Making "aged" dial card paper.

[Greg G.]

Just an experiment I'm trying.  I took some regular printer paper and "aged" it in some coffee in a pan.  I put the paper in the pan, and mixed half cup of hot water with a large heaping spoonful of decaf instant.  (The only reason I use the decaf is because I don't drink it much, don't want to waste the good stuff.)  

I left it to sit overnight, then drained the coffee off and left the paper in the pan to dry out.  Important that you don't try to lift the paper, it's very soggy and will tear easily, just hold it in place and pour off the excess coffee, then leave to dry.  

Things like bubbles you want to leave in, they leave interesting "imperfections".  I'm still experimenting with it to get more "imperfections".

The result is a sort of dark-beige colored paper.  With a word processor, I made a table with 3 columns and five rows and experimented with different formats and fonts.  Some of them I blurred out because it's my real phone number, but the SUnset number is disconnected.  I remember the SUnset number from an old TV commercial from the early 60s.

"With a rap of the hammer! (rap a tap tap)"
"And just a little bit more! (rap a tap tap)"
"Washington Builders!"
"Call SUnset three, two, four (rap rap), oh four!"

Shows you how effective commercials were back then, I still remember it!

[cihensley@aol.com]

Brinybay

It seems like you may be going to some unnecessary work. You can do the same "aged look" on PowerPoint and print on HP brochure paper.

Chuck

[bingster]

It does look nice though. And paper like that would come in handy for a number of different things.

[gpo706]

I read somewhere just buy old "dime' paperbacks from the charity shop on print them on the insides of the front/back covers.

[bingster]

That's a good idea.  The paper is a bit coarse like the real dial cards, too.

[rdelius]

I use rolls of old Teletype paper.
Robby

[Sargeguy]

Interesting.  I have to try this for my 293 diagram.

[Adam]

Briny, sounds like a fun way to enhance your collection.

I cheated, I just scan old number cards and then print them out.  They look exactly like the original, aged color and all, and when they're behind the celluloid or plastic of the finger wheel, even the perforations look real.

[Greg G.]

Brinybay

It seems like you may be going to some unnecessary work. You can do the same "aged look" on PowerPoint and print on HP brochure paper.

Chuck

Yeah, but what fun is that?  I could just make up a draft and take it to Kinko's and let them to everything, but knowing me, it would take me two months before I got around to doing that.  I don't have PP anyway, just the reader.

[jsowers]

What a great use for Decaf! I don't like to drink Decaf either.   You could even go further and try to simulate the little rust spot that appears in the center, for even more authenticity.  I've used buff colored paper before, but it doesn't have the uneven quality of Decaf. A very inexpensive solution.

Yes, those old 2L5N numbers stick in the head. I remember from WGN Chicago during my early days of cable in the late 1980s there was a carpet place that still used "NAtional 8-5000" as their phone number.