It seems we were always told the thick paste was made from horses hooves. I never followed up on that one.

The glue applicators were part of our school desks along with the ink wells. I'm guessing if you showed an ink well and an old ink pen (NOT ballpoint!!) to a 5th grader these days, they'd have no idea what to do with it. Oh, then you needed your blotter sheet to go along with it.