How many of us would eagerly read a bit of newspaper that has been used to wrap food?  All of us, ideally, if we had as voracious an appetite for reading as the writer Emmelie Prophète (b. 1971) had when she was a child—click here to read about her childhood and more in an interview that she gave to the website Île en île in 2010.

 

In 1895 Montpellier (France), a decree that regulated what types of paper can be used for wrapping food gained international attention.  Handling food in a sanitary way is important, of course, but for curious readers everywhere it is a good thing that that decree’s influence did not lead to striking old newspapers off the list of acceptable wrapping paper too soon in other countries.

 

 

Page 17. Extract from “Wrapping-Paper from a Sanitary Standpoint.” The Literary Digest, 9 November 1895. → https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Literary_Digest/H3RAAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=france,+wrap+food+in+newspaper&pg=PA47&printsec=frontcover

 

 

 

Page 473. “Hygienic Parcel-Wrapping.” Bulletin of Pharmacy. A monthly journal devoted to the scientific, educational and commercial interests of pharmacists, vol. IX, 1895. → https://www.google.com/books/edition/BULLETIN_OF_PHARMACY/9LxF6TW2kpgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Montpellier+is+the+first+town+in+France%E2%80%94or,+as+far+as+we+are+aware&pg=PA473&printsec=frontcover

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honoré Daumier (1808-1879). Newspapers at the Grocers (Les journaux chez l’épicier) from La Caricature, 23 October 1842. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. → https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/403983

 

 

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References & Suggested Reading

 

 

Blaise, H. “Les papiers de pliage au point de vue de l’hygiène ; leur régulation à Montpellier.” Revue d’hygiène et de police sanitaire, 1895, vol.17, pp.499-505. → https://www.google.com/books/edition/Revue_d_hygiène_et_de_police_sanitaire/HRoDAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=montpellier

 

Bulletin of Pharmacy. A monthly journal devoted to the scientific, educational and commercial interests of pharmacists. Vol. IX. Detroit: George S. Davis, 1895.

 

Chemla, Yves. “Présenter Emmelie Prophète.” Le Nouvelliste, 19 avril 2018. → https://lenouvelliste.com/article/186204/presenter-emmelie-prophete

 

Food & Sanitation. United Kingdom, M. Henry, 1895. → https://www.google.com/books/edition/Food_Sanitation/RXgBAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=montpellier

 

Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte und Leistungen auf dem Gebiete der Hygiene. Germany, F. Vieweg, 1897.

 

The Literary Digest. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1896.

 

“Les papiers de pliage au point de vue de l’hygiène.” Revue scientifique, 4e série, 31 août 1895, tome IV, numéro 9, pp.285-6.

 

Prophète, Emmelie. Le bout du monde est une fenêtre. Montréal: Mémoire d’encrier, 2015.

 

– – – . “Emmelie Prophète, 5 Questions pour Île en île.”  Île en île, 19 June 2009. → http://ile-en-ile.org/emmelie-prophete-5-questions-pour-ile-en-ile/

 

– – – . “Veye dezyèm anivèsè lanmò Jando (1).” Duke University Libraries, 2 April 2002. → https://repository.duke.edu/dc/radiohaiti/RL10059-CS-1956_01