"K. G. Ulicni" wrote in message
...

I have a house built in the early 1920's. Every wall in every room was
wallpapered with the paper applied over the bare plaster, multiple
layers no less. No paint, no primer just plaster. It was a major pain
to get all the paper off those walls, lots of scrapes and gouges left
behind to patch when done. Was this a common practice back then?

Yes this was normal. Interior walls were either paneled in
wood or plastered (on lath). The practical point is that, if to
be papered, a plaster wall did not need to be visibly perfect.
That could be done, but would take extra costly time and skill,
wasted when wallpaper was the standard interior treatment.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)