A Brief History of Toilet Paper
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- čas přidán 15. 03. 2020
- In the modern era, a product that is disposable has become indispensable. The History Guy recalls the forgotten history of bathroom tissue.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #toiletpaper
This reminds me of the great insult expressed by Voltaire who received a rude letter from one of his rivals. He wrote back: 'I am in the smallest room of the house. I have your letter before me. Soon it will be behind me'.
I cannot find a reference for this, please share your sources. The closest I can find is attributed to Max Reger.
Ich sitze in dem kleinsten Zimmer in meinem Hause. Ich habe ihre Kritik vor mir. Im nachsten Augenblick wird sie hinter mir sein"
("I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me!")
Voltaire was the pen name of François-Marie Arouet who died in 1778.
That's gold!
Whoever said it, it is very funny!! 😃
This 'quote' appeared in The Book of Insults circa 1980. It is almost certainly made up.
That's a GENIUS comment ;-)
Read this somewhere "if you need a pallet of toilet paper for a 2 week quarantine you should have seen a doctor long ago"
🤣🤣🤣
All the Stores in most areas only keep 3-5 days worth of food and supplies for all the people in that area combined.
Dude. That. Like, what's going on in someone's gut that they need that much loo roll stashed away?
Everyone is buying rice, plaster and bread. They aren't going to need toilet paper
even IBS-D people don't need that much and we have the fucked up insides
I can remember for a short time there in the 70s when those rolls of sanitary paper came in colors. I wish you had mentioned that and included it in your history. I realized it was only momentary but there was a time when you could match your toilet paper to your bathroom decor.
It lasted longer than that. I remember blue and pink toilet paper in the 1980's.
And it was before that too. I want to say it started in the late 1940s, early 1950s, colored and scented tp.
@@MrSuperkingtom Hunters can still get bright orange toilet paper to avoid getting their asses shot off in the woods.
And I prefer History Guy episodes that have more technology facts. I get the germ theory was a public enemy during the time of kings and colonies, but I would like to know when the technology had developed to produce mass quanitities from cheap sources. It's funny to see how ignorant big city sophisticates can be.
@@cymacymulacra2301 Says a guy from a Third World country where they don't even use toilet paper.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
You're one hell of a good public speaker and narrator. If you do your own script writing too, then you've got a real gift for making these kinds of videos.
I write many of the scripts, but not all. The person who wrote the script is in the episode description. If it says “script by THG” that is me.
In so many European Nations ,they have Bidès...to wash and refreshing..In the UK not many people have in the USA I presume only riches have it..
But in my childhood we used the open air very organic and very fertile for the soil..
@@anibalfernando3027 Washing with water cleans properly & is definitely more hygienic than just wiping .
To THG: You are a genius and a treasure! The detail, humor and enthusiasm of your presentations are priceless! BTW, I’m TSG!
@@TheHistoryGuyChannelI very much love Your CZcams Channel. Keep Up The Good Work!
One can't help but to snicker uncomfortably, noticing that 'The History of Toilet Paper' followed closely, treading on the heels of 'The Discovery of Uranus.'
ROTFL
I noticed that also. A Freudian Slip or intentional placement ? Regardless , it gave me a momentary chuckle !
The history of Toilet Paper can never be wiped out.
Tim Areskog 😂❤️😂
No, but it can be flushstrating!
LMAO! 😱👀💀😅😅😅
Aww fudge you beat me to it.
@@pmritzen2597 🤣🤣🤣🤣
My mother told me a story about her grandmother asking her to get a Sears and Roebuck catalog for her. My mother asked her if she wanted to order anything and she looked really befuddled when my mother asked that question. My grandmother pulled my mother to the side and said she wants to use it for toilet paper. Of course my mom got her a Sears and Roebuck catalog and didn't ask any other questions.
We used to use the Radio Times.
I remember when the catalogue was in hind ends, high demand. The ink would stain the rectumus thus the old brown eye was a common expression .😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
My grandfather was born on a small horse ranch in west Texas in 1897. He said no matter how much money you had you had little chance of living a comfortable life without 3 things. Reliable hot water when you need, an inside toilet and toilet paper. He knew from experience. Oil and gas made him wealthy but having lived without those 3 things earlier in life he knew how valuable they were for a comfortable life.. PS - I remember Mr. Whipple well.
2019: The Richest 10% hold 90% of the worlds wealth
2020: The stupidest 10% hold 90% of the worlds toilet paper...
That is the best statement of this YEAR
Well put!!
You win the internet today!
and hand sanatiser! 🤣
That's pretty funny mate 😁
The History Guy as usual is on a roll, making a historical issue about tissue.
I'll see myself out.
You sir, are a true poet.
This man definitely knows what he’s talking about.
He’s a genius in the ways of wiping, no doubt.
We are lucky he’s here for us, since it’s too dangerous to go out.
I’m just hunkering down here, looking like Billy Ray Cyrus.
Doing all I can, to not get the Coronavirus.
I do feel a lot safer, after hoarding all of Walmart’s toilet paper.
But though I have enough now, I don’t want to spoil it.
How will I survive, once I’ve flushed it all down the toilet?
What a great idea. I’ll use my mullet!
Ba-dum Tssssh.
Exit Only, very clever. 😃
Bravo bravo !!!
My mother grew up using an outhouse. Her father used to make miniature outhouses out of scrap wood, with decorations, functioning door, and, of course, a mini Sears & Roebuck which he made out of old catalogues. I have 2 of his creations, including the largest he made, which stands 18-24 inches tall.
Cute 😊
I was flabbergasted when I seen yearly calendars for sale spotlighting a different outhouse every month! There was one of clotheslines also...
I'm shaking my head 🤪😄
If they don't Sell? They wouldn't make them
I remember as a very young child (4yo) we traveled to Oregon to visit my father's parents. They didn't have indoor plumbing, so we had to us an outhouse. I was told to use the Sears Roebuck catalog dull pages, not the shiny pages, to wipe myself. I was horrified. We had indoor plumbing at our country home in Washington. But I eventually accepted outhouses, as we did a lot of camping and that was the only outlet for relieving ourselves. I can honestly say I don't miss those days!
Toilet paper is history worthy of being remembered... because there's no more of it! D:
Honestly more Americans should adopt the bidet.. cleans better, probably cheaper as well. If you had poop on your arm you wouldn't just wipe it with a dry tissue, so why treat your rear end any differently?
Haha so true though!
Actually heard the CDC SAY people are "doing the right thing to stock up on household supplies for several months!" Crazy times!
@@the_original_Bilb_Ono Yep, got one. It's great.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence this video comes a few days after “the Discovery of Uranus” video....
An anecdote I read somewhere: a theater director in the 1800s ( in England) was unhappy with a newspaper review of his play, and wrote back thusly: "I am sitting in the smallest room in the house. Your review is in front of me. Soon it will be behind me".
Of course, if you live in a modern McMansion, the bathroom is no longer the smallest room in the house, it might actually be the 2nd or 3rd largest!
This video allowed me to recall a memory of visiting an aunts house located in the southern US when I was a boy. At one point I needed to use the restroom for a Duce and I was directed to a rather spacious restroom with no John anywhere in sight, there were however two white porcelain pots on the floor, well I was perplexed, and realized sometimes it’s better to just buck up and hold it! I remember telling my mom that the current situation was not rectified and the reason but she just laughed. Later in life I understood the use of chamber pots! I’m so glad we have indoor plumbing! Thanks for the great videos
I had to rewatch this while sitting on the John and just being grateful for having TP again!
Well played History Guy, well played.
Yesteryear: Please don't squeeze the Charmin!
Today: Please don't hoard the Charmin!
Mr. Whippol will be watching you!
FFS, especially if isolating. Take a shower and clean yourself properly. Toilet paper is for those "out and about" or "ooh, didn't think I'd need another one today" moments.
Toilet paper manufacturers: Oh, shit! We've been rumbled
@@ronfullerton3162 don't be afraid he is just a softy
@@charleswendt4868 He has a mean bark though!
@@ronfullerton3162 Plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is
When Sears stopped producing their catalog in 1993, my family was sitting around our mother's dining table discussing what a terrible decision that was. When so many people were doing much of their buying from catalogs, it seemed to be a very short-sighted thing to do.
If Sears had doubled down on their mail order business model back then, they could have been as big as Amazon is today.
Even at my age “70” you brought up things that I had no idea about. Thank you and have a wonderful day. 😇
I like the quote "The job isn't finished until the paperwork is done."
GOVERNMENT at its finest.
Yes the true ass ,oles are running the show...
I dont own one but wouldnt be surprised to see GUN sales go thru the roof!!!
From an outhouse wall:
"If in this place you find no paper
Behind the door you'll find a scraper."
If the scraper cannot be found
Then drag your arse along the ground
Then completes an old piece of outhouse graffiti
marc carter My dog knows this!
Here I sit broken hearted, had to (bleep) but only (bleeped)
@@marccarter1350 This video brought to you by Fletchers Laxative. See the video "Girl On The Run" also brought to you by Fletchers Laxative.
In pay toilets:
"Here I sit, brokenhearted
Paid my nickle and only farted"
I shoulda bought stock in toilet paper. I could have really cleaned up.
Want to have fun? Waddle into your local store with your knees together, eyes wild, and yell “You got toilet paper?” I did and laughed. I’ll be allowed back in a month.
Gone are the days when TP was so plentiful we could wrap friends' houses, trees and cars in it...
Not if you're Scrooge McDuck wealthy, and just want to show your mega flex. 🤑
Now it's currency. Worth more than Carnival cruise shares.
@Markus Patients The next platinum single!
Toilet paper is history now.
jimmbbo.....Come Halloween, the TP hoarders will be having all the fun bec they stocked up!
Remember - Toilet paper is designed to break down quickly in water, and not clog your pipes.
Flushing any other paper gives a higher risk of blockage, either in the main sewer, or right there in your sewer pipes, which can be expensive and highly inconvenient. So if you have to use an alternative paper, bag it and bin it instead of flushing.
The catalogues mentioned in the video would have been dropped into either an outhouse longdrop or into a nightsoil bucket, there's no sewer pipe to get blocked. Cheers.
@Markus Patients fun fact: in cities they'd either huck their "chamber pot" out the window/door or empty it into a "cess pit", which was either just a plain old hole in the ground or was sometimes lined with stone like a well. The cess pits would periodically be empited out a poor sucker called a "gong farmer", gong being an old term for poop, or later called a "night soil man" who'd come by with a wheel barrow or cart and shovel the shit right into his cart and then take it off. He'd either sell the contents to a farmer for fertilizer or a tanner for their tanning pits or he'd dump it in the river. Some middle and upper class homes had the night soil man (so called because nobody wanted to smell them so they came before dawn) come on a daily basis to haul off their poop so it didnt have a chance to stink up the place.
I guess what I'm saying is you need to go full Victorian and hire a dude to carry your turds off for you. Just hire one of those dog poop picker upper people and tell them you own a large dog, but he stays inside all day and doesnt like strangers so thats why theres poop in your yard every day even though they never see a dog.
I saw a lot of paper towels missing in stores yesterday, and Kleenex. In fact so were all the baby wipes. I bet by next week all the adult diapers are sold out and feminine pads. The real question is how many plumbers are going to win praises by the end of month?
Washing machine powdered soup is great for uncloguing toilets.
a 8205 - lol what?? How is that a thing?
Uh toilet paper still breaks down. I’ve used 4 ply and it broke down. Normally I use 2 ply 500 sheet roll and it breaks down never had my pipes clog. Now charmin and the like may be an exception.
In the UK one meaning of "Privy" is toilet, usually located outside.
I never realised soft & quilted toilet paper was produced so early, when I was growing up in the 1950s we had "Izal Medicated" toilet paper, which was quite hard and not very absorbent. I used to visit the factory in the 1970s when I was repairing IT equipment. The business wasn't exactly flush and the bottom line not at all healthy and they went down the pan in 1981
That Izal toilet paper was disgusting. I have no fond memories of it.😣
Your comment suggests that you might be of an age to have seen 'Steptoe and Son'. There was the one episode where Albert becomes trapped in the outside toilet. To while away the time he reads the 'toilet paper' but can't find the end to a particular racy article.
IZAL was put in public toilets because it was never stolen. Why steal toilet paper that was shit resistant????😄
I moved to Tennessee when I retired and the old timers, guys my age, say they used feed corn cobs for the first pass and sweet corn cobs to kinda polish things off. I wonder if that's were the term hard ass came from.
Hey, maybe another video History Guy?
Outstanding!!!
The peak of civilization: Toilet paper.
The downfall of civilization: Toilet paper.
Oh the irony 🧻
When Dad was growing up, they received a copy of "The Congressional Record". It was a copy of the minutes of the Georgia State Legislature each year (Grandpa had been a state representative at one point). The paper it was printed on worked better in the outhouse, than the Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogs. The irony wasn't lost on my Dad & siblings!
I Need Tee Pee for my bung hole!!!! Cornholio.
ROFLMAO
@@sparky6086 That seems like an especially appropriate use of materials. Thanks for sharing.
Lol,that’s funny.
THG, you are truly one of a kind. Only you would see this "shortage" as an opportunity for education. The best channel on CZcams today!
No shit! :-)
@@jaberwoky_ , i think that's a "so to speak." Clever phrasing
I totally agree.
I just love these short butt informative history lessons. Well done History Guy.
😂😂😂
Love the topic and I love the Tricorder on your back wall case! :)
When Dad was growing up, they received a copy of "The Congressional Record". It was a copy of the minutes of the Georgia State Legislature each year (Grandpa had been a state representative at one point). The paper it was printed on worked better in the outhouse, than the Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogs. The irony wasn't lost on my Dad & his siblings!
Use you. Phone just scrap AWAY the hard to reach places
I find it interesting that the history of toilet paper follows the history of Uranus.
Totally coincidence. ;)
LOL great observation!!
That's funny. Lol.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel LOL.
This channel is circling the toilet... in a good way.
"...the grooms were privy to the King's private thoughts."
Anyone else catch this pun?
Yeah, “groom”!
My family had a cabin in northern Michigan with an out house. As a boy I hated using that old privy. They had a small wooden box in which there was a bare corn cob behind a small window. The small placerd said "in emergency brake glass"😊
How appropriate to have a video on the history of toilet paper right now 😂
To quote that most wisest of sages, "I AM THE GREAT CORNHOLIO. I NEED TP FOR MY BUNGHOLE."
Shut up Beavis.. hehehe he
Ya. Ya, heh heh.
Are you threatening me
ALL HAIL CORNHOLIO and his BUNGHOLE ! We are not worthy !
😂😂😂
A fascinating history. I'd like to see you do one of these for brushing our teeth using either toothpaste, toothpowder, or whatever it was and how people cleaned their teeth over time.
In India a common practice coming down generations was people chewing tender sticks of Neem & Babool tree to clean their teeth . This stopped with plastic tooth brush being introduced in the market.
When the tip started to come apart in fibers, a mix of salt & other things was rubbed on the teeth and the brush part of the stick used to clean the teeth. Then the stick was split into two & used to scrape & clean the tongue. That was disposed & a fresh stick the next time . Natural & easily available.
Neem & Babool both have medicinal & antimicrobial properties . Both have been mentioned in Ayurveda
History Guy. You are one of the greats. You have that uniqueness in your narratives, the cadence, pauses, humor, diction and tonal qualities that I put you in the same league as Sir David Attenborough and Walter Cronkite in your delivery. Thank you for being you !
I'm old enough to remember when TV ads called it "bathroom tissue". Also, in those days commercials referred to a toilet as the "bathroom bowl". And my parents used to tell me about using the Sears catalog in the outhouse, back when they were growing up.
the tv ads referred to it as facial tissue. I think toilet paper is on the way out. Most folks are discovering moist baby wipes. the music at the end of this video and another is really LOUD.
@Paul Astle 😂😂🤣🤣🤣😭😭 thank you for the vivid picture of the good old days!!
I read the Toys section before wiping.😁
@@mudgebauer
I don't know who you hang out with but I most folk I know use toilet paper. I worked as a winder, making toilet paper, for almost 10 years, until I retired 3 years ago. Everybody I knew, and I mean EVERYBODY I knew, asked if I could get them a case. Lots of people were fired for stealing cases and selling them to neighbours and friends. I've worked in a lot of factories but that place was the worst place I worked at for pilfering products, even though we were allowed to take a case of seconds once a month.
The demand is still extremely high and I don't see baby wipes taking out the market anytime soon.
When I was a kid visiting my cousins on the farm I once replaced the sears catalog in the outhouse with a roll of wax paper. Great fun.
As a child in England in the fifties, I became familiar with little newspaper sheets on a hook at my granny’s. My other grandparents had shiny paper which was useless as it required yards of it to be effective. My mum was the first in the family to get the soft absorbent kind. And then 40 years ago I came to Pakistan and discovered bottom washing. Brilliant. If one is squeamish then an initial paper wipe followed by a special bum shower feels so wonderful
Shiny paper in the 50s. Shoots, that was still around when I attended public (private for Yanks) school in the 70s!!
@@flyingphobiahelp Wherever you go there is such confusion between the words public and private, with 1 of them being used for something that is clearly the opposite! I remember my great confusion as a kid. Even more so because I had a Canadian dad and a British mum. Luckily Canada rarely refers to schools as public or private, because I still don't understand it, and I'm 63 now!
Your own body so why squeamish? Washing with water cleans completely & is more hygienic.
Haha! I refer to that - the bottom wash - as "the bird bath." 😄
It's now November 2023, but I remember in March 2020 standing in a grocery store and looking with bemusement at a man buying an entire shopping cart of toilet paper. A couple of days later the store was also completely sold out of meat, dairy, and most canned goods.
Hard to believe it will be four years since the start of that madness in just a few months.
I always wondered History Guy, thanks so much for this very informative and enlightening episode. Sharing like crazy!!
Oh, I chuckled, smiled and giggled all the way through this video. I am a senior citizen and my first 12 years were spent with a "close" acquaintance of Sears and Roebuck and the Farmers Almanac on our mountain farm. Was always told my grandfather would use nothing but corn cobs.
I was at a meal the other day and a priest gave the blessing and said “and please multiply our Charmin Ultra as you multiplied the fish and loaves...”
😂😂😂
Cool dude!
You were a meal? Then whoever ate you will be needing some TP.
Cut him some slack, can't you see he's a dog?
Thanks, as a dog I no spell good
This was very interesting as all of your documentaries. I really enjoy them.
Your videos are very interesting. You do a great job of narration. Thank you!
Snicker, snicker, "He doesn't know how to use the three sea shells!"
kevin wilson
Thanks for that Rod. 🤣
Demolition Man TP: For the toughest mess use the best. Free 12oz hand sanitizer wit ea purchase.
Sly ended up using the Sears cat of his time... morality code violations! Classic, overlooked film..
The original Mayan disappeared soon after running out of toilet paper.
Another Classic...brilliantly presented.
Episode was fascinating but it really made my day to see a Star Trek tricorder on the THG's shelf.
Not to mention, the switch to Glossy Paper for the Sears & Roebuck catalog meant that it couldn't clean as well as it used to. The Ink Toxicity thing may actually hold more truth than we realize too. Great Video!
Great video. This really sends Seinfeld’s George Costanza’s theory that “TP hasn’t changed much in a thousand years” right down the tubes :)
My maternal grandparents who had a farm in Nebraska had no plumbing in their house nor the conventional toilet paper that was available even 60 years ago. Each year we made the 250 mile journey to visit our relatives around Christmas time. I will never forget the visits to the outhouse early morning to do my business in sub zero temperatures with the indispensable Sears & Roebuck catalog resting on the wooden bench with the hole. I still recall our "honey buckets" contents freezing overnight in our bedroom since there was only heat for the first floor.
Although I've spent many nights camping in the mountains here in Washington State with my family, "roughing it" is not very high on my list for entertainment anymore...probably not since those extremely cold mornings in Nebraska.
Im so glad i found this channel. Great job. 👏👍👍
A thoroughly absorbing amount of information presented in a smooth and deftly soft manner ;)
I miss the Sear's catalog. It was like a new world opening up every year.
I miss the Wish Book. (For you youngns, that's the Christmas Catalog that showed ALL the toys.)
@@russellhltn1396
Merry Christmas my friend !!!!
I know it's March, lol.
Plus you could wack off to the ladies UNDER WEAR section. Those were the days my FRIEND.
@@roberthertz6634
Well.....................
We didn't have the internet.
I miss Sears
Thank you for another informative and well presented video.
I recall blue and pink toilet paper. My grandmother was proud to always using white-attributing to that fact that her colon cancer was detected more easily without the obstruction of the fashion minded colors.
When we were children, we would joke about the "reading room" and the Sears and Roebuck catalog. Now in Melbourne, Australia I see empty shelves where "TP" used to be. Thanks, History Guy!
central vic is empty too thanks to the brainwashed idiot brigade!
Richmond, Indiana USA is empty too
I had to giggle whenever I saw books or magazines then shake my head. Just how long did it take people to do their business? Was a mini library really needed to help pass the time?
Excellent video! Sometimes the most ordinary things have the most fascinating histories.
D bff c.f. Y as'm
Most paper and tissue paper manufacturing plants are in remote areas in part because they STINK. Due in part to their locations trucks have to go out of route to pickup the freight this affects how quickly stores can be restocked even today.
We can save money on toilet paper. Just get the Washington Post and N.Y. Times delivered to your house on weekends including Sunday. There is nothing worth reading in those "newspapers" that comes to mind, so why not use them for a more practical application.
@@gkocourek6274 That's because of the bleaching process. In NW Ontario there used to be a lot of saw mills and paper mills. You could tell what the mill produced before you could see it by a long shot, because of the way the town smelled. News print and brown paper do smell, but not as bad as white paper. I imagine that toilet paper involves slightly more bleaching than writing paper too! Yuck!
@@nickdsylva932 I'd far prefer to use the Epoch Times, a paper that can't even pronounce it's own name, and is already full of shit.
Always great stuff ... nice touch
In Australia the outhouse or 'Thunder Box' were still very common until the 60/70's (in Brisbane). I have heard that during WW2 it was a Sunday afternoon family chore to sit and cut up of the accumulated news papers into squares for use in the household outhouse.
To think I've been throwing out my old corn cobs... The fool I was.
Ha ha ha. I've just pulled some magazines and junk mail out of my recycling bin. Couldn't get any loo roll shopping this morning...
I think that's where the term "corn hole" came from.
Taps fan no, next there will be a shortage of plumbers willing to go out during quarantine to unclog toilets stopped up by people flushing paper to wipe that doesn’t break down in water like toilet paper. When people used that paper to wipe they were also using outhouses.
I now know where the term corn hole came from.
I suppose it is now apt to say that I need more TP for my bung hole.
Apparently that’s where the saying “To grasp the wrong end of the stick” originated.
Disco Lemon: "Stankei Pinkei" :y
are u realted to kane brown.;)
@@tastymoose5696 No my friend, at least as far as I am aware. I’m in the UK but my dad did get around a bit or so I’m lead to believe. Keep well, Mike.
@@mikebrown5057 aww shucks. Keep well your self and dont let this corona virus get to you.
Nicely and tastefully done.
Thank you
What a fascinating journey through time ~ you always manage to make your videos educational, enjoyable and appealing to everyone, from children to adults.
And topical, I look forward to your video about the ‘Spanish Flu’ and how you think we should perhaps approach Covid19, and the lessons learnt (or not) therein.
3 years after the above msg was posted, it's now clear that America is the stupidest and most regressive country that exisis. Not a thing was learned there, beyond how truly stupid half of the country is, and how little the MAGAts and GOP care about anyone, even their own kids!
I love the episodes when you can barely keep yourself from laughing.
the reason for the 'run' is simple. one person hurriedly buys. the next sees it and assumes there is a good reason. that person is also seen, and triggers a greater effect.
or in the 'vernacular' "go lemmings go!"
The technical term is 'Memetic Behaviour' and is believed to be part of the hardwired primitive survival script in the brain, however in modern humans it is considered a sign of someone incapable of writing their own script.
@Undefined Lastname I think you're supposed to pull a strand out of the pot and throw it against the kitchen wall to see if it sticks.
I saw some guy buy a giant sack of sugar (like a 25 pound or 11kg) and right afterwords it was like a feeding frenzy with everyone buy the biggest bag of sugar they could get. I dont do alot of baking or anything like that but unless I'm making a ton of jam/jelly my family of 4 barely uses 25 pounds of sugar in a year and there were people buying bags of the stuff. I even heard one guy say "that's alright, I'll just go to the restaurant supply store next door, they have 50 pound sacks still in stock".
They did the exact same thing with flour too! Who uses 50 pounds of sugar and flour?!?
Alot of people worry that supply lines being cut to China would somehow disrupt some of these goods but toilet paper is made alot in south/central america, same as sugar, and we get most of our flour locally or from Canada so even if China goes full Plague Inc and gets shut down it wont hurt some goods. Thats one of the reasons alot of countries incentivize locally producing as many necessity products as possible.
Or, monkey see, monkey do.
@@AirplaneJunkie82 you just made me think of my dad. Thanks
I still remember when toilet paper was sold in a variety of colors.
Still is, just not very popular.
and printed with flowers. The story that the dyes caused vaginitis put an end to that.
We had pastel blue, green, yellow, lavender and pink at home in the 1960s.. That ended by the early 1970s.
@@MarinCipollina I grew up with colored toilet paper. I’m 68 years old.
@@stephaniegoddard6935 It seems odd now, doesn't it? I mean the idea of it.. But at the time it was very common.
Very interesting & informative. Thanks
Absolutely perfect timing! Next video how people survive by eating toilet paper and drinking bottled water!
Matt you're a wild man!!! Hahahahaha
Great show - thank you. I recall the toilet paper scare of 1973. Interesting fact not mentioned here was that toilet paper used to be available in pastel colors (pink, blue, green, and prints).
That ended when a lot of folks found out the hard way that the dyes did not agree with their anatomy. Rashes in sad places, especially if female.
@@pfadiva OMG! OUCH! 😭 😢 😭
@@pfadiva dyed And scented!
Big problems for some
I just love all of your videos. I watched one at lunch a while back and after a few minutes the whole crew was gathered around watching. It's a regular thing now. I was curious if you were familiar with the story of the Grand Kankakee Marsh in northwest Indiana. The everglades of north. Beaver lake and the marsh were destroyed and they deserve to be remembered.
One of your best. Keep it up.
I bet you never imagined you'd be making a video about toilet paper when you started your channel.
Actually history of invention has always been part of the vision, and we've covered a lot of odd stuff.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel And odd stuff can be quite interesting.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel and we all thank you for it.
I find it oddly ironic that the next recommended video is “The Discovery of Uranus”. I love these videos. Thank History Guy!
That is funny! For me the next video is "The Forgotten History of Chocolate".
Very informative. I do use newspaper from time to time. Does a good job.
I miss the Sears catalog. Never used it for toilet paper, but I liked to read it in the bathroom!!
don't worry, Rupert Murdoch is still printing his toilet paper XD
I'm glad that you covered this actually. My mother was traumatized by the first toilet paper crisis in 73. She hordes it like none other because of it. I grew listening to the story but after a while the details became muddled. I always thought it was an experiment as a result of the Orson Wells' "the aliens attack" radio broadcast. You should do a vid on that story. I think it would be enlightening.
This video is very interesting. Thank You History Guy!
VERY INFORMATIVE, THANK YOU SIR .
The trick to using a page from a catalog or such, is to wad the page up and spread it out repeatedly. This softens the paper for use.
Thanks for the video, it made me smile.
@phục êwê it's not as duh for us ignorant enough to only ever have used toilet paper, water, and non-toxic leaves (at different occasions, not at once) to ever clean our butts with 😂
@phục êwê no thanks, good try ;D are you going to tell me to delete system32 next? XD
...or whatever the modern equivalent is. I'm such a fossil.
TX for the hint how in the old days to best use catalog papers.
That's why the first pages to be used were usually the 'lingere' section. They were already *very* thin. We had indoor running water. But, until 1964, when the septic system was put in and the house was built, we used the chamber pot & the outhouse. We did have toilet paper, though. Another trick for softening up the paper was to roll it up in a ball, and while you were *otherwise occupied*, keep rolling it round & round between your hands.
Newspapers are the best. In jungle training I found some nice soft tree bark. I could just tear off a chunk. It had a white powder. It was a natural lye. Didnt make that mistake again.
LOL. First, "The Discovery of Uranus" and now this? Calling Dr. Freud! Calling Dr. Freud!
Seriously, I always enjoy your videos and these two have been no exception. Thanks for the laugh this morning.
Absolutely love this channel 👍👍👍
Excellent video about this subject.
Groom of the stool? That position still exists today, there's one in every workplace. Known as the brown nose to the boss in modern vernacular.
Today, they'd be called "personal hygiene assistants" or some happy horse crap PC title like that.
I think the position is known today as Mike Pence.
@@jaberwoky_ wrong. Joe Biden.
These guys all have to wear makeup to go on TV, but Joe wears it to make that brown nose of his as white as the rest of his body from all that time he had it stuck up Obama's bum.
John w No argument here. Sanders 2020. And no - I’m not interested in your rantings.
You can see how good they are too. Just watch those guys who speak and sorround Trump at his briefings. They just ooze it brilliantly. It is amazing to watch. You can take lessons on it.
I suggest THC infused toilet paper, so everyone will calm their butts down during this current case of insanity!
kamurray67 Did you notice that "Gayetty's Medicate Paper for the water-closet [was[ made of pure Manilla hemp"? 07:49
h lynn keith didn’t catch that good eye
Lmao!
Can you smoke it?
You might find it has the opposite effect.
Omg congratulations I just found your channel and I love it. I love history. Great job!!!! Definitely slots of information I learn alot just on this one video
In 1972 my Dad married a woman from Bath county Kentucky, and at her Dad's farm they had an outhouse, a 2 seater at that, and they used grocery sacks, the brown bags, that you brought your groceries home in! I was 9 when Dad married her, and we made several trips to the farm throughout my teenage years, but Dad never used that outhouse, because of all the copperhead snakes that were everywhere around there, and I even remember those folks shooting copperheads in that outhouse, so Dad would always take a walk down the railroad tracks way out of sight to do his business!
Advertised as “splinter free”......
😰 I would hope so!
Just try some wood chip wall paper for that 'authentic' experiance ;)
www.xkcd.com/641/
I wood hope so.
It's really drives me nuts because I can't wait until all my food is asbestos free XKCD
When I was a kid I remember the Sears catalog and spent many a time with it in the bathroom lingering over the women's underwear section. The girdles seemed particularly magical.
so I'm not the only one
TMI
In the 70s when I was a kid my friend knocked on the door one morning. He was all amped up; we were going to start our own secret society, and we were going to have our own secret documents and everything! Curiosity led me to his house. The secret documents were the women's underwear section of the Sears catalog, cut out and placed in a manilla envelope, hidden behind the ventilation in the basement. The society dissolved the next day.
Bless your heart, dear!
until the 80s one of the only sources most kids had for barely clothed women was the sears catalog. starting in the late 70s they started getting more women in bikinis and stuff like that in things like Sport Illustrated for boys to... "read" but until then the underwear section was the go to for some grown men to emberresed to buy nudey mags and many boys too young to buy them.
have been reading a magazine all about toilet paper, e.g. a brief history of the form, how ppl fold it, tear it, roll it, advertise it etc. enjoy reading it a lot and it provokes the thought 'hey, maybe someone talks abt this kind of history on CZcams as well!'
and here i am, sitting with my cat and feeding my brain.
thank you for the video :)
Always interesting, thank you.
The Sears catalogue was no good after they started making it with glossy paper.
Slip sliding away...
The Sears old catalog was mostly newsprint pages with some slick pages, my mom talked about using all the soft pages first, then they had to ball up the "slick pages" to soften them up.
When Dad was growing up, they received a copy of "The Congressional Record". It was a copy of the minutes of the Georgia State Legislature each year (Grandpa had been a state representative at one point). The paper it was printed on worked better in the outhouse, than the Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogs. The irony wasn't lost on my Dad & siblings!
My Uncle told me the Montgomery Ward was superior for the purpose.
There are still corn cobbs
When you mentioned corn cobs I legitimately made the Hank Hill "bwuahaha!" sound.
I'm a little bit behind, no pun intended,on seeing this video, but as someone who works in retail, I have a complimentary explanation for the TP shortage. Especially at the beginning of quarantine, as business, offices and schools closed, there was a crash in demand for institutional commercial use TP. This led to the manufacturers to have to retool their supply lines toward a resultant increase in consumer TP, as people were spending more time at home. So while there may have been a rush on store supplies for a while, it was compounded by the lack of flexibility in the supply chain to deal with such a crisis.
You should have saved this for the anniversary of Operation Uranus. Other than that, you're on a roll.