You guys know me if it is Sunday then I must find some obscure subject to post about and today it is toilet paper.
We Americans love our TP at the very hint of some crisis on the horizon we run out a stock up on the commodity whether it is needed or not…..and that got my little grey cells working….what about some historic perspective on TP…..
And so the story goes…..
I wish this was solely about TP but sadly it is about hygiene more than a single thing.
Throughout history, people have used many questionable methods to wipe after going to the bathroom. Without the luxury of toilet paper, early American colonists reached for the next best thing: corn cobs. In fact, corn cobs made such great TP that rural Americans continued the practice into the 20th century.
On the toilet paper spectrum, corn cobs fall somewhere between “makes sense” and “oh no.” Closer to the “makes sense” end is any printed material: newspapers, the Sears catalog, the Farmer’s Almanac, you name it. People used to bore a hole through their Farmer’s Almanac and hang it from a nail in their house or outhouse, be it for reading or for wiping. The custom became common enough that in 1919, publishers started selling it with a pre-drilled hole—and they continue to do so today.
Firmly in “oh no” territory, on the other hand, are pottery shards. Ancient Greeks and Romans used these vaguely circular ceramic fragments, known as pessoi, to scrape their posteriors clean. It’s even been suggested that some pessoi began as ostraka: broken ceramics that ancient Athenians used as writing material. If, for example, your community was deciding whether to exile a certain menace to society, you voted by inscribing the person’s name on an ostrakon. Repurposing these ostraka as dung scrapers is about as insulting as it gets.
On the latest episode of The List Show, host and Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy discusses historical hygiene hacks. From porridge deodorant to pee detergent, the ways people kept clean in the past will make you hug your toiletries extra tight tonight.
From scrapers to corn cobs to Sears catalog pages to Angel Soft…..we have come a long way, baby.
Now are you not pleased that you came to visit?
Thanx for stopping by today and have a great Sunday and as always….Be well and Be Safe….
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Never knowing what the economy is going to do, Toilet Paper is one of the many consumables that I always keep at least a two year supply on hand…toilet bowl cleaners is another, paper towels is another, dinner napkins is another, and so on…buy them all by the case lots and keep at least a two year supply….I believe that doing this helps me to keep pace with inflationary trends …although I have no need to be worried about economics … I do it out of habit…. I do the same thing with ground coffee to some extent, I buy 10 cans at once every few months….I get it at a restaurant supply store so it is good quality coffee ….and when I was a lot younger (In my Teen Years) I did a lot of camping out in the woods and often resorted to assorted leaves from various trees…..
Just not poison ivy right? chuq
Until I was 8 years old in 1960, the only toilet paper I knew was squares of old newspapers hanging from a nail in an outside toilet in the back yard. My personal ‘yuk’ is the Roman method. They shared a sponge on a stick in communal toilets, dipping it in water after use and passing it to the person sitting next to them!
Best wishes, Pete.
That was a eeeww moment indeed….chuq
The technology that goes into making TP (and other products like diapers, etc.) is mind boggling. My youngest son is the director of a testing lab for one of the biggest TP and diaper manufacturers. They use humanoid robots (torso’s only) complete with anatomically correct genitalia in sizes ranging from newborns to morbidly obese adults to test the fit and function of various diapers, for example, complete with fake urine and poo. The mannequins are fully articulated with normal human range of motion powered by hydraulic pumps to mimic walking and crawling. They even have a huge water tank for testing diapers intended for wearing in swimming pools. They just installed a high tech, multimillion dollar Xray machine. They also make diapers for premature babies. They have a special sterile clean room facility where preemie diapers are put together by hand, employees wearing full surgical garb including respirators.
It’s come a long way from the proverbial Sears catalog!
And now I have a vision….LOL chuq
It’s pretty much as creepy as you’re probably imagining <grin>
LOL Have a good Sunday chuq
“No shit?”
I shit you not! chuq