Writing Materials
AHDN64
Bound notebooks?
Type of paper?
Were pencils around then?
MC
Mary C (Mitzi)
"The love you take should be equal to the love you make. . ."
Peter Richardson
Chris Gattman
> What writing implements would have been used during the Civil War?
> Bound notebooks?
> Type of paper?
> Were pencils around then?
Assuming you mean the American Civil War, pencils were common among
enlisted men who did not have access to an ink bottle, quill, writing
surface and so forth.
Paper, when it was available, was not a whole lot different than today
except that bleached paper wasn't as common. Also, the measurements
were scaled down; a sheet of paper was not likely to be 8.5"x11" and
envelopes were usually much smaller than modern personal envelopes.
Ruled paper, with faint blue lines just like today's, existed but wasn't
as common as it is now. Parchment was common as well.
For Confederate soldiers, paper was usually scare or too expensive.
They used the same piece of paper for any number of letters, writing
wherever there was space, turning the paper sideways and writing over an
older letter or a letter from home or, just as commonly, writing on an
old envelope either by just writing on the outside or by unfolding it
and writing on the inside or both.
If necessary, they would use pages from old books, pieces of packaging
or strips of wallpaper, cloth...whatever they could write on and stuff
into an envelope.
For a "period" impression at reenactments, portraying a Confederate
enlistedman, I will occasionally use the brown paper packaging that
enclosed parcels of ten cartridges. The pencil I use is a copy of an
original sample; it has no yellow paint, eraser or anything like that,
just as if you'd sanded down the paint off a modern pencil, which you
can do if you want to make your own replica.
-Chris
Walter Nelson
>
> What writing implements would have been used during the Civil War?
I assume you are referring to the American Civil War.
*REAL* writing was done with metal nibbed pens, dipped in ink wells.
Pencils could be used for quick note taking.
> Bound notebooks?
Yes. I use a cute little soft cover blank book I picked up at Colonial
Williamnsburg. I also use leather bound blank books of the sort one may
find at crafts fairs.
> Type of paper?
Look at an old book. It is white paper, with some heft to it. Rag
paper does well--sketching paper works.
> Were pencils around then?
Yes, though without erasers (I'm really not sure when the rubber eraser
was invented, so I just don't use them). I use charcol pencils of the
sort I can find at Art Supply stores, and then sharpen them with a
pocket knife.
In fact, the technology of art (excluding computers of course) hasn't
changed much since the 19th Century, and in the 19th Century, artists
used regular old pens, pencils and paper for their work. As such things
have evolved in common use, the artist's tools have nicely fossilzed.
Therefore, an art supply store is your best bet for writing tools.
Cheers,
Walter Nelson
Roy Bailey
<ahd...@aol.com> writes
>What writing implements would have been used during the Civil War?
>Type of paper?
>Were pencils around then?
>
>
>Mary C (Mitzi)
Do try to remember that the USA is not the only country on the Internet.
--
Roy Bailey
Great Shefford
HUNGERFORD, Berks.
AHDN64
I do believe that in other posts I used the letters: "ACW."
Please forgive this breech in Newsgroup Manners. I can only attribute it to my
"newness" and eagerness to learn.
And thanks to all who responded with wonderful information.