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Stamps Before Camps

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Hey, Camp Kids!

Leaving your mark in one fell stamp is always a satisfying feeling. A handy little piece of technology, people have been using stamps for a very long time. Stamping is still widely used today to designate documents or show ownership. Our customers at Everything Summer Camp love the ease of stamping their kid’s camp clothing with our convenient Clothing Stamp! But as you mark your camp clothes, have you ever pondered how this little handheld wonder came to be?

Used to press an inscription or a picture into clay throughout ancient times, the first stamps date back to roughly 4000BC and they were made of stone or metal. These devices were simple handles with the inscription piece fit on the base—typically made of brass. The bottom was dipped in ink and used to transfer the inscription to any paper. Back in the day, mailed envelopes were enclosed with a brass stamp dipped in wax to seal the document.

These stamps were nothing like the folding tuck-away Clothing Stamp contraptions that we offer at our shop. They stayed in this old-fashioned manner and it took all the way to the mid-1800’s when something interesting happened.

It’s not settled exactly when it was that the first rubber stamp was invented. Some say it was in 1844 when Charles Goodyear first witnessed the process of vulcanization when he accidentally dropped some rubber and sulphur on the stove. Others say it took until 1866 when James Woodruff applied the manufacturing technique of rubber molds for dentistry to the printing stamp.

They've come a long way over time! The rubber on the stamp that we offer comes as a liquid gel to begin with. It then gets 'baked' with a negative that has your name printed on it. The gel that got baked had your name on top and the rest was unexposed so it remained liquid gel. We wash away the unbaked gel and there you have your Clothing Stamp rubber print!

Get your own by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!


- John


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