A greased paper window is a very inexpensive window made of paper coated in grease. The grease fills gaps between the paper fibers, reducing the amount of light lost to scattering.[1] Greased paper windows provide a diffuse light source, while blocking wind and preventing insects and other small animals from entering a structure.[1]
Greased paper windows were often used by American pioneers of the early 1800s[2] and other itinerant peoples, in lieu of relatively expensive traditional glass windows.[1] Laura Ingalls Wilder recalled living in a home with a greased paper window in her 1937 children's novel, On the Banks of Plum Creek.[3]
There was a small greased-paper window beside the door. But the wall was so thick that the light from the window stayed near the window.