Frieze, The Oritani

Clean and Beautiful: Sanitary Wallpapers

The Oritani frieze is one of a number of wallpapers in the Cooper-Hewitt collection that contain a printed inscription in the selvedge that reads: "Antiseptic Pat'd 8-9-04". This was a patent filed by the William Campbell Wall Paper Company in 1904 that was said to prevent the absorption of germs into the wallpaper’s pigment. This patent notification appeared mostly on children’s wallpapers but the process was also used on papers for more general use. Prior to this patent, if a person in your home had a contagious disease, when they recovered, or not, the homeowner was advised to strip off the wallpaper, sanitize the walls, and then reinstall new wallpaper. This was due to the fact that wallpapers could not be cleaned as they were printed with water soluble pigments. The first truly washable wallpaper was not developed until 1934.

The late nineteenth century saw a great rise in sanitary concerns and wallpapers seemed to bear the brunt of this concern due to the fact they could not be cleaned. To help curb this proposed threat to public health, many cities as well as states adopted ordinances prohibiting the use of more than a single layer of wallpaper on the wall at a given time. Before a new paper could be installed, the old paper needed to be scraped off the wall. This became a major issue for the tenement houses in large cities. This practice later became a detriment to historians and homeowners who logically thought the paper installed closest to the wall was the original.

Fortunately, around this time several washable wallcovering options were developed. The first was Lincrusta-Walton, developed in 1877 by the man who invented linoleum. This was a linseed oil-based solid material with a relief surface. It could be left natural, painted and or gilded, and was a beautiful and durable product. Sanitas was another washable product introduced in 1903. This was an oil-impregnated fabric with a paper backing that could be hung like ordinary wallpaper. Sanitas retained the texture of the fabric which was a much desired effect at this time.

Due to the tremendous size and resolve of the wallcovering manufacturers at the turn of the twentieth century, as problems and obstacles arose, new solutions were developed which offered the homeowner a greater variety of wallcoverings to satisfy their individual needs.

Frieze, The Oritani; Designed by Alfred Egli (Swiss immigrant to U.S.A.); Manufactured by Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Company; USA; machine-printed paper; a) NEED DIMS b) Overall: 95.5 x 49.5 cm (37 5/8 x 19 1/2 in.); Gift of Paul F. Franco; 1938-50-14-a,b

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Frederic Church, Winslow Homer & Thomas Moran: Tourism and the American Landscape and Rooms with a View: Landscape & Wallpaper.