THE VICTORIAN SCRAP
Courtesy
of Mamelok Press (www.mamelok.co.uk)
(Editors Note: Many collectors of early
baseball cards are familiar with the 1888 Baseball 'Scrapps,' or die-cut busts
of prominent baseball players (one shown above right). As the following article and images detail,
scraps encompass much more than baseball and sports ….. Scraps are different
than trade cards, which also can be die-cut.
Unlike trade cards, scraps were not advertising pieces.)
The word "scrap" is often used to
describe a piece of paper, usually small, printed in colour and often also
embossed and diecut. In Victorian times these scraps or "cut-outs"
were an integral part of various pastimes for both adults and children, and
they remain popular as such in many parts of the world. Meanwhile, the original
Victorian scraps have become small vivid emblems of the decorative and
sentimental preoccupations of their era, with a romance and appeal all of their
own.
Scraps first appeared at the beginning of the
19th Century in the form of simple black-and-white engravings, often later
tinted by hand. By the 1820's the scraps had become more elaborate and were
sometimes embossed - a process by which a die was stamped into the reverse side
of the paper, giving the front a raised three-dimensional appearance. Within a
decade, both the printing and embossing processes were automated and volume
increased. Many of the best-quality scraps of the period were produced in
Germany, where bakers and confectioners used small reliefs to decorate cakes
and biscuits for special occasions such as christenings, weddings, Christmas
and Easter.
In 1837, the first year of Queen Victoria's
reign, came the invention of the colour printing process known as
chromolithography and scrap manufacturers were quick to apply the new
technology to their products. Now brightly coloured and embossed scraps were
sold in sheets with the relief stamped out to the approximate shape of the
image. These pre-cut scraps were connected by small strips of paper to keep them
in place.
The laborious task of cutting out small
pictureswas thus removed, and sales of scraps began to increase significantly.
Collections of scraps were pasted into specially produced albums, together with
other decorated paper items such as calling cards, food wrappers and pictures
from magazines and catalogues. Scrap collectors would fill the pages of their
albums with pictures grouped in themes. Often the pictures would be
supplemented by personal notes, lines of poetry or dedications from friends and
relatives.
The Victorians delighted in romanticism and
sentimentality. Sought-after subjects for scraps included angelic-looking
children, fashionably dressed ladies, birds, butterflies, pets, angels and
fans. Also popular were military and naval themes and scraps depicting
Victorian pastimes such as the circus and outings to the seaside.
Before long, scraps were being pasted into
autograph books and diaries, on calling cards, friendship cards and not
surprisingly, they were also used to create the most unashamedly romantic
Valentines. These cards were often composed from an extravagant array of
diverse materials such as paper lace, embossed gold foil, ribbons, lace fresh
flowers and feathers with the scraps as the main focal point.