Friday, February 11, 2005 9:15 PM
Toilet Paper: A Brief History
The string of interestingly named toilet paper brands seems, alas, to have dried up. Yet idle minds are still preoccupied by the question: when did civilisation make the transition from vinegar-soaked sponges on a stick to perforated tissue squares on a roll?
According to toiletpaperworld.com's Fun Toilet Paper Facts, the Scott Paper Company was the first company to manufacture toilet tissue on a roll, in 1890. (Note: toiletpaperworld.com is seeking contributors to help it build its Toilet Paper Encyclopedia). About.com mentions however that the British Perforated Paper Company created the first toilet tissue in 1880.
It was the British who made the next major development in toilet paper comfort with the introduction of 2-ply toilet paper. Apparently this was in 1942, which sounds a bit doubtful due to there being a war on at the time, unless it was part of a "Wipe for Victory" campaign; this kind of fact is difficult to verify definitively using the Internet alone.
To find out more than you ever really wanted to know on the general subject of toilet paper, simply follow the links on some of the pages mentioned above. Also check out the Virtual Toilet Paper Museum with its collection of contemporary and vintage toilet paper.
To round off this little treatise, toilet paper as ASCII art: