What Kind Of Paper Might Family History Documents Be Made Of?
Family historians end up with lots of family papers that they need to store. However, that is not so easy as the paper quality can differ depending on when the paper dates from. Most papers dating before the early 1840s you might think would be really fragile. Not the case. These would have been handmade from linen, cotton and hemp rag and tend to be very durable. Paper and books from the mid 19th century to the middle of the 20th century were mass produced and tend to be poor quality and more liable to decay than older paper products. More expensive 19th century paper products such as account book paper and good stationery either continue to be hand produced or were made with better quality materials. They last a lot better. More recently produced paper tends to be wood based but is of a higher quality, so should last longer.
