The Specialist by Vaudeville Comedian Charles "Chic" Sale"
A bit of history about outhouse latrines and toilet paper on a roll
Everyone could chuckle over Lem Putt's opinions on such things as locating an outhouse
under an apple tree: "There ain't no sound in nature so desconcertin' as the sound of
apples droppin' on the roof." Or why special attention had to be paid to digging the
waste hole: "It's a mighty sight better to have a a little privy over a big hole than
a big privy over a little hole." Or why sturdy construction is the best policy: "you've
got to figger on...that Odd Fellows picnic in the fall."
But the writer's success turned out to have its downside too. Much to his chagrin, Sale
discovered that, over time, his name had become more closely linked with his subject than
he liked. He was not amused to hear that people were no longer visiting the outhouse
or privy, but the "Chic Sale" however affectionately they meant it. The term even went
global after Sales death During World War II American GI's decorated the doors of thousands
of latrines and ships' heads around the world with the rustic moniker - a reasurring
reminder of home.
A bit of history about outhouse latrines
and toilet paper on a roll.
In order to avoid unnecessary embarrassment, suggested an ad in the early 1900's,
"don't ask for toilet paper, ask for ScotTissue." Few things, in fact, have been
as hard to sell at the outset as toilet paper. As long as privies were the norm,
few people were willing to spend money on "medicated paper," as the
stuff was called, when old mail-order catalogues would do just as well. Even after indoor
plumbing became commonplace, there was that mortifying moment of having to ask the
grocer for a pagckage, which was usually kept hidden under the counter.
In the 1880's two brothers, Irvin and Clarence Scott, began to change all that.
Working in Philadelphia, they began putting perforated toilet tissue on rolls that were
just the right size for the home bathroom, instead of selling it in flat sheets in
industrial size packages. Until the turn of the century, Scott made tissue for
other merchants, at one point producing over 2,000 brands. Then, just as newspapers
and magazines were beginning to accept toilet-tissue advertisements, the company
began phasing out the other labels and concentrating on its own, Waldorf at first,
and then ScotTissue.
Even as their reputation was being established for one product, the Scott Paper Company found a second use for paper on a roll. Following the example of a teacher who sought to stop the spread of cold germs among her pupils by cutting towels from paper, the Scotts began packaging SaniTowels for business use in 1907 and, soon after introduced ScotTissue Towels for the home.
By 1915, when ads appeared, it was finally considered accepable to show a picture of a
roll of toilet tissue in a magazine. At the same time, the public was beginning to
realize that communal towels in offices, schools, and home were unsanitary.
Discovering America's Past
My aunt in Knoxville would bring newspapers up,
which we used for toilet paper. Before we used it,
we'd look at the pictures.
Dolly Parton
Indian Toilet Paper
An Indian walks into a trading post and asks for toilet paper. The clerk asks if he would like no name, Charmin, or White Cloud.
"White Cloud sounds like good Indian toilet paper," says the Indian. "How much is it?"
"$1.00 a roll," the clerk replies.
"That seems pretty expensive," responds the Indian. "What about the others?"
"Charmin is $2.00 a roll, and no name is 50 cents a roll."
The Indian doesn't have much money, so he opts for the no name. Within a few hours, he is back at the trading post.
"I have a name for the no name toilet paper," he announces to the clerk. "We shall call it John Wayne."
"Why?" asks the confused clerk.
"Cause it's rough and it's tough and it don't take no crap off an Indian."
Most of the time he sounds like he has
a mouth full of wet toilet paper.
- Rex Reed About Marlon Brando
You're like a pay toilet, aren't you?
You don't give a shit for nothing.
- Howard Hughes To Robert Mitchum
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