The first orna­ments (non-typo­graph­ic or bor­der ma­te­rial) offered by wood type manufac­turers were Indexes. Though Wells & Webb first showed a Calli­graph­ic Index in 1854, William H. Page introduced the more rec­ognizable Indexes in 1859. There were almost no new orna­mental designs introduced over the next decade. Page began introduc­ing a va­ri­ety of orna­mental el­e­ments again in the early 1870s that included a va­ri­ety stars and catchwords. While all manufac­tures eventually offered a range of orna­mental cuts, Page led the introduction and elab­oration of wood orna­ments through­out the 1870s and into the 1880s, including introduc­ing floral and spac­ing orna­ments as well as Japanese Corners.

The inter­est in orna­ments di­min­ished greatly af­ter the turn of the centu­ry and by the 1930s wood type manufac­tures were only showing simple ge­o­met­ric forms—dia­monds, circles, squares and stars—as orna­ments.