History of Toilet Paper
Prior to toilet paper, these civilizations/classes commonly opted for the following:
- Wealth Romans -Wool, rosewater
- Public Restrooms in Ancient Rome- A sponge soaked in salt water, on the end of a stick
- Wealthy French – lace, wool and hemp; bidet
- Middle Ages – hayballs, a scraper/gompf stick kept in a container in the privy
- Early Americans – rags, newsprint, paper from catalogs, corncobs, and leaves
- Viking Age/England- discarded sheep and lambs wool
- Hawaiians – coconut shells
- Eskimos – snow and Tundra moss
- India – your left hand and water
- Commoners – Defecating in the river is very common
- Sailors from Spain/Portugal – frayed end of an old anchor line
- Medieval Europe- Straw, hay, grass, gompf stick
- United States – Corn cobs, Sears Roebuck catalog, mussel shell, newspaper, l eaves, sand
- British Lords – pages from a book
- Elite citizens – Hemp & wool
How was the first newsprint manufactured?
The first newsprint was created from linen and rags. The rags were bought in bulk and treated for hours before being used in the newsprint production..
How did Kimberly Clark begin making newsprint?
In 1872, Charles Benjamin Clark, a 28-year-old Civil War veteran and partner in the local Neenah, Wisconsin hardware store, recruited John A. Kimberly to join him in building a paper mill. Kimberly, Clark & Co. started their Globe Mill in Wisconsin.
The Globe Mill was the first mill in Wisconsin to make newsprint out of linen and cotton rags. Women sorted the rags by hand for purity, while cutting off buttons and other hard substances. Then the rags were cut up by machines and boiled in large vats for 14 hours. After the boiling process, the rags were steamed, pressure-washed and rinsed for five hours. The rags were then bleached, drained, and finally “beaten” to reduce the stock to a pulp. Bleaching chemicals were added for whiteness. To attain the consistency that was needed, the pulp was transferred through tubes and valves. Eventually, it was pumped into the containers of the papermaking machine. The 72″ sheets then were made to pass through two different rolls: a copper steam-heated drier roll (which eliminated excess water) and a polishing roll, which gave it a finish. The final product was divided into squares, packaged in volume, and shipped to vendors. It sold for $.14 per pound.
When did Kimberly Clark begin making newsprint paper from wood?
In 1878 The Atlas Paper Co. was established in Appleton, Minnesota by the four Kimberly Clark & Co. partners and three local businessmen. The company experimented with new papers and new equipment. They specialized in fancy manila wrapping paper, bond paper, and box paper while achieving a reputation for innovative products (including toilet paper) and processes. It was the first mill in the state to produce paper made largely from ground wood pulp. Previously, newsprint was made from rags.
When was Kotex introduced?
In 1916, Kimberly Clark began concentrating oncreped wadding paper. This was five times more absorbent than cotton and could cost half as much. With the war in Europe provoking cotton shortages, Kimberly Clark developed a thin form ofcreped cellulose they trademarked “Cellucotton.” This was adapted for use as a filter in gas masks and bandages.
Nurses also used the product as sanitary pads during menstrual periods. “American women wore a diaper of bird’s-eye or outing flannel, which they were obliged to wash and reuse,” says Janice Delaney, co-author of “The Curse”. In 1920, K-C began producing “Cellu-Naps,” a sanitary napkin made of Cellucotton and fine gauze. The name was changed to Kotex and trademarked on September 21, 1920. For $.60, a customer received 12 napkins packaged in a “hospital blue” box.
What was the original marketing of Kotex?
Society’s prim attitudes made it difficult to market sanitary napkins. In fact, a decade earlier in 1896, Johnson & Johnson’s produced a feminine pad made of cotton and gauze. The product never succeeded because of the turn-of-the-century morality that made advertising of the product impossible.
In 1920, Kimberly Clark, worried about their image, organized a different company to market Kotex just in case it failed. The company was named Cellucotton Products Company. Stores would not carry the product and magazines would not advertise. Sales were not good. However, in 1921, K-C decided to ’stay in it for the long haul’. By 1925 the product was beginning to gain acceptance. Finally, in 1926 Montgomery Ward advertised Kotex in their catalogue and millions of women began to use and accept sanitary napkins as a way of life.
When was Kleenex introduced?
Kimberly Clark first introduced Kleenex Tissues to the market in 1924 as a cold cream or make up remover. Because of the lackluster sales of Kotex in the early 1920’s, the Cellucotton Products Company had an overabundance of creped wadding. They ‘ironed’ the wadding, cut it and made it softer.
Initially, it was to be marketed as a cleaning towel, but because of the focus on the American women marketplace, the decision was made to market the tissue as a cold cream remover. In 1925 Ladies Home Journal advertised Kleenex as a way to keep skin beautiful. A K-C executive that suffered from hay fever was using these tissues instead of his handkerchief. In 1927 he influenced a new ad that said “for colds, never again use handkerchiefs”. In 1929, the Kleenex Pop-Up box was first introduced. It remains the number one brand of facial tissue in the world.
Who invented the Flushing Toilet?
The flushing toilet was invented in 1596. Most people believe it was invented by Thomas Crapper, however, its actual inventor was 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.
Did Thomas Crapper invent the toilet?
No. Although from 1861 to 1904 Crapper did have a successful career in the plumbing industry, holding nine patents for plumbing-related products in England, he did not invent the toilet. Albert Giblin holds the 1819 British Patent for the Silent Valveless Water Waste Preventer, a system that allowed a toilet to flush effectively. Giblin worked for Crapper as an employee and the most likely scenario is that Crapper bought the patent rights from Giblin and marketed the device himself.
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.
Why is a bathroom often called the “toilet”?
According to bathroom historian Frank Muir, the toilet and/or the outhouse have at one time or another been called:
• “House of Honor”; the ancient Israelite
• The “House of the Morning”; the ancient Egyptians
• The “garderobe” (literally, “cloakroom”)
• The the necessarium, the necessary house,
• The reredorter (literally, “the room at the back of the dormitory”)
• The privy (that is, the private place
• The jakes, the john, the loo, the W.C. (for water closet),
• Room 100 (in Europe),
• The lavatory
• The closet of ease
• The Throne
• Countless other nouns
In addition to euphemisms, needless to say, there is also an abundance of vulgar expressions. Curiously, however, there is no “real” word for the place where one deposits one’s bodily wastes. ‘Toilet,’ which is now thought of as the “official” term, is itself a euphemism. Originally, toilet was the process of dressing, as in, “the lady has just completed her toilet.” Before toilet assumed its present meaning in the early twentieth century, the accepted technical term for the “john” was the vaguely disgusting, but still euphemistic “bog-house.”
Who was the first “soft” two ply toilet paper producer?
St. Andrew’s Paper Mill in Walthamstow, London, is responsible for giving the world the comfort of soft toilet paper in 1942. Before then, many brands were single-ply and not at all pliable.
Who built the first papermaking machine?
In 1798, a Frenchman named Nicholas Louis Robert invented a machine to make paper in continuous rolls rather than sheets. The Fourdrinier brothers, who were English merchants, financed improvements in this machine in 1803. The first American Fourdrinier machine was built in 1827.
What is Kraft paper?
In 1883, a German inventor named Carl Dahl discovered that adding sodium sulfate to the soda process produced a very strong pulp. This discovery produced the Kraft process. Kraft means strength in German. During the early 1900’s, the Kraft process became the most important pulping process.
When did “wood” paper production begin?
Paper production from wood did not actually begin until the late 1800s.