Wall Stories: Children’s Wallpaper and Books
Originally published in Smithsonian’s The Torch, Nov. 2008
Parents and children can expect to see some familiar faces in “Wall Stories: Children’s Wallpaper and Books,” which opened on Oct. 3 at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and Popeye all make appearances in the exhibition, which explores the design evolution of books and wallpaper created specifically with young people in mind. A whimsical show for all ages, “Wall Stories” celebrates childhood and showcases holdings from the museum’s wallcoverings collection, which is the largest in the country, and the National Design Library.
Gregory Herringshaw, assistant curator in charge of wallcoverings, organized the exhibition with Stephen Van Dyk, director of the National Design Library. Though Herringshaw initially planned to just focus on juvenile wallpaper, his research led him in a different direction. “I realized that most of the best wallpapers were inspired by children’s books,” he said. “Also, the design progression in both mediums is strikingly similar,” making it logical to exhibit children’s wallpaper alongside examples of youth literature.
The earliest works on view in “Wall Stories” date back to the mid-nineteenth century, when artists and authors began to view children as their own demographic with unique design concerns. Social and economic events like the establishment of public schools, which led to more widespread literacy, and the Industrial Revolution, which produced a wealthy middle class, contributed to this transition. Wallcoverings and books from this period reflect how designers and manufacturers modified their methods to be more “kid-friendly” and practical. Wallpaper that could be wiped clean was considered to be more sanitary; a wall frieze from 1905 entitled “The Froebel” even features an antiseptic border that allegedly prevented bacteria and germs from being absorbed, eliminating the need to replace the paper following an illness. The advent of machine-printing in the 1870s also made wallpaper less costly to produce and thus more affordable for families.
Thematically, the first children’s books and wallpaper motifs share much in common. The emphasis on moral instruction is apparent in etiquette manuals such as Julia Corner’s “Sketches of little girls” (ca. 1838) and “Pilgrim’s Progess,” (ca. 1875) a sidewall featuring illustrations from the popular Christian book of the same name. Primers and manuals featuring simplistic, hand-colored engravings were designed to help children learn basic skills like reading and arithmetic. Similarly, wallpaper such as Kate Greenaway’s “The Months” (1893), has a clear educational value.
Soon, however, illustrators strove for more sophistication and in the late nineteenth century, the artwork in children’s books became less crude and more indicative of the design sensibility of the period. The influence of the Aesthetic style, characterized by two-dimensional flatness and allover surface design, can be detected in Walter Crane’s “The House That Jack Built” sidewall from 1886. Crane, along with Greenaway and Beatrix Potter, illustrated for both book publishers and wallpaper manufacturers, representing a key intersection between the two mediums.
Some of the most exciting works included in “Wall Stories” are culled from the twentieth century, when entertainment replaced education as the primary design goal. Herringshaw explains, “This shift came about when child psychologists and educators realized that children could learn while they were having fun.” Comic-strip detective Dick Tracy, created by Chester Gould in 1931, is the star of both a pop-up book from 1935 and sidewall from 1950. Characters like Winnie-the-Pooh, Tom Sawyer and Peter Pan first appeared in books and then went on to inspire wallpaper designs. Fascination with the Wild West and outer space also influenced designers, as evidenced by a 1948 “Comboys and Indians” wallpaper and “The Jolly Jump-Ups Journey Through Space” book from 1952, which chronicles a family’s adventure traveling to other planets.
The invention of pop-up and coloring books in the 1950s offered more interactivity for readers and in recent years, wallpaper has followed suit. Chris Taylor and Craig Wood’s “Frames,” is a versatile paper that can be hung horizontally as a border or vertically to cover an entire room. The 2004 black-and-white print consists of empty squares, enabling children to paste in favorite photographs or draw pictures inside. “Cherry Forever,” designed by Michael Angelo and produced by Flavor Paper in 2007, uses microencapsulation technology to produce a scratch-and-sniff effect.
While adults will find the design narrative of the exhibition compelling, younger visitors can occupy themselves in a special gallery that has been transformed into a children’s reading area. “Wall Stories” is on view through April 5, 2009.