Not far from where I am this week is Dove Cottage, in Grasmere - famously, home to the Wordsworths between 1799 and 1808. This is the interior of Dorothy's bedroom, which was entirely lined with contemporary newspapers, in the forlorn hope that they would act as insulation, and keep the room a bit warmer.
@RickGaehl@mstdn.social it has been regular practice around the world I believe.. my mom (born 1943) remembers seeing a small house with rooms like this, lined with newspapers, when she was a child. This was in rural Eastern Finland.