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The first picture is of the moose painting that started the “moose room” theme and that got her wanting to collect more. The second picture is of the moose stuffed animals that Dixie's friend would bring back for her from her mini vacations. The last picture is of the moose scarf that Dixie received for Christmas last year, that she loves so much.

THE ZUBER PATRIARCHY Spring: Jean Zuber, fl.1790-1835; Summer: Jean Zuber-Karth, fl. 1836-1853; Autumn: Ivan (Jean) Zuber, fl. 1854-1907 This is the first of a multi-part series telling how the Zuber family made wallpaper over a 117-year period (1790-1907). It is closely based on the thesis “From the Workshop to the Wall” by Dr. Bernard Jacqué, see link at the end of this newsletter. Two disclaimers: the thesis is written in the French language. The possibility of errors in sense and transcription should be kept in mind. Secondly, these technical and biographical sketches are a radical concision of the thesis, which takes a bird’s-eye view of the history of wallpaper.

V. 1, N. 3 (March 15, 2020) is titled "Wallpaper Values" and compares and contrasts the values of wallpaper as decorative art, as avatar of social values, and as material culture.

V. 1, N. 5 (May 15, 2020) is titled "Is Wallpaper Essential?," answers in the affirmative, and argues for a new definition: "Wallpaper is affordable and flexible, modular in form and design, ordinarily covered with a printed pattern, and made for decorating domestic walls."

V. 1, N. 4 (April 15, 2020) is titled "Bernard Jacqué, His Thesis, and His Methods." It shows how Jacqué's work relates to that of Jules David Prown, an art historian credited with formulating an influential approach to material culture in the pages of the Winterthur Portfolio in the early 1980s.

Um my parents brought over a tradition form England. That um.. was one of the things they did at Christmas time to decorate the ceilings. And we loved as kids and looked forward to each Christmas when my folks would get out this special, uh kind of crate paper, decorations. These were just really really long strands of red crate paper that was twisted to make this really unique design to begin with. Then they would hang them from one corner to another, kind of crisscross, on the ceiling. And they would loop them in this crisscross from one corner to the other, so that there was these beautiful red loops hanging from the ceiling. Then they would go to the other corner and do it crisscross so there was loops hanging from that corner. And then in the middle, uh.. they had a big Christmas bell that opened up and flair out, and they would put that in the very middle of the ceilings right where the two decoration things crossed, so that it was right in the middle of that. And we just loved that as kids, and I can’t remember seeing anybody else. Friends and um.. we did have that many other family that came over from England, but that was something we loved every year.

V. 1, N. 2 (February 15, 2020) is titled "Wallpaper and America" and critiques Catherine Lynn's standard text from 1980, "Wallpaper In America."

My mom always did a decoration around the doorways. Back then my dad worked for Geneva Steel. Almost everybody in our neighborhood worked there. There dads... all worked there. It was kind of a middle... middle class income neighborhood. Uh… especially after the war, the second World War. Uh the wages were good; the men didn’t need to have a lot of education just coming out of the war. But um everybody knew everybody at the steel plant, and they all sent cards to everybody. Come Christmas we would get 100-200 cards. It was different that what it is now. So, in order to display all the cards, my mom would get rickrack, which is a kind of a trim that use to be popular. And it… she could thread each of the cards on the rickrack and then just attach the rickrack around the doors. The rickrack is kind of like a ribbon, only it is heavier, and it’s kind of like in little V shapes, and V shapes, and V shapes. And so, you could anchor the cards on a V shape, so it wouldn’t slide down, and then put it around your door ways. And so most of the doorways in our home were trimmed with all these cards. I remember this being really fun. To see the cards that we got, and to have them on display that way.