I had a blast from the past today. Do you remember covering your school exercise books in wallpaper!
I recall vividly wrapping my school books in thick paper and sticking down the corners with big strips of sticky tape.
They ended up twice as thick as they were!
I was always fascinated by how all my wallpaper covered books slid into my school bag, especially the felt-blobbed stuff, which I think was called Anaglypta. Is that right?
Ring any bells readers?
Yep, covering your handed down text books from the year above you and your new exercise books to protect them. We used wallpaper or brown wrapping paper. I also remember we had different coloured exercise books for subjects - Chemistry was red, English blue, Geography green. We also had an exercise book in grey with twice as many pages that was used as a jotter to make notes in. The jotters got used up faster than the others, and I remember being told to write in it in pencil first so it could be used twice by overwriting in ink! I also remember having to queue up at lunchtime or after school to get replacements.
ReplyDeleteSome of the walls in my mum and dad's house were papered with Anaglypta . Very 70s !
Yes, Yorkie! Forgot about the different colours and papering text books too! Don't recall the jotters but I like the double writing idea! Been trying to think of the name of the massive carbon copier machine we had at school that I was asked to operate now and then. i think I just turned an iron wheel and the thing spewed out carbon copies of work sheets for the class. What was it?
DeleteYeah, all the copies were in purple ink too! Way before photocopiers. A search says they were called Ditto copiers or Roneo machines. All I remember is geting your hand filthy and purple. Great memories.
DeleteThat rings a bell Yorkie, ditto copier! Blimey. I bet there's a site devoted to them somewhere!
DeleteI used to crank out my satirical school magazine on a Gestetner a type of duplicating machine. Hand drawn or typed stencils in different colours. THE SCHOOL OBSERVER in it's day, 1963, raised £5 for OXFAM
DeleteGestetner! Wow! That sounds familiar too! And you printed a school magazine! Fabulous! I must find a video of one of these machines in action!
DeleteWeren't they called banda machines?
DeleteWow! Banda! Another name! They had lots of names!
DeleteFlock wallpaper is the fuzzy stuff. It is a nightmare to remove from walls (when I bought my current residence it was on the hallway, lounge and part of the bathroom). We used to be given sheets of sticky back plastic to cover new text books at school. We also did the wallpaper/ brown paper on older text books. I wasnt very good at it.
ReplyDeleteFlock! of course! So Anaglypta is the paper with embossed patterns is it? Woodchip is another one. I think I covered some books in woodchip wallpaper! As for sticky back plastic [down Shep!] it was the stuff that held the Seventies together! Brown paper has changed over the years. It used to be crinklier I think.
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