I'm so old I Remember when:

[tripletfeb]

Not me. I am lost with all this talk of book covering.
What books were you all covering?

Now paper airplanes and pirate hats I may even still remember how to make.

School books. Hardcover

 

[RoyalChick]

School books. Hardcover

Hmmm. I grew up outside the US and I don’t remember having any hard cover school books.
The school library books were all covered in very thick plastic. I remember the icky feel of that very clearly.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We were required to cover our books to try to keep them in as good of shape as possible for as long as possible so they could be used year after year. Economy!

 

[Brooks_]

We were required to cover our books to try to keep them in as good of shape as possible for as long as possible so they could be used year after year. Economy!

This was also when they weren't rewriting everything.

 

[tripletfeb]

We were required to cover our books to try to keep them in as good of shape as possible for as long as possible so they could be used year after year. Economy!

I always liked to look in the book to see who had it before me. Our school had the kid write their name and year they had the book, on the inside front cover. One time, I got one of my older sister's science books

This was also when they weren't rewriting everything.

True dat

 

[BigBlueHen53]

This was also when they weren't rewriting everything.

Right! Math was math was math was math. You multiplied straight up and down, not diagonally like a cockeyed pirate! Whose damfool idea was that, I'd like to know? Should be strung up by his thumbs. How's a parent supposed to help her fourth grader with multiplication when the parent can't make head or tails out of it?!?

 

[Brooks_]

How's a parent supposed to help her fourth grader with multiplication when the parent can't make head or tails out of it?!?

That was the point. Parents and caregivers a stupid while teachers are smart.

 

[R2elk]

This was also when they weren't rewriting everything.

Revisionist history

 

[jxp]

I did, kinda? Just the comics were pretty fragile and tore pretty fast, so I would cover the book with a grocery bag and then cut out the comics, use a glue stick to attach them to the bag, and then cover then over with clear packing tape. It took more time for sure. I would end up with these collages of comics and I'd fill in the gaps with a bunch of doodles with a sharpie, or some other decoration.

Well, aren't you crafty. Love it.

 

[jxp]

I got a transistor radio for Christmas when I was 10. Turn it on really soft, put it by my ear (no ear buds) and listen to it before I fell asleep. It took a battery, so I had to remember to turn it off or it would run the battery down. AM, as FM was the "grown up" stations with talk and Bach.

Me too! And on nights when the Mets weren't playing, I'd listen to The Shadow Knows or some other radio drama. Good times.