As the others have said, you submitted multiple copies of a typescript, and, where necessary, original drawings for figures.The process of reviewing etc did take a bit longer, and was certainly more expensive (airmailing packages abroad), but the real drawback was not being able to cut and paste as you can now in making a substantial revision: you often had to retype the lot.I would say that during the 1990s things switched to digital. Later developments, where authors can no longer just bung in a word document and figure files, but have to navigate automated websites are a pain in the butt for authors, but make life easier for editors and publishers. It reflects the fact that authors are at the bottom of the heap, and reviewers are not regarded much higher.Rant over.