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{{Short description|Type of paper made of wood fiber}}
{{Infobox material
|name=Manila paper
|image=File:Manila papier.jpg
|image_size=300
|alt=
|caption=A sheet of manila paper
|type=[[Paper]]
|density=≥0.70
|abbe_number=
|refractive_index=
|tensile_strength=≥3.5
|gas_perm_temp=20 °C
}}

'''Manila paper''' ({{langx|es|'Papel de Manila'}}) is a relatively inexpensive type of [[paper]], generally made through a less-refined process than other types of paper, and is typically made from [[Bleaching of wood pulp|semi-bleached wood fibers]].  

The ''manila'' component of the name originates from manila hemp ({{Aka}} [[abacá]] leaves), which was named after [[Manila]], the capital of [[the Philippines]].<ref name=":12">{{cite web |date=11 June 2018 |title=An ode to filing |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/ode-filing |access-date=13 December 2021 |website=[[Otago Daily Times]] |language=en}}</ref> Beginning in the 1840s, recycled abacá rope fibers were the main material for manila paper.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wordsmith |first=Chrysti |date=2013-04-12 |title=Word of the Week: Manila envelope, a holdover from Philippine fiber |url=https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/go/word-of-the-week-manila-envelope-a-holdover-from-philippine-fiber/article_857e349a-a305-11e2-b116-001a4bcf887a.html |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=Bozeman Daily Chronicle |language=en}}</ref>

Before the end of the 20th century,{{When|date=October 2023}} papermakers replaced the abacá fibers with wood pulp,<ref name=":13">{{cite web |date=11 June 2018 |title=An ode to filing |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/ode-filing |access-date=13 December 2021 |website=[[Otago Daily Times]] |language=en}}</ref> which cost less to source and process.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |title=A Manila Envelope: The Inspiration behind an Exhibition's Graphic Identity |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/articles/checklist/a-manila-envelope-the-inspiration-behind-an-exhibitions-graphic-identity |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite the change in production material, "the name and color remain."<ref name=":03" />

Since at least 1915, manila paper has been shaped to create '''manila file folders''' and '''manila envelopes'''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Knox |first=Frank M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sd5EAAAAIAAJ&q=Manila+is+used+for+making+file+folders |title=The Knox standard guide to design and control of business forms |date=January 1965 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=9780070352513 |language=en}}</ref>

== Attributes ==
[[File:Fashion students 2016-7 (26395112985).jpg|thumb|Fashion student using manila paper]]
It is just as strong as [[kraft paper]] but has better printing qualities, such as stronger pigment retention.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} Manila paper is [[buff (color)|buff-colored]] and the [[fiber]]s of the paper are usually visible to the naked [[Human eye|eye]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Some fashion schools and people in the fashion industry use large rolls of Manila to create finalised clothing patterns.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} Because the paper is generally inexpensive, it is commonly given to children for making [[Child art|art]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Day |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATs9AAAAQBAJ |title=Children and Their Art: Art Education for Elementary and Middle Schools |last2=Hurwitz |first2=Al |date=24 July 2012 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-133-42151-1 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ATs9AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 101] |language=en |access-date=10 April 2022}}</ref>

== History ==

=== 19th century ===
In the 1830s, a cotton and linen rag shortage occurred in the United States.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Wynne |first=Deborah |date=2015-01-02 |title=Reading Victorian Rags: Recycling, Redemption, and Dickens's Ragged Children |url=https://academic.oup.com/jvc/article/20/1/34-49/4095574 |journal=Journal of Victorian Culture |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=34–49 |doi=10.1080/13555502.2014.991747 |issn=1355-5502|hdl=10034/338205 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> This caused papermakers to seek out additional production materials.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=A Manila Envelope: The Inspiration behind an Exhibition's Graphic Identity |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/articles/checklist/a-manila-envelope-the-inspiration-behind-an-exhibitions-graphic-identity |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> This paper shortage "only abated in the 1870s, when rag paper was gradually replaced by paper made from [[Pulp (paper)|wood pulp]]".<ref name=":3" />

In 1843, papermaker Mark Hollingsworth and his sons John and Lyman obtained a patent "to manufacture paper from manila fibers".<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Hollingsworth & Vose {{!}} Asbestos Products & Mesothelioma |url=https://www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-exposure/companies/hollingsworth-vose-company/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=Mesothelioma.com |language=en-US}}</ref> This family company became [[Hollingsworth & Vose]].<ref name=":4" /> The [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum|Guggenheim]] claims that this creation of manila paper was a way "of recycling [[Abacá|manila rope]], previously used on ships."<ref name=":02" /> The resulting paper was strong, water-resistant, and flexible.<ref name=":02" />

Manila paper was originally made out of old [[Manila hemp]] ropes which were extensively used on ships, having replaced [[hemp|true hemp]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} The ropes were made from [[abacá]] or ''Musa textilis'', which is grown in the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sumner |first1=Judith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_fSaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 |title=Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II |date=30 May 2019 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-3540-8 |page=201 |language=en |access-date=21 May 2021}}</ref> Abacá is an exceptionally strong fibre, nowadays used for special papers like [[tea bag]] tissue.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} It is also very expensive, being several times more expensive than woodpulp, hence the change to that fiber for what is still called Manilla—usually with two L's.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} More recently{{When|date=October 2023}} new wood pulp has often been replaced with a high proportion of recycled fibers.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} True Manila hemp folders would have been much tougher and longer lasting than modern folders.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 April 2013 |title=Word of the Week: Manila envelope, a holdover from Philippine fiber |language=en |work=Bozeman Daily Chronicle |url=https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/go/word-of-the-week-manila-envelope-a-holdover-from-philippine-fiber/article_857e349a-a305-11e2-b116-001a4bcf887a.html |access-date=21 May 2021}}</ref>

By 1873, the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] quoted Thomas H. Dunham, who described Manila paper as "nine-tenths [[jute]]" when praising [[jute]] production.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XzczAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22manila+paper%22&pg=RA10-PA19 |title=Pamphlets on Cotton, Wool, Etc |year=1873 |pages=19 |language=en}}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
In 1906, over 2,000,000 [[Picul|piculs]] of manila fibers were produced, making approximately 66% of the country's export profits.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4mezrdXEbgC&q=%22abaca,+or+Manila+hemp%22 |title=The Far-Eastern Review: Engineering, Commerce, Finance |date=1906 |publisher=G.B. Rea |language=en}}</ref>

From 1898 to 1946, the [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|United States colonized the Philippines]] following the [[Spanish–American War|Spanish-American War]]. The [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum|Guggenheim]] claims the "colonial government found ways to prevent Filipinos from profiting off of the abaca crops, instead favoring the businesses of American expats and Japanese immigrants, as well as ensuring that the bulk of the abaca harvests were exported to the United States" for use in military initiatives.<ref name=":02" />

== Types ==
[[File:Manila folder.jpg|thumb|A manila folder affixed with a [[paper clip]]]]

=== Manila folder ===
{{Main| Manila folder}}

A manila folder is a [[file folder]] designed to contain [[Document|documents]], often within a [[filing cabinet]]. It is generally formed by folding a large sheet of stiff [[card stock]] in half, sized so that full sheets of [[Paper|printer paper]] can fit inside without folding. Like manila envelopes, folders are traditionally [[Buff (colour)|buff]], but other [[Color|colors]] are occasionally used to differentiate categories of files.
[[File:Envelope, postage (AM 2016.35.5-3).jpg|thumb|A 1915 manila envelope notifying the [[next of kin]] of a WWI soldier who died in battle; [[Tāneatua|Tāneatua, New Zealand]]]]

=== Manila envelope ===
The manila envelope, a close relative of the folder, often has a mechanism on the closing flap that allows it to be opened without damaging the envelope so that it can be reused. There are two main methods to achieve this. The first incorporates a metal clasp with two prongs, which are put through a reinforced eyelet in the flap and then bent apart to hold, while the other has a cardboard button secured tightly on the flap and a piece of string fastened on the envelope body (or the reverse arrangement) is wound around it to form a closure. In a more general sense, similar envelopes made of brown, unbleached paper, used for cheapness, are also  described as manila envelopes.

==See also==
{{commonscat}}
* [[Card stock]]
* [[Manila folder]]
* [[Kraft paper]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Paper}}

[[Category:Visual arts materials]]
[[Category:Children's art]]
[[Category:Paper]]


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