Print Paper Shortage - a blast from the past

I'm reading 'Confessions of a Bookseller' by Shaun Bythell. It's a diary of a year in the life of a real bookshop owner, dealing in second hand and antiquarian books. It's amusing, written in a personable way, and makes one realise what a precarious living running a bookshop is. Full of interesting nuggets, one is that Pan books was created during WW2 because paperbacks consumed less paper than hardbacks and fitted in better with 'War Economy Standard'. Publishers were forced to cut their paper consumption by 60%. Most books published between 1942-49 bear the compliance stamp on their initial pages.

Today incidentally, our recycled paper goes into society friendly products such as greeting cards, magazines, newspapers, and toilet paper. During the war years recycled paper went into decided unfriendlier items such as shell containers, cartridge wads, mortar bomb carriers & interior lining for mines, amongst other ghastly things.

Apparently there's a bit of a paper shortage today because of supply problems, which could impact on book supplies, particularly those that do better than expected and need another print run. Shop early for Christmas if you spot a book that you think has legs!