What Did We Do Before Toilet Paper?

Source: Reviewed.com

Its been a few weeks, since the last LorenzoRamble. Apparently some people describe that as a month... huh who knew? Anyway it's been a while. But I still have big plans for LorenzoRambles. In the future I plan to start a Tech Tuesday segment where I try to break down the latest stuff going on in tech, and make it readable and understandable to the average person. I also am thinking about adding advertisements. Its a really tough decision for me to make, but leave comments and tell me what you think about it.

Today, I am tackling something very important. Anyone who has had to do a number two in the wilderness will have contemplated their previous life bathroom choices. And when I was back in a regular bathroom, I got to thinking, what did we do before toilet paper? It turns out that the history of how humans go to the bathroom is more interesting than I had previously thought. Because history takes a long time to explain, and there's a lot of it, I am going to summarize to give the general idea. I was more interested in finding out what people did in more modern times like the 1800s. Because the 1800s were an interesting time because a lot of things (in America) that we do today come from things back then, but there are plenty of odd things they did that we would never do today. Also because obviously for hundreds of years before we were developed as a species, we just pooped anywhere.

Source: 123rf.com

This will be more of a summary and I plan to make another bathroom history LorenzoRamble in the future.

In the ancient times people had wide varieties of bathroom habits. The Native Americans would do often what we think of, which is go out into the woods, and wipe with leaves. Other places did this as well. In the middle east they would poop into a body of water, and then clean their buttocks off with the water using their non-eating hand. In Ancient Greece there would be a communal toilet house which is kinda like an outhouse but with multiple seats (with no dividers), and they would wipe with broken bits of pottery, because that isn't painful at all. The ancient Romans shared the same communal outhouse, (made out of marble) idea. Except they wiped with a stick and a sea sponge that was also shared, and stored in salt water when not in use. I feel that this could lead to many awkward ancient Roman bathroom exchanges, "Hey bob, can you pass the sponge on a stick", "I will use the sponge on a stick as long as I want to Jimmy" In Ancient China the bathroom experience was more familiar as the Chinese did their business in a bucket of water, and used toilet paper. The Chinese invented some of the earliest toilet paper. The outhouse, that we think of today (in America) was popularized by the American settlers. They would use corn cobs to wipe their bottoms. Later in American history (here's the 1800s part), with the popularization of catalogs people would use those to wipe. The Farmers Almanac and the Sears Catalog evolved to include a hole punched in it to hang in the outhouse. In 1857 toilet paper busted onto the American Market.

Source: History.com

Toilet paper in the American Market caught on, and so did the toilet. Things these days aren't too different from the early 20th century. In other markets however, the water approach to cleaning is still used. In Asia, and especially Japan, they use bidets, which are a glorified butt washer. They have gotten so high tech that they will wash and dry you, and I somehow feel that our American toilets are disappointing, all they do is get rid of our waste, no washing and drying for us. 

Well what is my opinion?

Lorenzo's Opinion: 

I really like our current toilet situation, no broken pottery, no sponge on a stick, just a simple bowl full of water, and overpriced thin sheets of small paper. When I first heard about bidets, I thought it was an odd idea, and really didn't like the idea. But, I have seen the advantages, especially of the new modern Japanese, combo bidet/toilet. Basically what I'm saying is, I really wouldn't hate if we embraced the bidet.

But make your own opinion, that is the beauty of the LorenzoRamble format, I give the facts up above and let you develop your opinion, and then I give my opinion. I really think it is important these days for people to think independently and make up their own mind.

Tidbit: 

Chinese man's big belly saves him from falling down well

 He got stuck at the top in his family's old well, after breaking through the floorboards, that blocked off the old well......because he "jumped" on the wood floor. But because he was so obese, he didn't fall down the well. They had to hoist him out, and he suffered no health damage as far as authorities can tell. Anyway I highly recommend you click on the link and look at the slightly amusing pictures.