The History of Paper and its Relevancy in The Modern World
An Overview of Paper Applications
Paper is an incredibly versatile item, while books may be one of its primary uses it can be used for a variety of means from stationary/mailers, to cheques, packaging, mathematics and diaries. Each use of paper has its own extensive history and here are just a few of them.
Reading As A Form of Accessibility
The image is of Braille and was retrieved from “What Is Braille?” The American Foundation for the Blind, https://www.afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/braille/what-braille.
Reading isn’t an accessibly inclusive skill. For the visually impaired, words written on the page aren’t always decipherable. So new paper techniques were created to make paper writings more available. This came in the form of Braille. It started with blind educator Valentin Hauy who created embossed letters as a way for blind students to read through touch. Trying to read the embossed letters proceed to be difficult, however, and one of Hauy’s students, Louis Braille, created Braille letters during the 1800s. Braille letters are raised dots made to represent a different character, and has been used universally (Irvine).
Paper as a Form of Letter Writing
The image is of stationary and was retrieved from Muzdakis, Madeleine. “15+ Beautiful Stationery Sets That Will Bring Back the Art of Letter Writing.” My Modern Met, 5 June 2021, https://mymodernmet.com/stationery-sets/.
Letter writing is an age old occurrence, however, its taken various different forms. The Achaemenid Persians, between 550-330 BCE, had created a sustainable postal system which laid the foundations for the postal systems were familiar with today, however, at this time they were “looking at Aramaic on ink on prepared animal skin, folded up and sealed,” (Bekhard) rather than paper. Modern letter writing developed after the creation of the paper. In North America it was further developed in the United States during the colonial period, “Young students in colonial America learned privately how to prepare letters from writing masters, and later from textbooks used in the public school system,” (Marton). Not only are the letters being mailed made of paper, but the packaging to send the letters or other goods are capable of being made of paper as well. Paper bags were invented in 1844 in Bristol, England, but Francis Wolle, further the development by creating the bag making machine in 1852 in the United States. “Paper and paperboard packaging increased in popularity well into the 20th century. Then, with the advent of plastics as a significant player in packaging (late 1970s and early 1980s), paper and its related products tended to fade in use,” (Hook and Heimlich). Due to an uptick in eco consciousness and sustainability there is a potential for growth, however, “We expect innovation to be a critical success factor, particularly in light of recent concerns over plastic packaging waste, which could harbor both opportunities and challenges for fiber-based consumer packaging,” (Berg, and Lingqvist).
Paper As a Form of Personal Documentation
The image is of pages from Anne Frank's Diary and was retrieved from Blakemore, Erin. “Hidden Pages in Anne Frank's Diary Deciphered after 75 Years.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 15 May 2018, https://www.history.com/news/anne-frank-diary-hidden-pages-discovery.
Personal writing goes beyond communication with others, and can also be a way of expressing one's emotions to oneself. The practice came to prominence in the west during the renaissance and was pioneered by Samuel Pepys in the mid to late 1600s, Pepys is regarded as the “Shakespeare of Diarists” (“Diary Writing Turns a New Leaf”). One of the most famous diaries of all time is that of Anne Frank. Anne was a young Jewish woman during World War Two and she documented her experiences, prior to being captured and killed in a concentration camp, her diary was published after her death to great success, however, people not only read famous diaries but also write their own. Diary manufacturers “estimate that more than five million blank books or empty diaries are sold each year,” (“Diary Writing Turns a New Leaf”).
Paper As a Form Currency
The image is of Canadian Paper Money and was retrieved from Feinstein, Clarrie. “Canadians Will No Longer Be Able to Use Old Paper Bills in 2021.” Daily Hive, 23 Nov. 2020, https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canadians-old-paper-bills-2021.
Paper has also often been used as a form of currency. The first mention of paper as a use of money can be found in Chinese texts dating back anywhere from 998-1022 when the emperor at that time “award rights to issue universal bills of exchange to 16 merchants during his rein,” (Cleveland). The paper money, however, was not publicly accepted. Marco Polo, made note of the paper money when he returned to Europe from his travels, but people found it so absurd they didn’t believe he’d even been. The first true banknotes in Europe were from sweden and did not emerge until 1661 (Cleveland). While paper is used for money specifically, it also utilized for cheques, which has its own lengthy history within Canada. The oldest cheque in Canada dates back to 1690 predating confederation, and the existence of the first bank within the country. The cheque was from the Hudson’s Bay Co, and was presumed to be salary for one of their employees. The cheque was made payable by the goldsmith Steve Evans (“An illustrated history of cheques in Canada”).
Paper as an Environmental Substitute
The image is of paper straws and was retrieved from Paper straws image from Dao , Dan Q. “What Your Bartender Really Thinks about Paper Straws.” Food & Wine, 15 Oct. 2018, https://www.foodandwine.com/lifestyle/paper-straws-bars-bartenders-truth.
One of the most modern paper innovations, was created to combat eco initiatives, and that innovation is the paper straw. Recently, there’s been an uptick in places, as well as corporations, banning plastic straws as its estimated “500 million straws are used every single day. Eight million tons of plastic flow into the ocean every year, and straws comprise just 0.025 percent of that,” (Gibbens). Paper degrades at a significantly faster rate than plastic, and has a significantly smaller footprint. Because of the uptick in usage by companies like Starbucks, “the global Paper Straw Market expected to grow at 20% CAGR by 2025,” (“Global Paper Straw Market Size[...]”) according to the recent analysis research report.
The Projection for Paper Applications in the Age of Digitization
Due to digitization there are some trends that are projected to fall to the wayside including graphic papers for newsprint which is expected to face drastic decline (Berg, and Lingqvist). Although, while one might assume that the drastic increase of digitization might decrease the amount of printed materials that are produced, reportlinker had announced that the global paper products industry is expected to make a trillion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 3% between 2020 and 2027 (“Global Paper Products Industry”) meaning that paper applications are still alive and well.