Stumbled on a stat about old bookbinding glue that blew my mind

I was reading this forum post from a retired bookbinder in Vermont last night and he mentioned that hide glue was still used in some shops up until the 1970s. That surprised me because I figured synthetic PVA took over way earlier. He said a single batch of hide glue could cost around $40 in today's money for a small run. But here's the wild part: some books bound with hide glue from the 1800s still have flexible spines today. It made me wonder if we've traded longevity for convenience with modern adhesives. Anyone else come across old techniques that hold up better than what we use now?

3 comments

3 Comments

taraross1mo ago

Hold on, is this really that deep though? I mean yeah hide glue lasted a long time but that's like saying horse-drawn carriages were more reliable than cars because they didn't need gas stations. We're talking about a glue that smells like dead animals and has to be heated up in a pot every single time you use it. And $40 for a small batch? You could buy a whole bottle of top-tier PVA for that and have it last you a year. Plus let's be real, most people don't need their paperback to survive 200 years, they just need it to not fall apart before they finish reading it on the bus.

wyatt1351mo ago

$40? @taraross that's like a third of my grocery budget for a week!

willowg881mo ago

Oh come on, Tara, you're really gonna act like PVA glue doesn't also have its own annoying problems to deal with?