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Question: What was the most hoarded item at the onset of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic? Answer: toilet paper.
History quickie: Toilet paper was invented in 1393 by the Chinese for the emperor’s imperial family. In 1857, American inventor Joseph Gayetty created a medicated paper that was sold in Kleenex-type boxes. The roll came along in 1890, produced by Scott Paper.
Other little niceties that came along: Northern Tissue in 1935 introduced “splinter-free” tissue (yes, previously, tissue paper contained splinters). In 1942, two-ply rolls were created by England’s St. Andrew’s Paper Mill.
Granted, for most of human history, people resorted to whatever to handle their cleaning needs. Water, snow, animal fur — the Romans used sticks with attached sea sponges. Handmade cloth was available but too costly for that use.
University of Minnesota professor Barry Kudrowitz says that, through the 1700s, corncobs were commonly used. Once Sears began producing its massive catalog, many came to appreciate its ability to perform double duty. And the Farmer’s Almanac was so commonly nailed to outhouse walls that in 1919 the company predrilled nail holes in its Almanac.
Toilet paper is big business. In 2020, the U.S. toilet paper industry netted $10.4 billion. On average, each American uses 50 pounds per year.
But back in the day, marketing for unmentionable bodily functions was so hush-hush that, for years, Scott Paper eschewed association with its own product.
Toilet paper popularity coincided with the popularity of indoor flush toilets. We can thank Queen Elizabeth I’s godson, Sir John Harington; Mexican priest and scientist Antonio de Alzate y Ramirez; and Thomas Crapper for that marvelous technological wonder we sniggeringly call the john, loo, head, throne.
The toilet is an astonishing innovation. Let’s contrast that fascinating water-handling gadget with Rome’s’ sewage management, as an example.
Brandeis University anthropologist Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow has spent 25 years studying that very subject. She describes herself as the “latrine queen.” She says that, at the height of Roman power, Rome cleaned up after more a million people per day.
The elite had private toilet cubicles, which they paid manure removers to empty. Plebes used public latrines with side-by-side seats and zero privacy. Cesspools beneath latrines were flushed by water from adjacent public baths. Sewers flowed into the Tiber River and ultimately into the Mediterranean Sea. The fortunate lived upriver.
Contrary to common belief, Thomas Crapper did not invent the first modern flushable toilet. That distinction goes to Sir John Harrington. Harrington designed and had one installed for the Queen’s royal posterior at her Richmond Palace. Harrington’s device, when flushed, released 7.5 gallons of water from an upstairs cistern.
Crapper, a plumber and businessman, refined Harrington’s design, with the assistance of a ballcock invented by José Ramirez. A ballcock is a device used to fill any type of water tank while avoiding overflow and backflow.
So, Crapper refined Harrington’s design, combined it with Ramirez’s ballcock and sold the system in the 1880s in his Crapper & Co. showroom in London. Hugely successful. Thomas Crapper Day is celebrated in the UK each year on Jan. 27, Crapper’s death anniversary.
By the 1890s, chain-pull indoor toilets were introduced in the homes of wealthy American families. “Chain-pulls” for everyday Americans’ homes, though, became more prevalent only in the 1930s.
What happens after the chain is pulled? If you’re located in a rural area, flushes from toilets, along with water from sinks, tubs, showers, washing machines, etc., collect in a septic tank, invented by a Frenchman named Jean-Louis Mouras in 1859. Solid matter sinks to the bottom and liquids are distributed into an underground drain field where they’re absorbed.
Septic tanks are not trouble-free but they’re way better than outhouses, which were still in common usage until the post-WWII economic boom. Today, 60 million U.S. citizens depend upon septic tanks. Most are for homes located in Southeastern states. Septic tanks serve 48 percent of North Carolina residents.
If, however, you live in a major urban community, septic tanks won’t do. For instance, in New York City, people depend upon but never think about 7,400 miles of underground sewer pipes.
A sewer system’s content travels mainly by gravity from one level of pipe to another at a lower level, to a sewage treatment plant.
The first sewer systems in the U.S. were built in Chicago, then Brooklyn, N.Y., in the late 1850s.
The first treatment plant was built in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1890. At treatment plants, physical, biological and chemical contaminants are removed and, increasingly, resulting sanitized water gets reused, mostly for irrigation.
There is even a sewer system and waste treatment plant on the International Space Station. The latest, for American astronauts’ use, required six years and $23 million to develop. The old one kept malfunctioning. The new one recycles pre-treated urine for drinking water; and solid matter is jettisoned into outer space, where it forever floats.
NASA’s $23 million actually paid for two systems, sort of a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Expensive, yes, but the Collins Aerospace project manager for the toilet said, “When the astronauts have to go, we want to allow them to boldly go.”
Michael Smith is a Southern Pines resident.
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An interesting story starting with a false premise. T paper became scarce due to a shift in its use. Less in businesses and more in homes. The type, size and distribution of commercial and residential paper is much different. Manufacturers chose not to retool and not to change distribution networks, knowing that eventually things would return to normal, which they did. So no, T paper was not hoarded. The problem, as usual, was government meddling in free markets when they forced closures of businesses. This disrupted the normal state of things and we all paid the price. Now the same government that caused so much economic disaster admits that these lockdowns did nothing to slow the spread of the CCP flu.
"Now the same government that caused so much economic disaster admits that these lockdowns did nothing to slow the spread of the CCP flu" says Kent. Prove it, says I. He won't, of course. Kent has never met a topic that he's not prepared to lie about.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Comments that violate any of the rules above are subject to removal by staff.
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