A short over-view of the modern scrapbooking and the development from the early 1800 to today.
Happy reading!

Modern Scrapbooking: From the early 19th century to today

n the early 1800s, the very term “scrapbook” was coined as a name for books containing bits and pieces of bright discarded print papers, and soon a series of magazines called “The Scrapbook” was published, which offered blank booklets where readers could paste newspaper clips.
Scrapbooking became hugely popular in the 1820s with the release of a book called “ 'Manuscript Gleanings and Literary Scrapbook” by John Poole, and some years afterwards the invention of daguerreotype, an early form of photography, and when this technique became publicly available a few years later, people suddenly had the opportunity to include photos in their scrapbooks, which reinforced the popularity of the hobby.

The late 1800s saw another celebrity enter the scrapbooking scene: Mark Twain. He spent entire days poring over his scrapbooks, using gummed as well as non-gummed pages, and he even filed a patent application for some books. His application was granted, and rumor has it that Twain made around 50,000 US dollars from selling these books – a vast amount of money at that day and age.

In the middle of the 20th century, the availability of photo albums resulted in a decline in the interest for scrapbooking, but that all changed with the arrival of a publication called “Roots” by author Alex Haley. This publication documented Haley's ancestors and their history, and it soon sparked a huge interest in tracing and documenting one's family tree in scrapbooks.

The modern day scrapbooking mania actually has an alleged starting point: The World Conference of Records in Utah in 1980. At this conference, the 50 scrapbooks of Marielen Christensen were on display, in which she had carefully documented her family's images. Knowing that her work has caught the interest of visitors, Marielen published a book on scrapbooking within shortly and also opened up a store for scrapbooking supplies. Her scrapbooks were more than just a hobby: As a Mormon, Marielen was required by Mormon practice to document her family history. Because of the high concentration of Mormons in Utah , United States, many scrapbooking companies have been started and still operate in the state.

A short over-view of the modern scrapbooking and the development from the early 1800 to today. Happy reading!

A short over-view of the modern scrapbooking and the development from the early 1800 to today.
Happy reading!