The Origin of Tinted Paper.
The origin of blue tinted paper came about by a mere slip of the hand.
The wife of William East, an English paper-maker, accidentally let a blue-bag fall into one of the vats of pulp. The workmen were astonished when they saw the peculiar color of the paper, while Mr. East was highly incensed over what he considered a grave pecuniary loss. His wife was so much frightened that she did not confess her agency in the matter.
After storing the damaged paper for four years, Mr. East sent it to his agent in London, with the instruction to sell it for what it would bring. The paper was accepted as an attractive novelty, and was disposed of at quite an advance over the market price.
Mr. East was astonished at receiving an order for another large invoice of the paper. He was without the secret, and found himself in a dilemma. Upon mentioning it to his wife, she told him about the accident. He kept the secret, and the demand for the novel tint far exceeded his ability to supply the article.
A Brighton stationer took a fancy for dressing his show window with piles of writing-paper, rising gradually from the largest to the smallest size in use; and to finish his pyramids off nicely he cut cards to bring them to a point.
Taking these cards for diminutive note-paper, lady customers were continually wanting some of "that lovely little paper," and the stationer found it advantageous to cut paper to the desired pattern.
As there was no space for addressing the notelets after they were folded, he, after much thought, invented the envelope, which he cut by the aid of metal plates made for the purpose.
The sale increased so rapidly that he was unable to produce the envelopes fast enough, so he commissioned a dozen houses to make them for him, and thus set going an important branch of the manufacturing stationery trade.