Thursday, November 4, 2010

Please don't squeeze the Charmin

I'm thankful today for toilet paper and indoor plumbing. Oh yes I am.
Yes. Toilet paper is what I am thankful for today. And indoor plumbing.

I went onto the interwebs to see what I could find out about the history of toilet paper. Here is what I found.

Different things that people have used for toilet paper...
  • corncobs (in the movie Babies a corncob is used to wipe a babies bum)
  • sponges on the ends of sticks that were kept in jars of salt water
  • rocks
  • leaves
  • fur
  • mussel shells
  • the left hand. (There is a scene in the movie Outsourced where the guy is looking for toilet paper and is basically instructed to use his left hand.)
  • Pages from catalogs such as Sears and Robuck and the Farmers Almanac.
I am so thankful that I have that lovely soft, white paper.

Honestly there is a good part of the world that does not have this luxury (see the first example of corn cob usage).

Did you know that back in the day one of the selling points for a specific type of TP was that it was "Splinter Free"????
(I found the above fascinating info HERE)

Did you know that according to a Kimberly Clark Survey when it comes to how we use toilet paper that women are "wadders" and men are "folders"? (You can find this and a bunch more interesting facts about TP HERE.)

Plus if we didn't have TP then we wouldn't have all those awesome TP rolls to get all crafty with, now would we??

These heads made by French artist Junior Jacqeut are pretty cool
Go HERE to see more.

And these amazing works of art by another French artist
Anastassia Elias.
Check HERE to see others.
And finally this tree crafted from aTP roll by Artist Yuken Teruya
(Who I'm thankful is not French so I didn't make an unfair observation.)
I am also very thankful for indoor plumbing because it means when I feel the call of nature in the middle of the night or in the middle of winter I don't have to haul myself out to one of these.....
and have a constant fear of being attacked by The Flukeman.

Instead I get to use this awesome Avocado green toilet.
P.S. I know that the debate
"Over vs. Under"
rages on in bathrooms around the world.

My vote?

ON!

I don't care if it rolls over or under.
Just replace the roll!!

13 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I will never look at TP the same way again!

And I have to admit. I am a chronic non-replacer.

Amy L said...

Fun post!!

Have you seen the new tube-less toilet paper rolls??? Heresy!!! LOL

The left hand thing: that's how many people in Arabic countries still do it. They use their left hand and a bidet. This is why it's considered extremely rude to shake hands with your left hand there. (Rob found this out first hand while he was there!)

The Goff Family said...

Oh Shanna, this made me giggle and I needed it. The facts and art you shared were interesting and amazing. As for my vote, I am an over kind of girl.

Barbaloot said...

Rocks? For real?

I'm a folder---but that's cuz I'm irritatingly OCD.

the fowlers said...

love it. love it.
love "big green" (can i call it that?), love toilet paper and love that vote! i agree. just change the roll, please!
i even put the new roll on top of the toilet so that it's easier to change, but *someone* just uses from the roll on top of the toilet instead. booo.

*MARY* said...

I wish scientists would just work on that Va-poo-rize spray, so we could
just do away with toilet paper all together

Judi said...

LOVE it~I just wish they would bring back the colored toilet paper!
and I ADORE that green toilet!

Missy said...

Scott is dropping the cardboard tube! What will we do?

Lara Neves said...

I have never cared which way it goes on the roll, either.

And who knew there was so much TP art in the world?

I do know that I was much more grateful for real American TP after serving my mission in Romania where it is akin to the brown paper hand towels in public restrooms. Ick.

mCat said...

This made me chuckle from beginning to end. It's the little things isn't it?

I am a def OVER girl and I have to have the same brand EVERY.TIME.

Not negotiable

Anonymous said...

haha pretty intersting facts!

Pedaling said...

that was way more info than I ever needed to know,
but all very interesting.
Yes, I too am so very grateful for the toilet paper we wipe with!

Me (aka Danielle) said...

I can't imagine using some of the things that were used before Toilet Paper. Yikes.

This was a great post!!