Whether you think it is crazy or not, people in the US have been buying toilet paper like it is the apocalypse. Open any of your social media apps and you will see pictures of grocery store toilet paper aisles completely empty. So naturally people are thinking about alternatives in case they cannot get TP. But what can we learn from our ancestors, when the toilet paper roll is empty but nature calls?
In our modern world, it is so easy to forget how NEW of an invention modern toilet paper really is. Although the first written mention of TP is from 13th century China, toilet paper as we mostly know it today was not mass produced until 1857. And even then it would take until the early 1930's for it to not give splinters and be produced on a roll, instead of in loose sheets. With toilet paper being barely 160 years old, what did people do when nature called BEFORE TP?
Time travel always sounds fun until you think of the actual reality of it. Going back in time to the Roman period would make even the most open minded modern American blush. Along with TP being a new invention, so is our modern concept of modesty and privacy. The Roman's did everything together, including going to the bathroom.
Bath houses were communal places, and it is said that many important conversations and deals were made while the Roman's were using the bathroom. So when one was done finalizing that deal, and going to the bathroom, how did they clean up? Well simple, they shared a sponge on a long stick. Yup, you read that right, they SHARED a sponge on a stick. But don't worry, they did clean it between uses, in either saltwater or a vinegar mixture. Sounds sanitary, right? And if a sponge was not available, they would simply use their hand. Again, you read that correctly. They would simply use their bare hand. That is why you shake with your right hand, because you used your left to wipe. It was more sanitary that way.
Moving on from the Roman's to Colonial Americans, who were also inventive when needing to wipe. Perhaps one of the most butt clenching objects used were dried corn cobs. But they also used items such as moss, fur, leaves, stones, and seashells. These items make even 1 ply toilet paper today seem luxurious.
As people started to better understand germs and hygiene, they realized that they needed to come up with some better options for taking care of business. That is where Joseph Gayetty comes in. A New York based entrepreneur, Joseph would develop individual sheets of paper designed for wiping. However, he was designing them more to give relief from hemorrhoids. They were infused with aloe and marketed as "the greatest necessity of the age". And although Geyetty's paper was certainly a step up from leaves or corn cobs, it still left much to be desired.
Geyetty's sheets weren't strong and did not come on a roll. It would take more than 2 decades for someone to put it on a roll, but even then the quality was so poor that the paper often left splinters. Now that corn cob isn't sounding so bad. In fact it would not be until 1935 that a toilet paper was produced that did not leave splinters.
In 1879 the Scott brothers would found the Scott Paper Company and first sold toilet paper on rolls. In 1890 they sold their Waldorf brand toilet papers on a roll, and would go onto become the leading toilet paper company in the world.
The first toilet paper shortage in America happened because Johnny Carson, in his opening monologue on the Late Show in 1973, mentioned a rumor about "an acute shortage of toilet paper", leading many people to go and stock up on toilet paper. However, the article that Johnny Carson was mocking actually referred to commercial toilet paper and not consumer toilet paper, and people had to be educated on the difference.
So in 2020, as some are facing a possible TP shortage, remember that the human race has survived longer WITHOUT toilet paper, than it has with toilet paper, and that nature gives us things to use, although the comfort and hygiene levels would not meet our regular standards. But in a pinch, just look back to your ancestors for suggestions on what to use!
And seriously, don't hoard toilet paper. There is no need, and it means that people that really do need it, may have to go without! If we all take just what we need, there will be enough for all!
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