I purchased a document that was described as a handwritten civil war
era document, they stated the year was 1861, however when I received
the document it was written on paper with blue horizontal lines and a
red line vertically down the left hand side, looked suspiciously like
ruled paper of today. Did paper such as this exist in 1861?

---

Clarification of Question by denise1-ga on 23 Jul 2004 07:20 PDT

Thanks for all the info, I believe you have answered my question.
I really appreciate all the great research. How do I go about rating
the answer since it was actually listed as a comment?

Dear denise1-ga;

It seems the type of tablet you are referring is reported to have
become widely commercially available around 1880:

?J.C. Blair was a Huntingdon Presbyterian Church Trustee from
1888-1897. He loved promoting Sunday School and teaching boys about
the church. In the time when our country was experiencing an
industrial and inventive explosion, Blair was numbered among the
giants. He is the person who devised the ?writing tablet,? which is
the ancestor of today?s legal pads.?
THE EXTRAORDINARY HISTORY
http://www.pennswoods.net/~hpc/ourhistory.htm

Researching Mr. Blair further I found this which gives the dates of
his business operations:

?The J.C. Blair Company Museum, used for exhibits, highlights the
impact of this tablet and stationery business between 1880 and 1965.?
HISTORY CENTER
http://www.pghhistory.org/HCAP/associate.htm

If Blair was the inventor of the ruled tablet as claimed and his
business (which became the Mead Corporation some time after 1965) did
not exist prior to 1880, then it would stand to reason, at first
glance, that such a tablet could not have been in existence in 1861 as
your item suggests. However, it appears that while Blair might have
been the ?credited? inventor of the ?legal pad? style tablet, his idea
was obviously not an original one. I did find in my research that
ruled paper was common even before the civil war:

?The four Muster Rolls that were found in the file up to the year,
September 1, 1862, were reported on ordinary ruled paper.?
THE CALIFORNIA STATE MILITARY MUSEUM
PETALUMA GUARD
http://www.militarymuseum.org/PetalumaGuard.html

The phrase ?ordinary ruled paper? does seem to imply that the paper
was common and not extraordinary for the time. Another document
archive lists a similar description of its documents:

?Journal and Memoir (1846-1899) contains three sets of journal entries
for Sept. 1846-Jan. 1847. All are handwritten in ink on loose sheets
of paper. The memoir, also handwritten in ink, on machine ruled paper
measuring about 8 x 5 inches, covers the years 1846-1848, with
additional material added and dated, on at least one page, with 1899.?
CUSHING MEMORIAL LIBRARY, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
INVENTORY OF THE EDWARD EVERETT PAPERS: 1846-1906
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00128/tamu-00128.html

The description, ?on machine ruled paper? certainly implies that the
paper was manufacturer (and probably mass produced) for this specific
purpose with the rule as opposed to one that had rule applied after
the fact as was common in some art tablets.

So, in summary, it appears that indeed ?a type? of ruled paper was
available to some extent during the time frame you mentioned but it
would still be prudent to have an expert examine the document to have
it officially authenticated.

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. By officially posting my answer, the rating
procedure (you asked about) should now be enabled for you if you want
to use it. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

DEFINED ABOVE


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

RULED

TABLET

NOTEBOOK

WRITING

PAPER

INVENTED

J C BLAIR

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 07 Sep 2004 14:03 PDT

Here is another example I found after the fact. This notation
describes a note written by General Robert E. Lee upon learing of the
mortal wounding of Stonewall Jackson in 1863:

"At 11:30 AM, General Lee received a note from General Jackson telling
him he had been wounded and that General Hill was in command. Turning
to his aide Colonel Marshall, General Lee dictated his famous letter
to General Jackson. The original of this letter is in the Rare Book
Room of Tulane University in New Orleans. I have held and read it. It
is written on a small sheet of ordinary coarse, blue ruled, tablet
paper, signed R.E. Lee, General."

DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON
http://www.vmi.edu/archives/jackson/tjjartl.html

tutuzdad-ga

Wow, Thanks for all the great info and the quick response.

Dear denise1-ga;

It seems the type of tablet you are referring is reported to have
become widely commercially available around 1880:

?J.C. Blair was a Huntingdon Presbyterian Church Trustee from
1888-1897. He loved promoting Sunday School and teaching boys about
the church. In the time when our country was experiencing an
industrial and inventive explosion, Blair was numbered among the
giants. He is the person who devised the ?writing tablet,? which is
the ancestor of today?s legal pads.?
THE EXTRAORDINARY HISTORY
http://www.pennswoods.net/~hpc/ourhistory.htm

Researching Mr. Blair further I found this which gives the dates of
his business operations:

?The J.C. Blair Company Museum, used for exhibits, highlights the
impact of this tablet and stationery business between 1880 and 1965.?
HISTORY CENTER
http://www.pghhistory.org/HCAP/associate.htm

If Blair was the inventor of the ruled tablet as claimed and his
business (which became the Mead Corporation some time after 1965) did
not exist prior to 1880, then it would stand to reason, at first
glance, that such a tablet could not have been in existence in 1861 as
your item suggests. However, it appears that while Blair might have
been the ?credited? inventor of the ?legal pad? style tablet, his idea
was obviously not an original one. I did find in my research that
ruled paper was common even before the civil war:

?The four Muster Rolls that were found in the file up to the year,
September 1, 1862, were reported on ordinary ruled paper.?
THE CALIFORNIA STATE MILITARY MUSEUM
PETALUMA GUARD
http://www.militarymuseum.org/PetalumaGuard.html

The phrase ?ordinary ruled paper? does seem to imply that the paper
was common and not extraordinary for the time. Another document
archive lists a similar description of its documents:

?Journal and Memoir (1846-1899) contains three sets of journal entries
for Sept. 1846-Jan. 1847. All are handwritten in ink on loose sheets
of paper. The memoir, also handwritten in ink, on machine ruled paper
measuring about 8 x 5 inches, covers the years 1846-1848, with
additional material added and dated, on at least one page, with 1899.?
CUSHING MEMORIAL LIBRARY, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
INVENTORY OF THE EDWARD EVERETT PAPERS: 1846-1906
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tamucush/00128/tamu-00128.html

The description, ?on machine ruled paper? certainly implies that the
paper was manufacturer (and probably mass produced) for this specific
purpose with the rule as opposed to one that had rule applied after
the fact as was common in some art tablets.

So, in summary, it appears that indeed ?a type? of ruled paper was
available to some extent during the time frame you mentioned but it
would still be prudent to have an expert examine the document to have
it officially authenticated.

Since I am unable to determine exactly when the blue and red ink ruled
paper first came into existence (I suspect it was probably Blair?s
innovation in about 1880) but have determined that ordinary ruled
paper was available (colors of ink unknown), I will trust you to
decide if this has answered your question.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

DEFINED ABOVE


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

RULED

TABLET

NOTEBOOK

WRITING

PAPER

INVENTED

J C BLAIR