THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

The enthusiasm for collecting decorative prints in the Victorian era was launched by the bakery industry which produced them as decorations for the wrapping of their cakes and biscuits. The prints, which often depicted nursery rhymes or stories, were collected as reminders of special occasions, and it was mainly a pastime of children to cut and glue the prints onto various types of furniture such as boxes and screens. For further information see A. Allen, Scraps, London, Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, Exhibition Catalogue, February-April 1977.