{"id":307,"date":"2012-09-24T09:41:32","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T14:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tslacconservation.wordpress.com\/?p=307"},"modified":"2018-06-21T15:08:33","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T20:08:33","slug":"artifactual-value-part-ii-or-what-a-difference-a-b-makes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/2012\/09\/24\/artifactual-value-part-ii-or-what-a-difference-a-b-makes\/","title":{"rendered":"Artifactual Value, Part II (or) What a Difference a \u201cb\u201d Makes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, this blog highlighted a case study in artifactual value from Erik Larson\u2019s Devil in the White City<\/em>, an account of late-19th<\/sup> century Chicago based on archival research.\u00a0 This week, we\u2019ll detail a similar example from closer to home.<\/p>\n

In TSLAC\u2019s documents from the Confederacy, I often note evidence of recycling.\u00a0 Sometimes this evidence takes the form of non-traditional papermaking materials (see previous entry, \u201cBarn Floor Paper.\u201d<\/a>) \u00a0Other times recycling is apparent in remnants of previously printed materials, as in an example from this week:<\/p>\n

\"Confederate<\/a>

This Confederate military document features recycled pieces of previous documents, such as the printed “b” seen here.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have long suspected that such recycling, especially in non-disposable military records, was an indicator of economic stress in the Confederacy.\u00a0 Informal conversation with colleagues supports this hunch: a conservator working on Union materials at another institution notes that their paper consists of comparatively high quality stock.\u00a0 Here again is an example of artifactual value.\u00a0 The physical paper on which these wartime records were kept offers historical information beyond the written records themselves.<\/p>\n

I recently found further support for this interpretation of Confederate paper in Cathy Baker\u2019s 2010 book, From the Hand to the Machine: Nineteenth Century American Paper and Mediums: Technologies, Materials, and Conservation<\/em>.\u00a0 Baker connects economic conditions in the South with scarcity in papermaking materials like rags, cotton, and bleach:<\/p>\n

Just before the War, the South was largely dependent on the North for most supplies and equipment for its twenty-four papermills.\u00a0 The chemicals needed to bleach rags for white paper for the Confederate government\u2019s use or to process straw and raw cotton for news paper were only occasionally obtained from abroad through the Union blockades.\u00a0 Few clothes and linens found their way into rag bags, and even if they did, they were often used for bandages instead of paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

-Cathy Baker, From the Hand to the Machine: Nineteenth Century American Paper and Mediums: Technologies, Materials, and Conservation<\/em>, The Legacy Press, 2010, p 18.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Baker goes on to quote an 1863 newspaper account of an Alabama papermill, which struggled to maintain production without critical supplies like felt and wire mesh:<\/p>\n

The energy displayed by Mr. Winter in keeping his mill running is worthy of all commendation.\u00a0 He showed us fine tapestry carpet which he took from his floors as substitutes for felt, without which his mills are entirely useless\u2026 The want of wire cloth has forced Mr. Winter to convert his machine\u2026 (which) very seriously curtails his operations in the amount of paper turned off.<\/p>\n

–Memphis Daily Appeal<\/em>, 6\/13\/1863, in Cathy Baker\u2019s book (as above,) p 294.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That small \u201cb\u201d photographed above conveys a message about the Confederate economy much more succinctly than the words in this blog entry.\u00a0 This is the power of artifactual value.\u00a0 With access to primary, archival materials,\u00a0researchers and the public\u00a0have a chance to read more than what\u2019s written on the page \u2013 they can also read the physical record left behind by historical forces.<\/p>\n

For more on why it\u2019s important to support public access to archives, see Christina Manz\u2019s post on the closure of the Georgia Archives in TSLAC\u2019s Library Developments blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, this blog highlighted a case study in artifactual value from Erik Larson\u2019s Devil in the White City, an account of late-19th century Chicago based on archival research.\u00a0 This week, we\u2019ll detail a similar example from closer to home. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11,17,20,61,93],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation-2","tag-artifact","tag-civil-war","tag-conservation","tag-paper","tag-value"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":676,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tsl.texas.gov\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}