The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 66

Old House Overhaul TEXT by KATHERINE RUSK Early wallpaper printing presses could produce papers with as many as 24 colors New York printing plant scene is from In by Catherine Lynn Norton Co soluble paints that were advertised as scrubbable or sanitary The upper-upper class continued to use fabrics as wallcoverings so wallpapers continued to imitate damasks silks velvets and satins The first flocked wallpapers where bits of fabric were glued into the pattern to resemble velvets were developed Ultra-thin veneers were glued to certain papers that after installation were varnished to resemble wood Imitation leather wallpapers also came on the market One of the most popular and authentic looking of these was leather paper which was made using a process which originated in Japan: heavy paper stock was embossed while still wet then often pounded with hammers then glued to a cloth or waterproof backing FREDERICK WALTON an Englishman instrumental in development of linoleum introduced in 1877 the ulti mate in imitations Lincrusta-Walton Lincrusta could be made to appear like carved wood embossed leather or plaster It was ainted highlighted with metallics grained or varnished It was nearly indistinguishable from the real thing Lincrusta-Walton was so popular that many companies manufactured imitation Lincrusta These which were made of everything from cork to rubber to wood fiber included Anaglypta Corticine Salamander and Ligno-mur During the 1880s the Aesthetic movement which had been brewing in England for several decades came to the fashion forefront William Morris one of the principal spokespersons believed that the Aesthetic tenets (use of natural and simple designs and materials) could be presented to the masses through the fashions of the time specifically through the wallpaper industry How we survived the wallpaper fad BEFORE 1840 NEARLY all the wallpaper came from France where it was hand-printed using blocks and sheets of paper to produce a limited line of patterns This was an expensive process and only the very wealthy could afford wallpaper Although France dominated the decorative arts England possessed superior industrial technology and in 1837 the first wallpaper machine was patented in England This machine which resemble a ferris wheel was a combination of rollers stencils and brushes that could apply as many as 24 colors to a continuous roll of paper A less costly paper-making process also was developed replacing expensive linen and cotton rags that comprised the paper with straw and wood pulp Overnight the cost of wallpaper plummeted By the end of the 19th century wallpapers were selling for less than one-half the price they had commanded 50 years earlier EARLY 19TH CENTURY patterns copied traditional French designs including scroll patterns and realistic-looking flowers and foliage Among the most popular designs were large open roses so early French-in-spired patterns are often referred to as designs In the manner of trompe many patterns were elaborately snaded to resemble curtains carvings masonry columns and arches With mass-produced wallpapers Britain became a trendsetter in wallpaper styles and imported many patterns to the United States aid to the South during the Civil War further prompted northerners especially to look to England for wallpaper fashion Whereas earlier patterns used vertical boundaries delineated by stripes fake columns rows of flowers etc to break up wallspace English patterns used a coordinated set of companion papers to divide the wall horizontally: a wide frieze at cornice level a dado in the lower portion of the wall (usually about three feet high) and the center fill or screen portion Paper manufacturers also supplied narrow border papers to put between the companion papers in rooms that had no chair railings or frie-zepicture moldings The dado patterns were often the boldest and darkest in a set of wallpapers Fill papers were slightly lighter while those for friezes and ceilings were the lightest yet The only exception to this was a brief fad in England for dark ceiling papers that would visually shrink the room THE DEVELOPMENT OF affordable wallpapers coincided with the young middle hunger for anything that gave the semblance of wealth and culture and i wallpaper had traditionally been the hallmark of affluence This created in the 1870s and 1880s an absolute wallpaper mania Virtually every room in every house was wallpapered Companies issued new patterns each season and some homeowners changed wallpaper annually Wallpaper became a sign of domesticity in a new settlement it was one of the first items the general store would stock Some stores boasted having as many as 150 patterns in stock and 250 or so more they could order Much of the middle class wallpaper trade occurred through mail order Catalog advertisements usually printed in black ad white gave only a list of available colors and guaranteed that companion papers would coordinate Unfortunately many of these mail order papers were hideous and for every tasteful treatment that graced walls and ceilings of middle and upper class homes there were five distasteful ones A fad for copper developed during the 1870s and copper gilt and mica highlights especially on frieze papers were common When treated with metallics papers were usually embossed so they would shine when viewed from any direction AT THE HEIGHT OF THE wallpaper craze someone discovered that two shades of green wallpaper contained arsenic which was subsequently blamed for a host of illnesses and even deaths Controversy arose over whether arsenic poisoning could occur by merely sitting or dining in a room with green paper and whether other colors might cause poisoning as well Wallpaper manufacturers quickly removed the culprit green tones from the market and ran advertisements insisting that their papers were As germ consciousness expanded at the end of the century papers were printed with oil-based non-water CL18 The Sacramento Bee Saturday February 27 1982 -or -z soil ra lor FAR LEFT: Diane Chapman of Chapman Papers displays three reproduction wallcoverings The large center piece is a sample of a terra cotta on shell pattern Originally designed by William Morris the reproduction is an exclusive hand screen by Bradbury and Bradbury Wallpapers Benicia NEAR TOP LEFT: and originally designed by Walter Crane is meant to be hung as a frieze NEAR BOTTOM LEFT: William Morris design of tulips and wreaths in yellow gold seafoam green and beige on white background.