A tiny piece of paper that is now extinct,
Water-based stickers from a department store.
Prewar to 1960

These small, eye-catching pieces of paper, in shapes such as circles, squares, and diamonds, are stickers that were used to secure the edges of wrapping paper in storefronts from before the war until around 1960. This time, we will be introducing a collection that has been carefully stored in files and is in excellent condition.

They are one of the most popular paper items, with many designs that are ingenious for small pieces of paper, such as embossing and die-cutting. People around the age of 60 are probably the last generation to remember them being used. Water-based stickers were used not only by department stores and chain stores but also by individual shops, but they have been replaced by convenient printed cellophane tape, and unfortunately, they are no longer seen at all today, making them a truly endangered species.

Surprisingly, secondhand bookstores have a deep connection with this, and there are some stories of stores that still have stocks of water-based stickers for price tags. There are also people who buy old books in order to see the water-based stickers on the back covers of books sold at secondhand bookstores.

Like stamps, water-based stickers have glue on the back and are used by applying water. Nowadays, it seems that every store uses cellophane tape generously to wrap products, but in the old days, just as a stamp that suits an important letter would be gently sewn on, many different types of water-based stickers were used depending on the purpose, event, and store. Sticking one on at the end of the package would convey the feelings of the gift giver. Proof of this is that even a single store, such as the long-established department store Takashimaya, had 34 types of water-based stickers, Mitsukoshi had 24 types, and Daimaru had 25 types, with many different types of water-based stickers on hand.

Among the many water-applied stickers available, those from department stores are worthy of the status of a national brand, and many of them are highly accurate in every detail, such as the fineness of the illustrations and the height of the embossing. Since they are destined to be damaged and thrown away when unwrapping, there are almost no old ones left, but the ones being offered this time are all rare and unused.

About the names of water-based stickers:

It's a paper item that you see relatively often, but the official name is unclear. Some customers have asked if it's not a "shitadashi label," but I think that would be called by the manufacturer's name, like "Kamenoko Tawashi." It could be called a trademark label, but this is mainly used for match labels, or for things that are directly attached to bottles, cans, boxes, etc., or attached to products. At Nichigetsudo, we call it a water-applied sticker, since it's used for these other types of labels.

Text by Masago Sato