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Posted By: davidcycleback

Old paper was made from rags (cotton, hemp) and is called rag paper. When they started running out of rag, they started including wood fiber. Wood fiber ages badly. Since they were for one day, modern papers used the cheapest paper with extra high wood fiber content. Thus a 1985 newspaper can be in worse shape than a 1790 paper.

They still make rag paper, like for art paper.