Old Rittenhouse Homestead, Philadelphia, PA - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

Papermaking in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was a complex and time consuming multi-step process with each step requiring highly skilled and experienced labor. (That’s not to suggest that it’s any less complex today!) It started with rags (mostly worn out clothes and linens) which were segregated by quality/color and subsequently cut up and put through a fermentation process that could last for weeks. The rag pieces were then beaten in a series of hammering operations with different shaped faces to further reduce the fibers to the required consistency. The resulting “pulp” was poured into moulds to produce individual sheets which were pressed and dried, steeped in a sizing solution, pressed and dried again. If any of these steps was done too much or too little or otherwise improperly, it could ruin the final product.

William Rittenhouse, who had changed his name from the Dutch Willem Riddinghuÿsen (and that from the original German, Wilhelm Rittinghausen) immigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 1680s. He brought with him well over twenty years of papermaking experience from Holland and Germany, both in the production and marketing ends of the business. Within a few years of his arrival, Rittenhouse, along with some partners, had acquired land along the Monoshone Creek near Germantown (now a part of Philadelphia) and established a paper mill, the first one this side of the Atlantic Ocean. In spite of some early setbacks, including a flashflood that destroyed the original mill, Rittenhouse and his son Claus went on to establish a thriving business, branching out in all directions and producing quality paper for the next 150 years. Many colonial era documents written or printed on Rittenhouse paper still exist and attest to the paper's quality.

By fixing a shallow wire device to the bottom of the mould, the resulting sheets of paper will show what is known as a watermark. An early watermark used by Rittenhouse is shown on the postal card. Curiously, the card carries the inscription “Rittenhouse paper mill circa 1770” yet clearly shows the Rittenhouse homestead, built 1707 and a bakehouse built in 1725. (The mill was located just across the creek from the homestead.) None of the Rittenhouse mills have survived but fortunately both buildings shown on the stamp still stand and are among the oldest buildings in Philadelphia.

The name Rittenhouse is a familiar one to Philadelphians: Rittenhouse Square, Rittenhouse Hotel etc. But these are associated with William Rittenhouse’s grandson David Rittenhouse, the famous astronomer and friend of Benjamin Franklin and not with the papermaker. Incidentally however, David Rittenhouse was born in the house depicted on the stamp.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 13-May-1990 Denomination: 15 cents Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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