Strathmore History

The new year marks a special milestone for us at Strathmore as we celebrate our 125th anniversary. Take a look at our history and how our legacy lives on.

One of the fun things about working with a brand that has a long history is looking back at the advertising of the past. Strathmore Artist Papers was founded in 1892, so looking through our archives is like a history class in American papermaking and advertising! A favorite campaign of ours is the “Prominent Artist Users of Strathmore” series of ads that ran in the 1950s and 1960s. Each ad featured a photo and information on a renowned professional artist and the reasons they trusted Strathmore for their work. Artists included fine artist Andrew Wyeth, graphic designer Saul Bass, and illustrators Albert Staehl and Norman Rockwell among others.

As part of our 125th Anniversary celebration, we'd like to talk a bit about our founder Horace Moses. During his lifetime, he was known not only as an industrialist, but also as philanthropist who made generous contributions of his time and finances towards the betterment of youth, the furthering of the arts, and the study of agricultural sciences. His gifts continue to enrich the lives of people all over the world to this day.

The first writing surface was made in ancient Egypt from a plant called Papyrus, the royal plant of Egypt. The core of the papyrus plant was cut into tissue-thin strips, then laid across each other and pressed together under pressure. This turned the strips into a thin, smooth and durable laminated material that wasn’t quite paper.

We've been serving artist needs for over 120 years and we believe better quality paper gives artists the best possible chance to be successful.

Reminisce with us today as we take a look back at Strathmore employees in the early 1900's!

Find the Thistle on strathmoreartist.com for a chance to win our Holiday Giveaway!

Learn about this unique paper we introduced a decade ago, and meet a new member of the toned family!