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Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Victorian scrap books   List Janet Bryers Next   Victorian Scrap Books By Janet Bryers In a previous issue of The Wayback Times, I wrote about the Victorian trade cards and greeting cards. In this issue, I would like to tell you about Scraps.   Scraps (sometimes called die cuts, reliefs or chromos) are small, colourful paper images used for a variety of decorative purposes. Their subject matter was wide ranging. Flowers fruits, birds and animals were frequently depicted as beautifully dressed ladies and children.   Some scraps were made for special occasions. Christmas scraps featured angels, evergreen trees and Santa Claus, while those used on Valentine cards often depicted flowers and birds and might include a short message such as "True to Thee." A special series was printed by the firm of Rafael Tuck and Sons to commemorate the 50-year reign of Queen Victoria in 1887.   Children loved scraps and many of these coloured bits of paper were designed especially for them. Some featured nursery rhyme characters, alphabets and pets: sometimes a series of scraps illustrated a complete story such as "Cinderella" or "Hansel and Gretel."   Scraps were printed and sold as sheets, with each image joined to the ones around it by means of paper tabs. When it came time to use them, the tabs were simply cut off and discarded. Scraps were embossed in order to provide a more life-like appearance and a thin varnish-like coating gave them a glossy surface.   Scraps were used in a variety of ways. They provided attractive decorations for handmade cards and gifts, fancy boxes and screens which were often used during Victorian times as room dividers. "Hidden Name" calling cards featured an elongated scrap that could be lifted from one end to reveal the caller's name which was printed on the card below.   One of the most popular ways to display scraps was to paste them into scrapbooks, an activity that appealed particularly to children. Scrapbooks might include all sorts of colourful paper items - trade cards, greeting cards and scraps - as well as pictures, stories and verses cut out from newspapers and magazines.   Some people purchased specially made scrapbooks that came with blank pages; others, it seems, used whatever was at hand. Some scrapbooks I have seen were made by pasting over the pages of catalogues, account books and scribblers. Scraps were at the height of their popularity during the 1880's and 1890's.   Today, their rich colours and idealized images of Victorian life make them desirable paper collectibles.   Janet Bryers is an antique collector from Hamilton.     Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2007 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster