What was used instead of toilet paper in the US and the UK prior to 1900?
score:15
American Wasteland: A Social and Cultural History of Excrement,1860-1920
By Daniel Max Gerling, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin:Although Gayetty’s Medicated Paper, America’s first toilet paper, was introduced in 1857, it was a luxury few Americans could afford. Therefore, most outhouses were equipped with a corncob hanging by a string from the wall. And after the Sears Catalog became commonplace in the 1890s, it was a staple in many outhouses for use as toilet paper. Several photos from the early 19th century of the inside of outhouses of tentimes feature scraps of newspaper or piles of rags. Some also had buckets of lime to control the odor.
Since corn was originally cultivated only in the Western Hemisphere, it's likely that corncobs was something the European/American settlers adopted from the indengious peoples there. But the rags and newspapers mentioned were probably commonly used in Europe, and brought by the Europeans to the New World.
In the Boy Scouts, I was taught to used dried leaves when out in the woods on a hike, and that such was the practice of Native Americans, and presumably early American Settlers.
I also found a few references to the use of stones by Native Americans, but nothing I can cite as a reliable source.
Upvote:1
I don't think bidets were ever as popular in the UK as we believed. I've heard from a lot of people in the UK and they often say they don't have one nor do they know anyone that does have one. I think Crocodile Dundee put it in the heads of people that everyone in the UK has a bidet.
Bidets are more common in the Middle East, as well as Italy. The newer Japanese toilets seem to be more popular in Japan, China, etc. And it seems over the past few years they are getting quite popular in the US and Canada.
More post
- 📝 Soviet reaction to Battle of the Denmark Strait
- 📝 Were blue-tinted glasses prevalent in Victorian England and, if so, why?
- 📝 Why does some Califate money feature crosses?
- 📝 Which trade route took the longest (in time) to travel?
- 📝 How was the black death spread?
- 📝 Historical examples of an elected absolute monarch:
- 📝 The act of Settlement 1701 and succession
- 📝 Was Celtic society promiscuous?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union out-pace the US during the space-race?
- 📝 What is the large blue object on the right in this picture showing Greek fire?
- 📝 How were British personnel employed in the colonies after independence
- 📝 Has mercantilism ever been successful?
- 📝 Why did the US pay money to the losers, at the end of both Barbary wars?
- 📝 Did ancient/medieval armies have music/chants to march to?
- 📝 What was an "alower of Society debts" in colonial America?
- 📝 Looking for a symbol for Southern USA communism
- 📝 Who named San Andreas, California?
- 📝 Are there primary sources that record the pre-conquest decoration/mosaic of the Hagia Sophia?
- 📝 What's the story behind Christmas?
- 📝 About competition an Capitalism
- 📝 Why are there 37 numbers on European roulette wheels?
- 📝 What are some good books about middle ages plague?
- 📝 Could Battle of Stalingrad be won by Germany if they haven't lost so many aircraft in Battle of Britain?
- 📝 How was 19th century ship tonnage reported?
- 📝 What religions did Constantine convert to?
- 📝 Who or what were the Nassadista?
- 📝 History of ideas, and importance of, "race" as a concept in the United States?
- 📝 Did WWII Delay Indian Independence?
- 📝 What was the size of surface of a cereal crop needed per man per year during the Dark Ages in Western Europe?
- 📝 How did one's statistical chance of survival as a hidden Jew change during the course of the Nazi occupation of northern France?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What was used instead of toilet paper in the US and the UK prior to 1900?
- 📝 In American Civil War era paper cartridges, what was taking up the space between powder and bullet?
- 📝 When and where was the term "nigra" used and what was its relation to "nigger"?
- 📝 When was the term "Dravida" first used and what is the context with which it was presented?
- 📝 What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under "kingdom", "republic" and "empire"?
- 📝 What was the average height of Roman men and women?
- 📝 What was the shortest time between a historical event occuring and a museum opening dedicated to said event?
- 📝 What was the most recent country to be conquered and disappear?
- 📝 Why was the Cold War carried out over the whole world instead of between Siberia and Alaska?
- 📝 What kind of labor was used to build the Egyptian pyramids?
- 📝 What was the Mantineian form of government and what praise did it receive?
- 📝 What was the life expectancy of an ancient Roman child and adult?
- 📝 What was the role of Indian princes and aristocratic landowners under British colonial rule?
- 📝 What was the church's attitude to "magic" prior to the 15th century?
- 📝 What did European people of the 5th century AD eat during spring and what was the availability?
- 📝 What was the official language used across European monarchies in the XII century?
- 📝 Was the Iraqi Mukhabarat modelled on the German Reichssicherheitshauptamt, and in what ways?
- 📝 What was the age of majority in 1900 United States?
- 📝 What was the primary method the Jews used to make a fire at the time of Jesus?
- 📝 Can anyone tell me what this coin was used for, an approximate date and possibly what it’s worth?
- 📝 In the British empire, what was the difference between a Governor General and a Viceroy?
- 📝 What was the official currency used in North Carolina in 1814?
- 📝 When was King John of England given the name 'Dollheart', and who first used it?
- 📝 What did the Baltic Fleet do in Reval in 1904 and when was it there?
- 📝 What was the source of "presidium" as used by the Soviets?
- 📝 When and what was the maximum extent of Nationalist China?
- 📝 Who was 'Viscount Yi' and what did he do to survive in the court of a madman?
- 📝 What was the error in 1790, if any, of the lat. and long. of Greenwich Observatory of 1783?
- 📝 What was the border regime between Poland and Czechoslovakia like during the 1970s and 1980s?
- 📝 What was the role of a 'Tidy Man' and what might their duties have been?
