Inspired by a bowl of oatmeal I found on my desk one midwinter morning

[cjsmith]

My apologies for the clumsiness of the dual questions here. I don't know how to make LJ polls correlate stuff any better than this.

[Poll #1100464]

My coworker, who is about six months younger than I am, has seen and touched wallpaper paste. So have I. I remember, though, that it wasn't long before the paste was manufactured as part of the paper, and with that step done, wallpaper hanging involved a big tray of water. So I'm curious in a completely unscientific way. Plus polls are fun. :)

Comments

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

I'm 47, but so close to 48 that I clicked '50'.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I couldn't get it to go by ones. Too many possible answers. Feh!

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

I'm 48, and ditto. We'd better get used to it.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Yup--we're now sliding up a notch in that whole 'target demographic' thing.

[ashiegrrrl.livejournal.com]

My parents had the dining room re-wall papered when I was really little. I vaguely remember them applying paste and then the paper. It's a memory, but not very specific.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's got an amazingly distinctive smell to it, doesn't it? Or maybe I just remember smells a lot. I have yet to find anything else in the world that smells like wallpaper paste. But oatmeal can sure come close to the texture. ;-)

[ashiegrrrl.livejournal.com]

Agreed, on both accounts! :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_opus_/]

Wait, you don't use paste any more?

(need to get out more often)

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Then there is pre-Elmer's glue paste. I remember eating that in grade school, but then I am one year shy of starting my sixth decade. Elmer's glue just doesn't have that full bodied texture and starchy flavor of paste.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Would that be the same as "library paste"?

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Glue is just too runny.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

i think i remember seeing wallpaper paste as a kid. they'd paint it on, fold the paper over on itself, let it sit, and THEN they'd hang it. grownups are weird.

(my parents were BIG into wallpapering bathrooms back when i was in grade school. they did it in both houses we lived in. why they'd do such a big job in the tiniest rooms in the house is beyond me ...)

i don't remember smell, texture, or taste ... only that it was white-ish and goopy and made mom curse a LOT, and made them both curse MORE if we got too close to it. ah, childhood memories

(and yay! i'm closer to 35 than to 40 still!)

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

I'm actually trying to remember the last time I was in a place that use wallpaper, instead of just painting the walls. Hmm...

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, not sure this is inspiring me about oatmeal.... ;)

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Was the oatmeal green?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

No, but it was small! :)

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

I remember wallpaper paste, and the big brush my mom used to apply it. I also remember her dipping the long strands of paper into the big tray of water. I conclude from this that my mother changed the wallpaper waaaaay too frequently. ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

As did mine. I remember the books of samples, too, and the hours spent scoring and steaming and scraping the old stuff off.