish about eighteen inches at a time,
and then move on along the roll, joining
his next die in with the last one 80 close
ly that the eye can not discover where he
left off or where he began. Here is a
leather paper. Yes, genuine leather, l
believe. These figures ara stamped with
a steel die by hand, and you can see how
the flowers stand out in relief. This
paper comes from the factory perfectly
plain, and the figures, like the relief on
the Lincrusta Walton, is subject to such
hand painting and decoration as the Gus.
toner may fancy. Beautiful designs, are
they not?'
''What is the most expensive wall
papsr2"
''It Is the paper known as Leissner's
solid relief-obseIve It's thickness and
weight. 1t is made Of some kind of
composition, and the figures are pressed
through by tremendous hydraulic pres
sure. After the die is cast, and while
the composition Is still pliable, the in
dentations on the bac6 at the roll are
filled with the same composition. When
the paper is dry the figures in relief are
solid. No ordinary blow will make an
in~dentation upon one of them. This is
why 1t is called solid relief. L will send
a dozen rolls of this up to your house
for $29 per roll.
"You say the great bulk of wall paper
used is made In this country.
Are there no imported goods scld
here?"
"The demand for foreign wall paper is
limited. There are a few people, how.
ever, who must have everything i'm
ported, and who insist on having wall
paper that comes from across the water.
This has resulted in a growing demand
for q certain grade of English
and French patterns. Some of
the English patterns are really hand
some. They have soft, delicate shades,
chsrmingly blended, and for parlors or
chambers do admirably. | will show you
a French paper. Notice how cold, gray
and colorlesa it Is; but under the gaslight
II becomes bright. Queer taste, those
French, eh2 Are these imported goods
dearer than domestic paper? Yes, a
trifie, but 1t is not because they are worth
more. 1t Is the duty of 1884, per cent that
makes them expensive"
'Are the styles in wall decorations
changipg2'
"The fashion is always changing. Not
long ago, you know, there was a great