When I was a lad it was (almost) all we had. We rode tubs all year - except of course, those diehards who insisted on still riding heavy 27" wheels and tyres (they also probably had a brick in their saddlebag for extra training). Winter was heavy 14-16oz monsters (which still punctured), summer training was on 10-12oz ones and general racing on 8-10oz ones with - if you were rich - a 'special pair of wheels' with 6-8oz ones. Most people used Dunlop cement, Clement Red was used by a minority of riders. I didn't like it and stuck (pun!!!) with Dunlop - and still do as I have a tin that is still usable. However, I have used tape in recent years which seems OK.
Tubs do give a ride that seems to be more 'lively' but whether this translates into extra performance compared to modern clinchers such as Ultremo ZX etc., I'm still not sure.
My 'retro/old skool' racing is generally on tubs (Rallye's, Giro's - nothing fancy) but 'modern' is on clinchers. I go a lot faster modern - but that is probably because of tri-bars etc. not the tyres.