In late summer of 2010, I was invited—very kindly!—by the good folks at our National Archives to stop by and talk (and demonstrate) a bit about American Scraps, which then went by the laborious name “Today’s Document (Illustrated).” The people I met during that trip were lovely, and it made for a memorable afternoon. Godspeed, archivists.
The estimable industrial warehouse that converts scrapped artifacts from American history into comics.
For generations, American Scraps has pledged itself to being the finest industrial convertor of scrapped American-history artifacts. These junk deposits aren’t mere waste; they’re brimming with relevance, and only our proprietary system can turn them into comics worthy of the American Scraps™ seal. More
Tireless progress, week after week
Bare walls make for slothful employees. Decorate your environs while maintaining your pep with our official screenprint poster. (Expertly hand-pulled on 100 lb. natural Cougar™ paper by the craftsmen of Seattle’s Broken Press.) Details
Whether it’s coffee, espresso, hot cocoa, or discreet pours of holiday-party egg nog, this thing won’t quit. Show off your company pride with every sip in our handsome, durable workingman’s mug. Details
Every American Scraps comic strip cites, links-to, and—where possible—displays a preview of its source artifact. These artifacts are all from public-domain, royalty-free sources, and are appropriate for use in the classroom. Most American Scraps sources come from The National Archives And Records Administration (NARA), whose “Today’s Document” feature was the original inspiration, in 2010, for this whole enterprise. (On a personal note, I’m grateful to NARA for the invaluable work they have done, and continue to do.)
For ease of use in the classroom—specifically grades 5–12—American Scraps organizes its material according to UCLA’s National Standards for History Basic Edition (1996), as you can see in those ten “Historical Eras” above. Learn more about the National Center for History in the Schools here.
If you’re a teacher and are using American Scraps in the classroom, I’d love to hear from you! Drop me a line at jon@americanscraps.com.
The original art you see here on American Scraps is copyrighted, and reproduction of it is prohibited without written approval.
In other words, unless I’ve told you otherwise: Don’t save or screenshot these comics for use in your own post, tweet, slideshow, or embed. Don’t “remix” or “aggregate” them. Don’t reproduce them, even in an appreciative way. Don’t sell them. Don’t drop them into a listicle called “15 Comic GIFs That Tell The Story Of American History (And You Won’t Believe #8!)”.
Instead, contact me at jon@americanscraps.com and let’s talk about your idea.
