Had a customer in Tacoma tell me his old chimney was built with newspaper insulation, found a 1972 sports section up there | Chimney Sweeps - Pinecone Attack
My buddy Jake bought a house in Toledo last year and found stacks of 1950s comics stuffed in the walls. He thought it was some weird insulation too, but his contractor said the same thing, it was just cheap filler to slow drafts and maybe fire. They pulled out a Superman issue that was actually worth a few bucks, so it wasn't a total loss. Makes you wonder what else people used to just shove in there instead of proper materials.