J. F. Bumstead billing E. D. Peters, June 1, 1863

1. The scenes on the billhead show block-cutting, block-printing, machine-grounding, machine-printing, rolling up, and a pair of paperhangers trudging off to work, boards under their arms. An essay about the Bumstead shop by Karen Guffey is part of "Wallpaper in New England" (SPNEA, 1986).

The woman in the lower left-hand corner of the billhead appears to be 
rolling up a large repeating pattern, or maybe a curtain paper. 
Curtain papers were an important decorative item, especially in 
pioneer areas where fabric and upholstery were scarce. A roll of 
curtain paper could produce 4 or 5 lengths of patterned paper, often 
quite elaborate, which were used as window shades.

She's using a machine and rolling tightly. Workers were paid per hundred and got a lower rate for rolling loosely between printings. Bumstead considered 700 rolls a good days work for loose rolling, and expected 500 rolls a day if rolled tightly and numbered. He recorded in his diary that "Miss Morrill is told, after 10 days trial, that she will be given 1.75 per week for board. She will be rolling up, and will try her hand in printing when not rolling up".

2. "Putting on" is another word for installation. "16 2/3" cents is the New England value of a shilling (.166 of a dollar, or one-sixth of a dollar). "25" cents is the New England value of a shilling and a half (.25 of a dollar, or one-quarter of a dollar, or, more familiar to our ears, a quarter.)

Paperhangers in the cities were not afraid to charge for "sizing" (the noun, not the verb) and later, for other sundries like sandpaper and paste. In this case the sizing cost 20 cents.

3. This is a bill for a residence with large rooms, including three bedrooms. The prices for border and sidewall are not cheap. The square footage of each room probably ranged from about 400 to 550, based on the sidewalls.

Here, the borders seem to have been trimmed out and sold by the running yard, not the piece. They were probably used at the ceiling line only. 24 yards could decorate a ceiling line for a room up to nearly 18 x 18, so the amounts of border tend to confirm a substantial room size.