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Comment by sbaiddn | Hacker News Reader

"knowing how to wrap a book in a protective cover when you take it with you, "

Did you grow up in a poor country? My mom used to do that when I was a kid. After we moved to N America I only saw it done once.

Its actually quite lovely.

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In elementary school we used to make paper covers for our textbooks. I don't remember when, but I suppose that it was at school. The textbooks were going back to the school at the end of the year for the next year's classes.

This was part of our routine in Junior High and High School in Pennsylvania 1979-85. We would make book covers for our hardcover textbooks out of paper grocery bags.

When I was in public school (1960s-1970s) we were required to wrap our textbooks, since they were reused for years. I got really good at making wrappers from butcher paper or used shopping bags. In college it was normal to purchase cheap decorated covers, but only for hardback textbooks; if your paperback Norton Anthology of English Literature survived the semester, good luck to whoever bought it next.

Ha, the one college textbook I still own is a hardcover Norton Anthology of Renaissance Drama. I couldn't bring myself to sell it back.

Do you want an answer on a global scale, or compared to the US?

My position has no direct connection to the price of the books, it has with their value, though. FYI, when I was growing up books were pretty cheap, compared to the median income.

When I was a kid my mother used to help me wrap all my textbooks, although we didn't do that with other books. It seemed typical at the time (in America btw) but it might be a dying practice as textbooks go digital and schools give kids ipads instead.

I don't know how old everyone is, but in the 80s (in the US) we would make covers for our textbooks with brown paper grocery bags. It wasn't affectionate; at the end of the year they charged you for damage (it was before modern hyperdisposable capitalism, and the same books would be used for years and multiple students.)

Yep, brown paper bags is usually what we used. Sometimes we'd use gift wrapping paper though if there was any laying around. That was a bit less durable, but it looked nicer so I guess I was probably gentler with those books.

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