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Scrapbooking is the practice of combining photos, memorabilia and stories in a scrapbook style album.
Scrapbooking has actually been around for over 180 years, even before the first camera was invented! The scrapbook was devised to display a wide range of minor mementoes.
Scrapbooking began in Germany. The first scrapbooking albums were called THE COMMON PLACE BOOK. The word "scrapbook" didn't appear until the 1830's. Printed pictures were etched, engraved, or lithographed.
William Granger invented books with blank pages in the back for personalizing. Granger books were also published with a manual on how to create them. Friendship albums were little books that included quotes, poems, thoughts, and hair weaving of a person. Hair weaving was a common thing in Germany in the 17th century. Girls would collect hair from all their friends and weave them into an intricate design including ribbon and pressed flowers, with remembrance about that person.
The scrap collecting craze started in 1826 due in part to a published book by John Poole which was titled Manuscript Gleanings and Literary Scrapbook. It presented creative ways to display poems, journal writings, and plain old scraps. The first scrapbooking album appeared on the market in 1836. It had ornate covers, separate title pages, and frames.
Die cutting and stamping appeared in albums by the 1870's. Companies produced scrapbooking images just for album makers. After the camera was invented in 1880, photos appeared in scrapbooks. George Eastman and the Kodak camera revolutionized the design of the scrapbook.
The peak decade for popularity of scrapbooking was 1880-1890. Magazines of the times included articles on what to include in your scrapbooks. The art of scrapbooking began to decline around 1940, when the popularity of personal photos and photo albums rose. In 1975 scrapbooking became popular again with people wanting to know their genealogy. Scrapbooking evolved in the 1990's.
Today, scrapbooking is thought of as a form of art. Those who enjoy scrapbooking use their imaginations to portray their thoughts, feelings, stories, as well as treasured moments on the pages of their scrapbooking albums. Entire stores and manufacturing companies are devoted only to scrapbooking products. Specialty papers, pens, albums, stickers, die cuts, and various shape cutters are all readily available to those who want to learn scrapbooking. Measures are being taken to insure that scrapbooking albums are archival and will stand the test of time without fading or deteriorating. Scrapbooking is a creative way of passing down stories and memories to generations to come!
Queen Victoria had a scrapbook to display in the royal palace.
Mark Twain enjoyed scrapbooking.
- He had 57 different scrapbooks that he sold through Montgomery Ward catalog.