Originally Posted by ShirlinAZ
Have you heard newspapers being called rags? The paper used was made from rags that the poor collected from the trash of the rich and sold to paper factories. No lie. I'm sure some people continued using newspapers after they were mostly wood fiber without realizing a change had happened.
The first time I read about newspapers used as filler it referred to a Massachusetts quilt made in the 1700s, so paper, as you say, was probably recycled rags.