Making Your Own Pressed Cardboard Kindling

During WW2, Boy Scouts organized paper drives, gathering newspapers from homes to be recycled for the war effort. Scouts became so good at it, that after the war they found new reasons to continue to practice. It was a service to families to come and remove their piles of newspapers before they became a fire hazard. The truckloads of paper were sold to a pulp mill, and the funds raised went to support Scouting activities. Everyone was happy.
I grew up in the Fifties in a town where almost every house had a fireplace. They were considered essential in case of extended shortages of fuel oil or electric outages. Our parents were children of the Great Depression and understood what we now call “prepping”. During the Depression the sawdust from mills was gathered and pressed into synthetic logs for wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, called “Presto-Logs”.
In the Sixties, I was taught how to soak newspapers in a bucket of water, then roll them into tight little logs wrapped with twine or baling wire. When they dried, they could be burned in a fireplace like wood.
Today, in the Twenties, the same process still works for those who have fireplaces as an alternate source of winter heat. It seems there’s just never enough kindling! Here’s how to make your own.