The Birth Of Scrapbooking by Richard Greenwood
Scrapbooking with photographs has been around since photos became available to ordinary people. Old scrapbooks tended to have photos mounted with photomount corners and perhaps notations of who was in a photo or where and when it was taken. Modern scrapbooking has evolved into creating attractive displays of photos, text and memorabilia. As of August, 2006, the commercial scrapbooking industry celebrated 25 years of existence, as started by Marielen (pronounced “Mary Ellen”) W. Christensen of Keeping Memories Alive, the world’s first scrapbooking store (which then had a different name), headquartered in Spanish Fork, Utah, USA, in 1981.
Scrapbooking as an actual industry has its roots in 1976, when Christensen began designing creative pages for her family’s photo memories. She inserted her memory pages into a new product called sheet protectors and placed them inside 3-ring binders. By 1980, she had assembled over fifty volumes of family memories, and was invited that year to display her albums and demonstrate her concept at the World Conference on Records in Salt Lake City. That conference opened the door to a massive interest in memory book design, and Christensen was invited to give seminars and teach classes to countless groups, including Brigham Young University’s Campus Education Week and numerous church, civic and school groups. During the following 25 years, she lectured continually throughout the Intermountain West.
In addition to her many lectures, Marielen and her husband AJ authored and published the first how-to book on organizing and preserving family memories, called Keeping Memories Alive. Not only did they found the first scrapbook store in 1981 and later name it after this book in 1993, the Christensens began a mail-order division in the back of the building. The business grew very quickly by word of mouth and had to move its warehousing to a larger facility in 1994, and its shipping department to a larger one in 1998. During the fall of 1993, Keeping Memories Alive opened the first wholesale division in the scrapbook industry providing other stores with a source to purchase all of their scrapbook products at one place. This step helped move the industry forward as small scrapbook stores began opening up all over the country.
As scrapbooking became more well-known, people were searching for new, fresh ideas on how to preserve their own memories. As a result of many requests from customers, Marielen Christensen authored and published the first idea book for scrapbookers in March of 1995.In 1996, Keeping Memories Alive made history again, as they launched the world’s first scrapbooking commercial website.
With the arrival of magazines devoted strictly to scrapbooking, the scrapbook industry experienced huge growth during the years 1996 to 1999. In January of 2000, Marielen was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from Creating Keepsakes Magazine for paving the way for this industry.
Scrapbooking as a hobby has taken off in the recent years, possibly in part because of its first commercial website. Another reason may be the strong social network that scrapbooking can provide. It is now a multi-billion-dollar industry with a large number of companies creating scrapbooking products. Across the world, “scrappers” or “scrapbookers” get together and scrapbook at each other’s homes, local scrapbook stores, scrapbooking conventions, retreat centers, and even on cruises. Scrappers share tips and ideas as well as enjoying a social outlet. The term “crop,” a reference to cropping, or trimming, printed photographs, was coined to describe these events. This hobby has surpassed golf in popularity: one in four households has someone playing golf; one in three has someone involved in scrapbooking.
In the late 1990′s, many scrappers opened stores to turn their hobby into a business. Unfortunately, within approximately 5 years, many of those stores were forced to close due to a downturn in the economy and the fact that many store owners mistakenly assumed that loving to scrap was enough to run a retail store. Many owners simply didn’t know HOW to run their stores. During this time, more multi-level direct sales companies were formed. Several were closed due to mismanagement, while others weathered the tough times. It also gave rise to a new breed of business – the home-based retailer. Companies arrived to provide information for women who wanted to break out of the direct sales mold and go out on their own. While vendors had traditionally stayed away from the home-based market due to fraud, they began to warm to the idea of the non-traditional sales channels as a way to get their products in front of more consumers through home parties and workshops.
Working with a company like this enabled them to tap into legitimate home-based retailers. Originally, it was hard to find scrapbooking supplies, but now most major discount stores and almost all major craft supply stores stock them. Local scrapbook stores (hereafter referred to as LSSs) are considered the heart and soul of the hobby of scrapbooking by some enthusiasts. LSSs are where one can attend classes and find out where the best “crops” are. Supplies can also be ordered online or ordered from a home-based retailer. Some of these sell products through a multi-level direct sales company while others are independent and may be part of a business group. Many local suppliers offer instructional classes. Scrapbooking is not only a hobby to create a place for one’s keepsakes, but also has become a popular way to make gifts for weddings and other special occasions.
This amazing phenomenon has now arrived in the UK and the requirements of the increasing number of avid UK scrapbookers is being met by a growing number of specialist retailers including the likes of Paper Arena (www.paperarena.co.uk)
About the Author
Richard Greenwood is co-owner of Paper Arena and a skilled scrapbooker.
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