HISTORY TIMELINE FOR TOILET PAPER

50 B.C.
The Chinese first made paper with short lengths of bamboo and then later added cotton linen rags which were soaked in water and pounded into swollen pulp. This was then formed into sheets and dried.
14th Century
England recorded locations for papermaking mills. Rags were the principal raw material and they were in short supply, thus limiting growth.
    1391: The first toilet paper reported was used by the Chinese emperor. As a luxury item, only royalty had access to toilet paper. The paper was made in 2 ft x 3-ft sheets. The Bureau of Imperial Supplies began producing 720,000 sheets of toilet tissue per year.
15th Century
   1400-1600: In Renaissance Europe, paper was in high demand by the educated and elite society. Paper thus became an essential commodity, but the demand was too great for the supply at the time. Rags were the principal raw material and in short supply.
16th Century
   1596: The Flushing Toilet was invented by Sir John Harrington, who was a British nobleman and godson to Queen Elizabeth I. He invented a valve that when pulled would release the water from the water closet and suggested flushing at least twice a day. Rumor has it that this is where the name the “John” originated.

18th Century
   1700: Initially, colonial Americans used corncobs and leaves to cleanse where toilet tissue is used today. Then, when newspapers became available they were used. Also, the Sears catalog and the Farmers almanac were later used. The Almanac had a hole in it so it could be hung on a nail or string. The French Royalty used lace.
   1798: Rolls made instead of sheets- Nicholas-Louis Robert of France invented a machine that produces paper on an endless wire screen. The Frenchman patented the idea of matting the fabric fibers and joining the sheet on a moving wire belt through which excess water could drain away. His machine would make continuous rolls rather tan sheets. It became the Fourdrinier. Fifty years later, papermakers began successfully using wood fiber to make paper, a process that was introduced in the United States in the early 1900s.

19th Century 
   1819: The silent valve was patented by Albert Giblin in England. This allowed a toilet to be flushed more efficiently. Albert worked for Thomas Crapper who had a successful plumbing business. It is most likely that Thomas bought the patent from Albert and then marketed the toilet himself from 1861-1904. (Toilet is a French word meaning ‘the act of washing, dressing and preparing oneself’)
   Late 1800’s: The public’s demand for better hygiene coincided with improvements in residential and commercial indoor plumbing.
   1857: New Yorker Joseph Gayetty introduced the first packaged Toilet Tissue in the United States. The Gayette Firm, located in New Jersey, produced and sold a package of 500 sheets selling for $0.50 It was named “Therapeutic Paper” and served as a medical paper. It contained an abundance of aloe to help cure sores. Joseph’s name was printed on each sheet!  1890: Toilet Paper on a roll was introduced by the Scott Paper Company and quickly becomes the nation’s leading producer of TP. Scott bought large rolls of paper from paper manufacturers and then converted them to become toilet paper on a small roll. The TP was sold through intermediaries, private labelers and drug stores. Scott private labeled the wrappers and cut the paper according to the specification that each reseller wanted. Scott did not want to be associated with this Victorian era “unmentionable” product. The owners did not want their name on the product. The strategy worked and Scott expanded – Scott soon had over 2,000 reselling customers.
   1896: Arthur Scott joins Scott and argues that controlling their brand and product specifications is the best strategy rather than selling through resellers.

 20th Century
   1902: The Waldorf brand was a big seller in Philadelphia by a paper jobber, Albert DeCernea. Arthur Scott, the son of Irvin, convinced his father Scott paper should control their own brands and product specifications. Scott therefore bought this private label and this began their first venture into controlling their own brand. By 1921 the Waldorf brand was 64% of Scott’s sales.
   1901: Northern Paper Mills from Green Bay Wisconsin is established and introduces Northern Tissue to be used as a sanitary tissue. It is 1,000 sheets of tissue, each 4×10 inches. Each bundle has a wire through it so it can be hung from a nail.
  1907: Scott introduces Scott paper towels. The Sani-towels became the first disposable paper towel in America used in Philadelphia schools to help prevent the spread of common colds.
   1910: Scott begins to manufacture its own toilet paper. In order to control the standards and quality of the tissue, Scott built its own first manufacturing plant in Chester, PA to make paper. They began making large 72″ parent rolls of tissue and cutting them to smaller rolls. The small rolls were either 650 or 1,000 perforated sheets. The roll of 1,000 sheets sold for $.10 and it was considered a medical item.
   1911: Scott eliminates all private-label manufacturing. Scott’s ‘Sno-tissue was renamed ScotTissue. This marked the beginning of the complete concentration on Scott brands and Scott Tissue. They no longer sold through resellers.
   1915: Kimberly Clark begins producing absorbent cellulose wadding called Cellucotton. This is to be used as a bandage material in WW1 and army nurses begin adapting this material for menstrual use.
   1918: Kimberly Clark prepares to sell Cellucotton for use in WW I, but the war ends. The project later leads to the development of Kleenex.
   1919: Fort Howard Paper Company established in Green Bay Wisconsin.
   1920: KC forms the company Cellucotton Products to market Kotex sanitary napkins. The KC Company owners are afraid to associate with this ‘unmentionable’ product. Kotex is first advertised in ‘Ladies home journal’ in 1921 but the ad is restricted in explaining the products use. Also, Northern Mills introduces toilet tissue on a roll and claims to be the largest producer of bath tissue in the world.