In the days before plastic bags were the go-to choice to have groceries “sacked” in, we relied on brown paper bags. We appreciated how neatly they folded. We didn’t appreciate how easily they ripped — and the pickle jars crashing to the ground. Those little paper handles were certainly not reliable.
Brown paper bags had other purposes, too. Many of you recall using them as book covers for your textbooks at school. My teachers would request that we students bring our brown paper sacks to class. We all had a stash of them at home. They would then instruct us on how to properly cut and fold them to get the perfect fit and keep our books from becoming beat up from the daily wear and tear.
I don’t know if these book covers are still being created and used today or not. Paper bags are more difficult to find, and, for that matter, so are textbooks.
Regardless, I realized I have not made one of these book covers in decades, and I wondered if I still knew how. I needed a little help from the Internet, but I rediscovered how great these paper bag book covers truly are. If she were still alive, Betty Lou Varnum from “The House With the Magic Window” would be proud of me. The process is quite simple:
• Prepare your paper bag
• Cut the paper to size
• Fold the top and bottom edges
• Wrap the jacket evenly around the book
• Slide the book securely into the paper bag book cover
• Use your artistic talent and scribble all over it
The trick, as you may remember, is in the folding of the top and bottom, which creates the sleeve for the hard cover to slide into without the need of any tape. If you learn better with pictures, check out this site.
I recognize that most of you are saying, “Shane, I no longer have textbooks. Why would I need to wrap a book at this stage of my life?” You probably don’t have much of a need to create brown paper bag book covers for yourself, but if you know a kid who needs to get off of his or her phone and work on something creative, this might be the ticket.
Of course, you will have to find a book. And a paper bag.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
