Anyone else cover their school books and copies with wallpaper back in late 70's/early 80's?

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If so, what was it like. My sister pointed out to me that we had the same wallpaper that Dougal and Fr. Ted had on their bedroom wall in a kind of yellow and I still have a few copies from school with it. Imagine sending kids into school now with wallpaper on their books/copies. ha !!

We used something called contact paper

I remember trying to put it in without wrinkles

I was the poor kid that used any left over paper. Everyone else had sticky back plastic stuff. I bought that for ds and his school books.

My mum was a teacher who acquired our sticky back plastic to cover school books from her cupboard in her school.

Back in the days when schools were built so classrooms had a cavernous cupboard full of all sorts. And kids almost believed the teacher lived in there. 🤣

Yes. We had red Strathclyde council jotters at my school. The squared ones for maths were blue I think. I still don’t understand why we needed to cover the bloody things.

Wrapping paper, wallpaper and a rather lovely florentine wrapping paper, but only enough for one book, sadly. And yes to shoe/pe bag made out of old sheets or curtains with loopy chain stitch name embroidered on.

A DFriend's parents owned the 'Athena' shop in Canterbury for a while and her books were always covered in beautiful bits of poster (not scratchy arse tennis lady, thankfully).

Oh yes, so much hideous wallpaper. I just found my English book from 1982. Ouch!

We didn't have books we had Lever Arch type files. I grew up on my grandparent's farm so mine was a mixture of John Deere, Massey Ferguson, Alfa Laval, and NFU. Still got them, can't bear to throw them away, too upsetting.

Tbf, that’s the sort of thing people put up as wall paper (or curtains) and feel incredibly stylish in this century. 🤣

Yes! I had some covered in the same Rainbow Brite wallpaper that was on my bedroom wall. And some the awful beige shiny slightly embossed stuff we had in the living room. I remember having wrapping paper too but my mum wouldn't let me have Christmas paper!

Wallpaper was for the wealthier kids, as was the sticky plastic and brown paper, according to my mother. She fought the idea for weeks, telling the teachers that if they wanted the books covered, they could pay for it before she eventually bought two pieces of the cheapest wrapping paper she could find and told me to sort out the sellotape from a teacher.

She was convinced that Fads would charge her twenty pounds for samples, as the open rolls 'were for looking at, not stealing'.

Thing is, the books were in better condition and text books (remember when schools could afford to lend everybody a textbook for the year?) were still usable right up until exams changed or new scientific knowledge came about. So they had a point.

We did this, called into the local shop on the way home from school and staggered home with a massive wallpaper sample book! Then we'd flick through the book and take a sheet. Did use some magazine pages as well but that sample book covered many schoolbooks for me and my friends for years!

I also did this in the 90's. Used to use left over flock wallpaper or wrapping paper

Oh yes! It was the kitchen wallpaper, a very busy blue pattern, sort of psychadelic ish.

Very brave choice for my beige loving parents!

Madhairday that is lovely and so now, that is what you see celebs all doing one wall of their downstairs loo in. How did the paper like wrapping paper, magazine paper not rip. When my son in school a few years ago the bookshop covered them with this strong hard plastic with a machine type thing, only cost a euro for each book and helped keep them good. My sis and I had such a laugh when I showed her my old work book and copies with the Fr. Ted bedroom wallpaper. How did we all not go blind with the weird designs on wallpaper then and my poor mum did all the wall papering.

60s onwards to leaving school in mid 70s. Used to get surplus off cuts from the local decorating shop or as a moody teenager had the same dark blue wallpaper I had on my bedroom wall. Thought I was so cool.

Oh hell, yes! Mine were with anaglypta type wallpaper that had some colour on it. Hideous.

I remember using travel brochures in the late 70s. My favourite was a skiing one (Crystal?).

I had to do this in secondary school until I left in the late 00s!! The school would go mad if they weren't wallpapered!

Oh yes! We had a special roll of cream and brown wallpaper purely for covering books.

Another 'middle poster of Smash Hits' person here. Started off with brown paper but then realised the posters were the perfect size, and could also study John Taylor during lessons.
No idea why we had to do it though.

This was English Language

We weren't allowed to used magazines, and I was a very compliant teenager at school. Mine were mostly covered in anaglypta or brown paper, and I longed for my posh (ie middle class) best friend's proper sticky back plastic. So neat and shiny. One year my dad said he had a load of clear plastic from a factory he was maintaining that we could use, but it turned out to be really thick stuff that must have been used to cover new machinery when it was being delivered. It was a bugger to cut and wrap around school exercise books, and you could pick out its bulk in a pile of them being carried around by the teacher, but at least it was durable.

Gift wrap left over from Christmas so my books tended to have holly or bells on them.

I still do it occasionally like when I want to read a diet book on public transport I back it with the cover of Grape Tree magazine which is a nice thick paper and so colourful so the book cover is not seen. 😁