History of Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking got its start over 150 years ago. There are many variations of who really started scrapbooks, but the earliest records of scrapbooks was revealed in a publication by John Poole (from the UK) back in 1826.  This book was a bound collection of poems and engravings.  It was also a reference of how to collect and rearrange scraps.

In those days, scraps were printed pieces of paper with various ornate designes. The very first scrapbooks contained pressed flowers, paper cuts, feathers and other bits of memoriebilia. Scrapbooking became more popular in the middle class nineteenth century life.

A very popular type of scrapbook, "drawing room," scrapbook, was the center of social exchange and discussion for people during the mid eighteenth century. These were full of memories and stories of family members and activities.

Scrapbooking started to decline during World War 1. The recession caused scrapbooking businesses to close down.

During the mid to late 1800’s, various companies began producing leather bound scrapbook albums that included themed pages. Most common designs were of birds and flowers.

Famous American author, Mark Twain was into scrapbbooks! He invented scrapbook pages that had pre-adhesive pages for mounting pictures. This was one of Mark Twains most popular books sold.

In 1980, modern scrapbooking was made popular when Marielen Christensen presented over 50 volumes of her family memory books at the World Conference on Records in Utah, USA. It generated so much interest that the Christensen family opened a store called Keeping Memories Alive, that is still in business in Utah.