Toilet Paper Factoids

• The first toilet paper was invented around 600 A.D. in Korea. (Earliest paper of any kind was around 200 B.C., so there was paper for 800 years before somebody thought of using it for this purpose.)
• The first commercially produced toilet paper was in England in 1880. It was sold in individual squares.
• In the late 19th century, the public's desire for better hygiene coincided with improvements to indoor plumbing. Scott Paper Company (which merged with Kimberly-Clark in 1995) was the first company to market rolls of tissue specifically for use as toilet paper. Marketing the product was a challenge in the Victorian 1890s; consumers wouldn't discuss it, merchants wouldn't display it, and publications wouldn't advertise it.
• In 1899, to meet the growing demand, Scott erected a four-story brick building, then the largest structure in the world devoted completely to the production of toilet paper. On its first day of business, a fire broke out, and the building was completely destroyed. (Fortunately, nobody was injured, and insurance paid for construction of a new building.)
• Before toilet paper, many other things were used for this purpose. In the U.S., the preferred materials were corncobs, newspapers, and, of course, the Sears and Roebuck catalog. In coastal regions, some people used shells. European royals used wool or lace. At public toilets in ancient Rome, they kept a sponge attached to the end of a stick soaking in a bucket of salty water.
• Today, the average American uses 49.1 rolls of toilet paper a year, based on a 280-sheet roll.
• The average tear is 5.9 sheets of toilet paper
• 50 percent of people surveyed say they have at one time or another used leaves in a pinch. Eight percent have used their hands. And two percent say they have used money!
• In 1973, Johnny Carson did a joke about a shortage of toilet paper. Millions of viewers ran out and bought all the toilet paper they could find, creating an actual nationwide shortage that lasted three weeks.
• 79 percent of people who go camping take their own toilet tissue with them. 19 percent who travel abroad also carry their own.
• In addition to its intended purpose, 61 percent of people say they use toilet paper to blow their noses; 24 percent use it to wipe counters or mirrors, and 23 percent use it to remove makeup, including 6 percent of male respondents.
• Men are more likely to read in the bathroom than women. Of those who do read in the bathroom, magazines are the most popular reading material of choice (62 percent), followed by newspapers (43 percent), books (22 percent), mail (5 percent), and inspirational material (4 percent).
• Women spend more time in the bathroom than men. Women make an average of 6.7 visits to the bathroom per day, spending a total of 45 minutes there. Men make 4.5 daily bathroom visits, and stay a total of 30 minutes.
• If you search the words "toilet paper" on the Internet, ou can find all sorts of interesting things...from rolls of toilet paper with politicians' faces on them, to a humor newsletter meant to be read in the bathroom called The Toilet Paper.

Courtesy of: Cindy Bowden, American Museum of Papermaking
Linters, Inc.
Kimberly-Clark Corporation