Before it went obsolete, how did people of the past use paper?

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Paper (and things made from it) used to be a staple product in society. Long before holograms and levitation devices were created, often people had to complete tasks manually...

So we're here to show you what life was like 100 years ago, in the distant year of 2018.

Let's take a look back on the relics that are now long forgotten.

The Source

Paper was a staple for generations.

Many civilisations would tear down forests just to be able to obtain this once invaluable material.

But so often its value was forgotten, and it was discarded, taken for granted.

The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world.
Malcolm Gladwell, 1963

Bag it up

When people didn't have levitating carriers to hold their personal belongings, or handheld personal teleporters, often they'd have to rely on flimsy, fragile bags that were often prone to ripping and tearing.

Frequently, they’d just disintegrate if they came into contact with water.

To make matters worse, they had to carry them with their own hands, frequently causing severe pain.

Origami

Paper was also used to form intricate forms of art, through various multiple folds. Fanciful myths of being granted a wish after creating 1000 paper cranes became commonplace. Before other forms of entertainment were created, people would work painstakingly on a single simple fold.

Overall, I want you to discover the joy of creation by your own hand.
The possibility of creation
from paper is infinite.
Akira Yoshizawa, 1911

Sticky notes

How did people stay on track of tasks before they had holographic pop-up reminders?

Well, often they stuck a small square of paper, with a strip of weak adhesive on the things they used to remind themselves of what they needed to do.

However, these would often fall off, and tasks may have been left incomplete.

Notebook

Thankfully the days of having to manually write out notes are far behind us, but we should never forget what the generations before ours had to suffer through.

Writing until their hands cramped, having to messily cross out any errors, running out of space or ink, is a foggy memory for most.

Books

Long before our alternate reality entertainment systems, people had to read multitudes of words on a page and force themselves to hallucinate as a form of entertainment.

But what’s the fun in have to concentrate on long strings of words, risking paper cuts, or accidentally ripping the very thing meant to provide you fun?

Though they do make for good decorations.

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.
Vera Nazarian, 1966

Flash cards

When people didn’t have robot servants to quiz them on their necessary educational topics, people had to use multiple pieces of card to use for memory related tasks.

Coming up to a presentation, revising for an exam? These cards were used to a great extent, and then discarded once the task was complete.

Greeting cards

It's Christmas day, and before you open your gifts you open an envelope to read a letter in a card written by someone sitting 5 feet away from you. Or at least, that's how it happened in the past.

Now, we can send these sorts of greetings instantaneously, without having to resort to pieces of card that would frequently get lost in the physical travel.