NATIONAL DAYWRITING & MEDIA

National Paste Up Day

On National Paste Up Day, cooking is the party: a skillet, a story, and paste up pulled hot from the kitchen.

MAY7

Friday, May 7Every year on May 7

days to go

Roots: Origin under research by National Day Calendar
Vibe: Community-focused and expressive
Also on May 7: World Athletics Day · Barrier Awareness Day · Day of Prayer
Hashtag: #NationalPasteUpDay

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Ways to celebrate

Small, doable ways to celebrate National Paste Up Day.

Host a low-stakes dinner — everyone brings one thing.
Cook paste up the way a family member taught you, if you can.
Order from a locally owned spot that could use the business.
Make a double batch and drop half off to a friend.
Eat together without screens — even for 20 minutes.

Make it your kind of celebration

Family
Pick a recipe together, assign jobs, and serve it family-style. The cooking is the conversation.
Kids
Let the kids build their own version — tacos, pizzas, sandwiches. Their plate, their rules.
Couples
Pick one recipe you've both never made and cook it together, no outside help.
Office
Do a shared lunch instead of the usual — team potluck, takeout from a local spot, or a catered tray.
School
Tie the meal into a cultural or geography lesson — ingredients, origins, stories.
Community
Organize a neighborhood potluck or contribute to a community meal at a shelter or church.
Just me
Cook one real meal for yourself. Plate it like company's coming.

Plan ahead

National Paste Up Day is observed on May 7 every year. Here is where it lands for the next ten years, handy for planners, marketers and party people.

2026Thu, May 7this year

2027Fri, May 7

2028Sun, May 7

2029Mon, May 7

2030Tue, May 7

2031Wed, May 7

2032Fri, May 7

2033Sat, May 7

2034Sun, May 7

2035Mon, May 7

2036Wed, May 7

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Fast facts

Paste-up artists cut and arranged type, headlines, and photos by hand.

The term 'cut and paste' comes straight from the paste-up table.

The story

National Paste Up Day, observed each year on May 7, honors the skilled hands behind pre-digital publishing. Before desktop computers, laying out a newspaper or magazine page meant paste-up: cutting columns of type, headlines, photographs, and illustrations, then arranging and gluing them onto boards to create camera-ready pages. It was meticulous, physical work, and the foundation of modern graphic design.

Read the full story

National Day Calendar is researching the origins of this observance. What is certain is what it celebrates: the layout artists and production workers whose precision with wax, glue, and craft knives shaped how the world read the news for much of the 20th century.

The desktop-publishing revolution of the 1980s made paste-up boards obsolete, but the vocabulary survived. This day is a nod to the craft that came before the keyboard shortcut, celebrate by visiting a library's newspaper archives, trying a hands-on layout or collage project, or thanking a designer who still sweats the details of a well-set page.

Print shops around the world depended on the same hands-on layout craft, and the tools of the trade, the light table, the proportion wheel, the waxer, are now museum pieces. National Paste Up Day keeps the memory of that craft alive.

Did you know?

Did You Know?

The first known collages date back to the 10th century.

Collage in History

Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque pioneered collage in the early 20th century.

Street Art Growth

Paste-up boards were made obsolete by desktop publishing in the 1980s.

Artistic Expression

Collage allows for limitless creativity and personal expression.

Community Impact

Paste-up artists worked with wax, glue, and craft knives to build camera-ready pages.

Digital Influence

Today's layout software does in seconds what took paste-up artists hours.

Annual Events

National Paste Up Day is observed each year on May 7.

Around the world

Every culture celebrates a little differently.

USNorth AmericaNewspapers across the U.S. relied on paste-up artists to assemble daily editions.
GBEuropeEuropean print shops used paste-up techniques for books, posters, and magazines.
AUAustraliaPrint production worldwide depended on the same hands-on layout craft.
BRSouth AmericaJob printers everywhere cut and arranged type by hand before computers.
JPAsiaThe desktop-publishing revolution of the 1980s replaced paste-up boards with screens.
ZAAfricaThe vocabulary survived: 'cut and paste' comes straight from the paste-up table.