butcher paper

You know... that kinda glossy, kinda rough, ultra cheap paper product every day care center, kindergarten and summer camp from Fairbanks, Alaska to Birmingham, Alabama (I should know... having taught summer camp in both...) buys by the bulk and then generously lavishes upon their teeming hordes of demanding artists and artists to be...!

Butcher Paper - a sublime and universal tool for creative consumption. A staple of my childhood. You can paint on butcher paper, you can draw on butcher paper, you can make butcher paper into pirate hats, you can cut it into funny shapes and taunt smaller children with it. It resists impact (well... some impact at least), you can make great big beach balls outa it. You can cover a wall and let kiddies graffiti to their little hearts' content. You can cut streamers outa it and throw bales of it about (once shredded) like confetti.

Butcher Paper exists for all applications.

Although, I find this troublesome... a routine search on the web turns up the following:

"The primary appeal of this sheet is the attractive appearance of red meat when viewed on this peach colored wrap, and its significantly improved water and blood hold out, as a result of the additives used in papermaking. It is also believed that the water-repellent additives keep meat from turning brown and provide superior blood and moisture holdout."¹

Uhm. What? You know... I don't think I've ever even been in a butcher shop, much less cared about the absorbancy and water-resistant qualities of my childhood dreams and memories. Goddamnit it was for the art - not the dead and roasted cattle so harshly slopped upon the canvas' of little children everywhere...!

Hmmm. Yes.

¹http://www.deltapaper.com/peachplus.html