It's amazing how often we get some variation of the questions, like:-
"When was toilet paper invented?",
"Who invented toilet paper?", and
"What did people use before toilet paper was invented?"
Here are a few of the highlights in the evolution of toilet paper that I've compiled from various sources, but in short, since we're on this 'shitty' subject:-
- Use your imagination: grass, leaves, fur, mussell shells, corncobs, stinging nettles... okay, maybe not that last, at least not more than once.
- The ancient Greeks used stones and pieces of clay;
- ancient Romans used sponges on the ends of sticks, kept in jugs filled with salty water.
- Mideasterners commonly used the left hand, which is supposedly still considered unclean in the Arabian region.
- "Official" toilet paper - that is, paper which was produced specifically for the purpose - dates back at least to the late 14th Century, when Chinese emperors ordered it in 2-foot x 3-foot sheets.
- Corncobs and pages torn from newspapers and magazines were commonly used in the early American West. The Sears catalogue was well-known in this context, and even produced such humorous spinoffs as the "Rears and Sorebutt" catalogue. The Farmer's Almanac had a hole in it so it could be hung on a hook and the pages torn off easily.
- Joseph C. Gayetty of New York started producing the first packaged toilet paper in the U.S. in 1857. It consisted of pre-moistened flat sheets medicated with aloe and was named "Gayetty’s Medicated Paper". Gayetty's name was printed on every sheet.
- Rolled and perforated toilet paper as we're familiar with today was invented around 1880.
- In 1935, Northern Tissue advertised "splinter-free" toilet paper. Yep, you read that right; early paper production techniques sometimes left splinters embedded in the paper. And you thought you had it tough!
- In 1942, St. Andrew's Paper Mill in Great Britain introduced two-ply toilet paper
- Amnerica experienced its first toilet paper shortage in 1973.
- The Virtual Toilet Paper Museum opened its virtual doors in 1999.
SOME VISUAL THOUGHTS ON TOILET PAPER
FOR MINE ENEMIES
FOR BEING IN SEASON
WHEN I AM FEELING ARTISTIC BY NATURE
FOR THE DAYS WHEN YOU BRING YOUR WORK HOME TO YOUR PRIVY
FOR THOSE SAD / DEPRESSED DAYS
FOR THE DAYS YOU FEEL TUFF & INDEPENDANT
FOR THOSE DAYS, WHEN I NEED A BANK CLOSE AT HAND
CREEPY .....
FOR THOSE FLUE DAYS
