"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?

Sure, they didn't care that 90 years later you'd want to re-do the place.
Latex paint didn't exist either so it is good that there is no paint and
then more paper.