Have you ever wondered what people used before the invention of toilet paper? I have. The ones in the picture above are pretty well-known, especially the catalogue, usually the Sears and Roebuck fondly tagged "Rears and Sorebutt." My grandparent's farm had an outhouse and as a child I couldn't believe they used pages from the catalogue for toilet paper. According to The Virtual Toilet Paper Museum - Toilet Paper in the News, the Farmer's Almanac had a hole in the corner (it still does as I saw one at the store tonight) so it could be hung on a hook. Per this article, other items used were stones, pieces of clay, sponges on a stick kept in a clay pot full of salt water, and the left hand which is still supposedly considered unclean in the Arabian region.
The first actual toilet paper dates back to the late 14th Century in China. Emperors ordered it in 2 foot by 3 foot sheets. The first packaged toilet paperin the United States was produced in New York by Joseph C. Gayetty. Pre-moistened sheets were medicated with aloe and named Gayetty's Medicated Paper. Rolled and perforated toilet paper arrived around 1880. One source, the Scott Paper Company wouldn't put their name on the product as it was a sensitive subject in Victorian times. They customized it for their customers. Waldorf was a big name in toilet paper as they ordered a lot for their hotels. The first splinter-free paper was introduced by Northern in 1935. Ouch! In 1942, a mill in England produced the first two-ply paper and the first toilet paper shortage occured in 1973. I didn't have time to research the reason for the shortage, so if anyone knows why there was one, please share it with us.
Note: My friend Tiffany Green looked this up and reported that it resulted from a comment made by Johnny Carson on the Late Show. For full details, view her post on
The Cactus Rose Blog.
One of the things my heroine in My Heart Will Find Yours missed most from the future was indoor plumbing and toilet paper. Well, actually, she missed a lot of things but not enough to go back to the future and leave Marshal Royce Dyson.
You can read chapter one of My Heart Will Find Yours and all of my other novels on my website.
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Happy Reading and Writing!
Linda
Linda LaRoque ~Western Romance with a Twist in Time~ A Law of Her Own, Desires of the Heart, My Heart Will Find Yours, Flames on the Sky, Forever Faithful, Investment of the Heart, When the Ocotillo Bloom
