CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — With the COVID-19 virus causing a stir, communities have been flocking to their local stores and stocking up on essentials.
Toilet paper is one of those essentials.
Toilet paper as we know it wasn't mass produced until the late 1800's. Before that, people got creative.
"The most common solution was simply to grab what was at hand: coconuts, shells, snow, moss, hay, leaves, grass, corncobs, sheep's wool, and later—thanks to the printing press—newspapers, magazines, and pages of books," says mentalfloss.com.
As time, and gas, passed, wiping innovation reached new heights.
In the early days of the United States, Americans would use pages from the Sears Catalogbecause it came free in the mail.
Eventually, in 1857, an entrepreneur named Joseph Gayetty started producing and selling “medicated paper”made with hemp and aloe. But it wasn't until 1890 that toilet paper on a roll was invented.
That product evolved into the mass produced toilet paper seen in stores today.
