Story Behind Inventors and Inventions Carbon Paper

About the origins, history and story behind the scenes of the inventor and invention of carbon paper.

Extraordinary Stories behind Ordinary Objects That Had to Be Invented by Someone

Invention: Carbon paper

Inventor: Ralph Wedgwood, England

Year: 1806

How Invented: As the producing of "duplicates of writing" became a need of the developing commercial world, Ralph Wedgwood found a way to meet the demand. He invented and patented carbon paper, which he made by saturating thin paper with ink and drying it between sheets of blotting paper. He opened a shop at 4 Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, London, where he maintained a lucrative business selling his product in the 1820s.