Deckled Edges. Day 384.

My great-grandfather, William Lamory, whom I’ve never met, invented the deckled, or deckle, edge! I know, I know, exciting content, but you have to admit it’s pretty cool.

I’m reading a novel currently called The Poisonwood Bible, and the edges in this version are deckled. It’s when the edges of the pages in a book do not line up with each other. Instead, they are formed into a type of pattern that creates up-and-down waves when you view it at an angle. The uneven pages create ease when turning the page, eliminating finger-licks for dry hands, and you never wonder if you are on the correct page.

Whenever I see deckled edges, I wonder about the great-grandfather I never knew who unintentionally left his mark. It’s funny how he may have never considered that one day someone would think of him because of his invention he created while working at the American Writing Paper Company in Holyoke, MA.

It has a patent number of 1,810,316 and a heading that reads “W. J. Lamory Art of Making Deckle Edge Paper.” He applied December 21, 1928 and it was approved on June 16, 1931. There are more details in the link if you wish to know more.

Click HERE to go to the website where you will find a link to download the actual patent.