vintage childrensamples

CLICK ON A SAMPLE TO SEE AND DOWNLOAD AND FULLPAGE

This article is from
The Victoria and Albert Museum Website

Wallpaper made specifically for children began to be produced around the middle of the 19th century. This is when the middle class had sufficient space in the home to set aside rooms for children and their nannies. The rooms were referred to as ‘nurseries’.
At first the wallpapers produced were meant, not only to decorate the walls of the nursery, but to also educate the children who occupied the room. The Victoria and Albert museum have two samples of children’s Victorian wallpaper. One of them depicting scenes from the popular novel Robinson Crusoe .The other wallpaper is called’ The Months’’1893. ’’ The Months’’ is a delightful wallpaper design depicting the four seasons. Pretty children and ladies in Regency style clothes illustrate the wallpaper. This wallpaper is very feminine but was used in both girls and boys nurseries. I have reproduced both of these wallpapers in dollhouse size.

From the 1870s onwards, many more nursery wallpapers appeared, the great majority with subjects adapted from children's books. Indeed some were the work of artists and designers who were themselves directly involved in book illustration, though others such as Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott simply allowed their illustrations to be purchased for the purpose. Perhaps the best known artist associated with the design of nursery wallpapers was Walter Crane, a prolific illustrator of fairy tales and toy books. His wallpaper designs, produced by the fashionable manufacturer and retailer of 'art' wallpapers, Jeffrey & Co., illustrate nursery rhymes - such as 'The House That Jack Built' (1886) - or fairy tales - such as 'Sleeping Beauty' (1879).

Kate Greenway

Walter Crane

Randolph Caldecott

You can read lots more about the history of children’s’ wallpaper at
The Victoria and Albert Museum Website

Amy Miles Dollhouse Nursery

Amy Miles Dollhouse Nursery 1890 The nursery is papered with an ordinary green and white leaf print design, and a scaled-down pictorial frieze of the kind designed for children around 1900
go here for a larger picture

'The Months', nursery wallpaper, 1893	CLICK ON A SAMPLE TO SEE AND DOWNLOAD AND FULLPAGE This article is from The Victoria and Albert Museum Website Wallpaper made specifically for children began to be produced around the middle of the 19th century. This is when the middle class had sufficient space in the home to set aside rooms for children and their nannies. The rooms were referred to as ‘nurseries’. At first the wallpapers produced were meant, not only to decorate the walls of the nursery, but to also educate the children who occupied the room. The Victoria and Albert museum have two samples of children’s Victorian wallpaper. One of them depicting scenes from the popular novel Robinson Crusoe .The other wallpaper is called’ The Months’’1893. ’’ The Months’’ is a delightful wallpaper design depicting the four seasons. Pretty children and ladies in Regency style clothes illustrate the wallpaper. This wallpaper is very feminine but was used in both girls and boys nurseries. I have reproduced both of these wallpapers in dollhouse size. From the 1870s onwards, many more nursery wallpapers appeared, the great majority with subjects adapted from children's books. Indeed some were the work of artists and designers who were themselves directly involved in book illustration, though others such as Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott simply allowed their illustrations to be purchased for the purpose. Perhaps the best known artist associated with the design of nursery wallpapers was Walter Crane, a prolific illustrator of fairy tales and toy books. His wallpaper designs, produced by the fashionable manufacturer and retailer of 'art' wallpapers, Jeffrey & Co., illustrate nursery rhymes - such as 'The House That Jack Built' (1886) - or fairy tales - such as 'Sleeping Beauty' (1879). Kate Greenway Walter Crane Randolph Caldecott You can read lots more about the history of children’s’ wallpaper at The Victoria and Albert Museum Website Amy Miles Dollhouse Nursery Amy Miles Dollhouse Nursery 1890 The nursery is papered with an ordinary green and white leaf print design, and a scaled-down pictorial frieze of the kind designed for children around 1900 go here for a larger picture	Charles Francis Annesley Voysey Design
Nursery wallpaper illustrating episodes from 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe, about 1875-1900		Nursery wallpaper illustrating episodes from 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe, about 1875-1900
1940-1950		sorry no date
1940-1950		1940-1950
1940-1950		1940-1950
1940-1950		1940-1950
Raggedy Ann		Noddy 1950's
1950		1920
Cecil Alden 1915 border		email back to wallpaper menu

More Printables Pages	Codliver Oil There was nothing my mother believed in more than cod-liver oil. It was the first thing that my brother and I tasted every single morning. Our bowls of porridge would be in front of us at the table, we each had a spoonful of porridge already hovering in front of our face, ready to shove it in as soon as we downed the huge spoonful of cod-liver oil. Yuck! It was vile, horrible stuff. I dreaded this morning ritual, and it went on for years. When I was about 7 or 8, we got a reprieve; cod-liver oil became available in capsule form. That was much better. I was a curious kid, so it is not surprising that wondered about the cod-liver oil capsules. I was very thankful for them, but I didn’t know if they were solidified cod-liver oil or if they were a jelly type substance with a drop of cod-liver oil inside. One rainy afternoon I decided to investigate, it must have been a Tuesday, because my mum always did the washing on Mondays and the ironing on Tuesdays. On this day she was standing in front of the fire in the living room, doing the ironing. Our living room looked really nice, my mum had just finished putting up new wallpaper. It had been a big job, she had stripped off all the old wallpaper and put up the new wallpaper all by herself. The pre-glued wallpaper had not been invented yet so it was quite a production to get the job done. It was worth it though, my mum really proud of the great job she had done. The living looked so fresh with new wallpaper it had beige background with white flowers. On this particular Tuesday, while mum ironed, I sat on the floor rummaging through the sideboard. We kept all sorts of odds and ends in the sideboard, from sticky tape to, playing cards, to the bottle of brandy, that was kept for an emergency, which never happened. The cod-liver oil capsules were kept in there too. I decided to settle my curiosity about whether they were solidified oil or whether there was a drop of oil inside. I squeezed the capsule to find out. I found out. There is oil inside! A blotch of oil appeared on the new wallpaper, just above my mum’s head. I watched in horror as it grew bigger and bigger. I looked at mum who was staring in astonishment at the sheet on the ironing board. Another oil spot had landed there and was spreading out right before her eyes. Mum looked at me, and then she followed my gaze to the wallpaper. Oh boy! Who would ever believe that one little cod-liver oil capsule could do so much damage, the oil on the wall was now about 4 inches in diameter. There were many times that my mum became angry with me, and I expected to be in really big trouble this time. I don’t know why she took it as calmly as she did, maybe it was an area that was easy to redo, or maybe she knew she had enough wallpaper to fix it. All I know is that I got away with it. She didn’t even yell at me! After a few days, to my relief, mum tore off the oil spotted wallpaper and put up some new paper. My crime was erased and our living room looked great again. I still hate codliver-oil. ----------------------------------------------------- My Mum passed away in 2000. She had suffered a stroke seven years before that, and was unable to do the creative things she used to do. The one thing she did love to do was remember happier days. We talked endlessly about the times when I was child and she a was young woman. I was able to clarify a lot of my memories during our long conversations. We are both very good at talking. Now that she is gone, I am still reminiscing. It comforts me to write those memories down. Thankyou for taking the time to read my little stories Jennifer	View my Dollhouse and Miniature Dolls



In my search for vintage children’s’ wallpapers I have come across some designs that I remember from my childhood. This 1940’s-50’s blue wallpaper. Took my breath away when I first came across it. The same wallpaper was on my cousin’s bedroom walls, I was whisked back to a happy memory of she and I in her room, playing with paper dolls. Just like music and certain smells, patterns and designs can jog our memories. I wish that I could add a texture to the printables because I remember this particular wallpaper had a bumpy bubbly texture. To the best of my knowledge the dates for the vintage children’s printable wallpaper are correct.		Restoring old family photographs is a passion for me. Restoring old wallpaper in order to make dollhouse wallpaper is an extension of that hobby. To clean up a wallpaper like the one above can be painstaking work. The background is so discoloured that the only thing to do is to erase it. What a huge difference there is when it is all cleaned up click here to go to my photo restoration