Victorian Scrapbooking

The current scrapbook craze of the past several years has nothing on the craze that actually began in Victorian times--both in America and England.

On buying trips over the years--we have come across some incredible examples.  This rather tattered book has a cover that belies its contents.

So many lithographed scraps were sold very cheaply and Victorian girls just snatched them up.  Here are Victorian lady cream bottle covers used as scraps.  Some of the nicest scraps were printed in Germany by the Raphael Tuck Company--they did spectacular Christmas cards as well. Dogs, zoo animals, flora, fauna, soldiers, stereotypes (another place another time!) all filled the pages of the albums.  Unfortunately the paper used for mounting crumbles badly over the years--but the horse hide glue wears like iron--so the scraps stay in good condition.

The craze died away in after about 1910 in this country.

As the vintage songs says "Everything old is new again."