  We offer a fractonic perspective on a familiar observation -- a flat sheet of
paper can be folded only along a straight line if one wants to avoid the
creation of additional creases or tears. Our core underlying technical result
is the establishment of a duality between the theory of elastic plates and a
fractonic gauge theory with a second rank symmetric electric field tensor, a
scalar magnetic field, a vector charge, and a symmetric tensor current. Bending
moment and momentum of the plate are dual to the electric and magnetic fields,
respectively. While the flexural waves correspond to the quadratically
dispersing photon of the gauge theory, a fold defect is dual to its vector
charge. Crucially, the fractonic condition constrains the latter to move only
along its direction, i.e., the fold's growth direction. By contrast, fracton
motion in the perpendicular direction amounts to tearing the paper.
