PVA disciple converted by a dusty library book

I've been binding for about 5 years now, mostly in my garage in Austin. Every forum and YouTube video swore by PVA for everything. I figured starch paste was just for snobs who liked stirring pots. Then last month I grabbed a 1920s manual from a library sale for 3 dollars. It had a whole chapter on why old bindings still hold up, all about paste flexibility. I tried a batch on a rebind of a 1940s novel that kept cracking at the hinges. After 2 weeks of daily opening and closing, not a single crease. The paste let the spine move in a way PVA never did. I'm not tossing my PVA entirely, but I'm wondering how many other old-school materials I've been ignoring. Has anyone else had a similar flip after trying a traditional recipe?

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