My old boss in Baltimore showed me his 1988 sample book, and the paper he used to get off the shelf is gone now

Casey Harris · 2026-10-10T20:35:03.849311+00:00

I was cleaning out the back room at the shop last month and found a sample book from 1988 that a former boss in Baltimore left behind. The cloth he used for spine linings back then was a heavy cotton drill, and you could wet it and it would hold its shape with almost no fray. Now most of what I order online shows up thinner, and it frays if I look at it wrong. Part of it is mills closing, part is the supply just getting cheaper over 30 plus years. Anyone found a current source that still feels close to that old drill?

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My old boss in Baltimore showed me his 1988 sample book, and the paper he used to get off the shelf is gone now | Bookbinders - Guest Forum