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It is not certain when wallpaper made its debut at 97 Orchard Street, though a rough estimate places its arrival in the 1890s. Modern wallpaper and the materials from which it was made, however, had appeared in New York City at least fifty years earlier. By 1842, machines could mass-produce paper using up to eight different colors. One of the major components of papers used at 97 Orchard Street was wood pulp, seen as early as 1855, but more commercially available in the 1880s.
While the art of wallpaper steadily increased in popularity in the 1870s and 80s, it was not until the 90s that it reached the masses. In that decade, thirty-four wallpaper manufacturers competed in the hot New York City market, resulting in a total of 200,000 rolls of paper produced annually and affordable prices for almost any consumer looking to decorate “on the cheap.”
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Wallpaper
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