#scherenschnitte

The term “seal” can be confusing because it refers to both the impression and the device which produces it. Early documents or letters were secured with resinous sealing wax impressed with a stamp seal and were reserved for officials or aristocrats. Later on, in the 19th c., the majority of the literate people used circular paste wafers and paper wafer seals which were much cheaper and easier to use. Wafers are “thin, flat, baked adhesive discs” made of flour paste. They would be moistened on both sides before being pressed to seal a letter or a document. Wafers came in different sizes and colors, and were used as adhesive joints or for affixing paper seals on official documents as shown below.

The wafer made from red colored paste is underneath the paper seal stuck on top. It is the same seal shown on white and blue wafer paper seal.

 Sometimes the wafer paper seals would be made to purposefully emulate the appearance of the older wax / resinous seals as illustrated below (NARA records).

The paper seals found on the Revolutionary War documents vary in color, style and type and can have eye-catching, intricately carved designs.

The Revolutionary War pensions records bear many types of seals: hand-written seals, ink printed seals, embossed paper wafer seals and “Scherenschnitte” hand-cut seals.

The image of the beehive in the inked seal above illustrates the importance of  agriculture, as does the plough in the paper seal below, featured in the Revolutionary War pension file of James Scott, TN.

Hand-cut  Scherenschnitte seals found on the American Revolutionary War pension records. Scherenschnitte paper seals are one of a kind. Scherenschnitte means “scissor cuts” and is a traditional folk-art brought to Pennsylvania in the 18th century by German immigrants.

As other methods of document protection became common, particularly the self-sealing envelope, the use of wafer paper seals declined and by the end of the 19th century the wafers and seals became obsolete.