The Octagon Library
NextBackThe Octagon Library was a private concern that lent out books, for which I think you paid a few pence. I used to go in with my mother when I was around five or six or so. Next door or pretty close was the Walpamur Shop which specialised in emulsion paint. Bright buttercup yellows and pea greens were the popular colours of the day, together with pinks and light blues. These were water based paints which game in assorted sizes of tins. Pretty revolting stuff, but just after the war, anything colourful was an improvement to brighten peoples life up. They also sold wall paper in various patterns which would be considered dull and boring by today's standards. As with the paint you were glad of anything. Wall paper in the Harris home was stuck on with a paste made from flour and water, which is probably why many damp houses suffered with infestations. The colonies of bugs inhabiting the space between wall and paper had a ready made food supply! After electing ones paper, the rolls were put in a machine to be trimmed before taking home. This involved cutting around half an inch of unprinted paper off each roll end. You could do it at home with scissors, but the paper never matched up perfectly!
