Scraps first appeared in the early 19th century as black and white engravings, and were later coloured by hand. By the 1820s they had become more elaborate and sometimes embossed, and within a decade both the printing and embossing processes were automated. They were colour printed by chromolithography, and coated with a gelatine and gum layer to give them a gloss finish. After being embossed they were die-cut and put through a stamping press to cut away the unwanted areas of paper, leaving the individual images connected by small strips, often bearing the name or initials of the maker.

Scraps became extremely popular in Victorian England to be cut out by adults or children and stuck into albums, on to screens, or used for decorating greetings cards. This is one of a series of scraps featuring portraits of contemporary theatrical 'types'. It depicts the 'man about town' music hall character, sometimes called the 'swell', this one sporting a fashionable type of moustache made popular in London in the 1860s and 1870s by Edward Southern who played a character called Dundreary who had whiskers like these. in the play Our American Cousin,