Cassegrain
In the post on Wednesday the latest set of vintage stationery arrived to add to my haphazard collection: a box of Cassegrain paper and envelopes (Fig. 10). It contains all but a few of the original complement of a hundred sheets of laid paper in an almost impractically deep shade of indigo blue, edged on one side in burgundy; and, beneath them, the same number of matching envelopes, all lined with white tissue. The paper is a non-standard 129mm x 186mm: between A5 and A6; slightly smaller than the old British 'Duke' size. The sheets are relatively lightweight, with no identifying watermark. Having never seen anything quite like it on ebay before, I talked myself into paying nearly £30 for the set. The seller claimed it to be at least fifty years old. I'm looking forward to writing some letters on the stuff!
Cassegrain was a shop on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris where the likes of diplomats and duchesses, fashion designers and film-stars once bought their deluxe personalised stationery. The nearest equivalent in the UK would be Smythson. A '90s article in Le Monde names Gregory Peck, Faye Dunaway, Lauren Bacall and Harrison Ford as among Cassegrain's clientele. Founded in 1919, the shop's main business for many years was in the bespoke engraving of letterheadings, business cards, invitations and so forth. A family business until 1978, retail became more of a mainstay after the shop's acquisition by its first corporate owners. In the Le Monde article there's reference to it stocking some three hundred kinds of paper, each, implausibly, more luxurious than the last. Alas, the shop seems to have closed ca. 2010 – albeit with a successor of sorts in Armorial, now on Ave. Victor Hugo.
As a collector of old writing paper, the helpful on-line resources I've found have been few and far between. One useful source of information has been the scanned copy of the 1923 Phillips Paper Trade Directory of the World at the Internet Archive. Specifically, its section on “Water-Marks and Trade Names” has helped me out on a number of occasions. Finding a later edition (the one for 1948) of the Directory on sale via ebay, I thought I'd order it. The book arrived this afternoon (Fig. 11). Alas, by 1948, the “Water-Marks and Trade Names” section was evidently no more. With luck I'll find something else within to make the purchase worthwhile. On an initial browse through the volume I spotted one sign of the times in the section about Germany: “We would point out that we have received no replies to our questionnaires regarding mills in the Russian Zone”.
I'd been procrastinating and hesitating about trying a recently-acquired Shapton 1200 whetstone to re-finish the edge on one of my straight razors. Yesterday I had a first attempt, with an initial test shave with the same razor following earlier today. While I'd like to say it was a great success, I can only claim that I don't seem to have made the edge any worse than it was before. Second and probably subsequent attempts will be necessary.
I feel like it might be beneficial for my musical well-being to spend more time perusing what's on offer at Bandcamp. Visiting the site yesterday I very much liked what I heard of the album To Be Loved Back by North Ingalls. “This talented septet drape tender folk melodies in homespun, R&B-inflected grooves” says the blurb there. Here's a YouTube clip of the band performing their song ‘Jonni’.