Interesting facts regarding toilet paper

When and where was toilet paper first invented ?

China…AD 1391 - The Bureau of Imperial Supplies began producing 720,000 sheets of toilet paper a year, each sheet measuring two feet by three feet. For use by the Emperors. 

USA…1857 - New Yorker Joseph C. Gayetty produced the first packaged bathroom tissue in the United States in 1857. The Gayetty Firm from New Jersey produced the first toilet paper named "The Therapeutic Paper". It contained an abundance of aloe, a curative addition. The company sold it in packs of 500 sheets for fifty cents, and Joseph Gayetty had his name printed on each sheet ! 

USA…1890 - The Scott Paper Company is the first company to manufacture tissue on a roll, specifically for the use of toilet paper. Faced with the consumers' resistance toward the "unmentionable" product, Scott came up with the idea of customizing rolls for every merchant-customer they had. Under this private-label arrangement, Scott purchased large "jumbo" rolls of paper from various paper mills and converted them into packages of small rolls and stacked sheets. *Great Britain…1880- British Perforated Paper Company.

When was the first roll of toilet paper made and by whom ? 

Scott Paper Company marketed the first rolls of toilet paper. The Company was founded in 1879 by brothers E. Irvin and Clarence Scott in Philadelphia and specialized in producing toilet paper. At first they purchased paper and tissue from outside suppliers and cut, rolled and packaged the paper. 

They converted large parent rolls of tissue into small rolls and stacked sheets and began to market the product through drug and variety stores under private label names. Then, in 1896, Irvin's son Arthur joined the company at the age of 21. He convinced his father and uncle to phase out their private label business and concentrate on their own brand names. 

With this, Scott purchased the private label name Waldorf from a Philadelphian 'paper jobber' named Albert DeCernea in 1902 and began producing this as their first brand name. As sales grew, it became evident that production changes were necessary to guarantee consistency. In 1910, Scott bought an abandoned soap factory in Chester, 5 miles south of Philadelphia for $85,000 and began making their own parent rolls of tissue, 72" wide at 150-200 feet per minute instead of buying from others. 

Rolls were sold with either 650 or 1,000 perforated sheets. In 1915, Scott installed an advanced, high-speed Fourdrinier papermaking machine. 

It made paper 148" wide at 500 feet per minute. In 1921, their brand, Waldorf represented 64% of Scott's total case sales. By 1925 Scott became the leading toilet paper company in the world. (On July 17, 1995 Scott was acquired by Kimberly Clark)

The first paper roll towel- the ScotTowel. 

There is a story that in 1907, a teacher in Philadelphia blamed a mild cold epidemic on the fact that students used the same cloth towel. So she cut up paper into squares and used them as individual towels.

Around that time Scott was experimenting with a new type of crepe tissue. It was so thick that it couldn't be cut and rolled into toilet paper. 

So Arthur Scott ordered it to be made into rolls of towels and perforated into individual 13" x 18" sheets. This was called the Sani-Towels. 

Advertisements said, " For use once by one user." Success was helped by states that outlawed the use of cloth-roll towels because of spreading disease.

What did people use before toilet paper was invented ? 

  • Newsprint, paper catalogue pages in early US *Hayballs, Scraper/gompf stick kept in container by the privy in the Middle Ages 

  • Discarded sheep's wool in the Viking Age, England 

  • Frayed end of an old anchor cable was used by sailing crews from Spain and Portugal 

  • Medieval Europe- Straw, hay, grass, gompf stick

  • Corn cobs, Sears Roebuck catalog, mussel shell, newspaper, leaves, sand- United States 

  • Water and your left hand, India 

  • Pages from a book, British Lords 

  • Coconut shells in early Hawaii 

  • Lace was used by French Royalty *Public Restrooms in Ancient Rome- A sponge soaked in salt water, on the end of a stick 

  • The Wealthy in Ancient Rome-Wool and Rosewater *French Royalty-lace, hemp 

  • Hemp & wool were used by the elite citizens of the world 

  • Defecating in the river was very common internationally 

  • Bidet, France 

  • Snow and Tundra Moss were used by early Eskimos

Who invented the Flushing Toilet ? 

The flushing toilet was invented in 1596, not by Thomas Crapper as most people think, but by Sir John Harington. Harington, a British nobleman and godson of Queen Elizabeth I, invented a valve that when pulled would release water from a water closet. Sir John recommended flushing the toilet once or twice a day, although with our modern technology, we know that is probably not sufficient. (Rumor has it that, in Robin Hood's day, King Arthur - angry with how his brother ruled the country while the King was gone, named fair toilette, 'the john' - AKA as 'the Jon' to you folks.)

What does the word "toilet" mean ? 

Deriving in 1828, the original meaning of toilet, or toilette, is of French origin meaning the "act of washing, dressing, and preparing oneself". As the years went by, the word evolved into actually being the room or facility in which one arranges their toilet. In modern days, toilet refers to the plumbing fixture that one might use in the "bathroom", with "bathroom" now describing the facility one would go to for the purpose of using the toilet or lavatory.

What is the difference between 1 ply and 2 ply ? 

As it states 1 ply is a single layer of tissue where 2 ply is two layers. That does not mean however, that 2 ply is twice the thickness. 1 ply is made of a 13# thickness paper versus 2 ply is made of 2 layers of 10# thickness paper. Manufacturers do not simply 'double up' the 1 ply in order to make 2 ply.

Which is cheapest, 1 or 2 ply ? 

1 ply is generally cheaper to use. People use about the same amount of sheets but they are actually using less paper because it's 1 ply, therefore it's cheaper to use. The price of a roll of 1 ply (1,000 sheets per roll) is usually a bit more then rolls of 2 ply (500 sheets per roll). But there is twice the amount of useful sheets on a roll of 1 ply. Also, it depends who is using it! That is why you hear, 'one ply lasts longer!