The Penny Drops.

[Grecian2K]

No. I can still clearly recall when they used to recommend "sticky back plastic" as a covering for old shoe boxes, large slabs of cardboard etc etc during the manufacture of their marvellously creative constructions. That would have taken HUGE" amounts of "Sellotape" (or, for antipodean members, "Durex" to achieve the same decorative effect.
From the same era though, does anyone else remember FORMICA? Similar intention. Serves a similar effect when trying to make your old kitchen worktops look posh but required the added expense of huge tins of "Evostick" to be of any use.
FORMICA was, from the start, aimed at the "aspirational" market.
FABLON was, sadly. aimed at the "plebs" and most definitely "council".

 

[feverpitch]

I'm with G2K. They are two different things.

 

[elginCity]

1960s Barry Bucknell legacy, fablon was stuck everywhere and anywhere. I *think* BP used it too, covering cereal boxes etc.

 

[Swanaldo]

I'm with G2K.

I'm with G2K and fever. Sticky back plastic came in large sheets and had to be peeled off a backing paper, which had writing on. It was definitely not sellotape.

On the subject of Blue Peter, did anyone actually ever do that thing where you put a huge blob of plasticine behind a bit of cardboard before poking a pencil through it?

 

[jambo]

Nope, it was not sellotape.

The thing they were talking about was sticky on both sides.

In Oxgangs, sellotape was considered a luxury. Nobody had ever seen this exotic product that was sticky on both sides, & certainly, no shops sold it.

However, I believe that it could be purchased in the leafier suburbs of London & BBCLand.

 

[Swanaldo]

The thing they were talking about was sticky on both sides.

I'm fairly sure that 'sticky back plastic' was only sticky on one side - the back.

 

[jambo]

I'm fairly sure that 'sticky back plastic' was only sticky on one side - the back.

Hmmmm.

Possibly. I thought that the point was it was sticky on both sides, so you could stick two things together.

However, as noted, sticky front tape was the height of exotica in the Oxgangs badlands.

 

[Swanaldo]

However, as noted, sticky front tape was the height of exotica in the Oxgangs badlands.

Nah, a sticky front tape was a cassette that came free with 'Sounds' or 'Q' magazines that had one good song and 11 ***** ones on.

 

[Swanaldo]

Anyway, nice to see you back. Or is that front?

MODS: Can you make this a sticky?

 

[Grecian2K]

Sorry Jambo but what you are thinking of is sticky-back-and-front plastic.