3.08.2007

Thursday Thirteen #16


Thirteen Facts about TP
  1. In 1935, Northern Tissue advertised "splinter-free" toilet paper. Yep, you read that right; early paper production techniques sometimes left splinters embedded in the paper. And you thought you had it tough!
  2. America experienced its first toilet paper shortage in 1973.
  3. Corncobs and pages torn from newspapers and magazines were commonly used in the early American West. The Sears catalogue was well-known in this context, and even produced such humorous spin offs as the "Rears and Sorebutt" catalogue. The Farmer's Almanac had a hole in it so it could be hung on a hook and the pages torn off easily.
  4. The roll did not easily fit into the consumer market at first. At the time, society did not speak of the subject frequently. It was quite 'unmentionable" to talk about this product in the conservative, Victorian era.
  5. Before TP was invented the frayed end of an old anchor cable was used by sailing crews from Spain and Portugal
  6. And lace was used by French Royalty
  7. And if you were lucky enough to be raised on the Hawaiian islands, you may have used good old coconut shells.
  8. The average tear is 5.90 sheets of TP.
  9. Of a survey that polled 106 people 42% fold, 33% crumple, 8% do both fold and crumple, 6% wrap it around their hands.
  10. The U.S. toilet paper market is worth about $2.4 billion a year,
  11. The average American uses more than 20,805 sheets a year
  12. 25% of the population prefer their TP to go 'under' on the dispenser
  13. Men fold the TP 58% to women's 32% and women crumple 52% to men's 38%. (The others wrap it around their hand.)
Information taken from Virtual Toilet Paper Museum




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

12 comments:

Crystal said...

Fun list... but OUCH! I'll take my super soft charmin ultra anyday, thanks!

I don't think I'm participating this week. I'm too tired.

Danica Favorite said...

This is hysterical!! When I saw what you were posting on, I had to check it out.

Your baby is darling, BTW.

JHS said...

Well, that was the most original 13 I have read in a long time! :-) More info. than I was seeking about tp, though. Hahahahaha.

Raggedy said...

I was so happy when we could finally afford to upgrade from one-ply to two ply TP.
Terrific Thursday Thirteen!
My TT is posted.
Have a wonderful day!
Happy TT'ing!
*^_^
(=':'=)
(")_ (")Š
Raggedy

The Rock Chick said...

Who knew toilet paper could be so interesting?!

My 95 year old grandparents just amaze my kids by telling them what the world was like when they were little.....no computers, no cell phones, no iPods, no TV, no cable and no toilet paper! The Sears catalog story is a favorite :)

The Gatekeeper said...

And who knew there were so many interesting facts about TP. Nice research, I think. Awesome photographs on your blog btw. Have a great weekend.

Penny said...

That might just be the best TT topic I have seen! What a great list!

Your baby is darling and he is really growing fast! Such a cutie!

I'm a little late in visiting some TTs. This was just one of those weeks.

Anonymous said...

WOW...this was fun AND educational!
Great post!

Anonymous said...

And who can forget old dress patterns being crushed to suitably soften?? Of course, we had to remove the straight pins first that had been used to alter the pattern!! Ouch... inventiveness on the mission field...

Kathy said...

Great list on TP! Terrific idea! Nice to know some people research their topics! Hahaha! Very unique and enjoyable.
Happy TTing!

Marcia (MeeAugraphie) said...

Well, now we know how the older generations tried to cope. Boy are we lucky by comparison.

Anonymous said...

That was great! Who know they kept a stat on how people use the paper, fold, crumple...

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