Frank Muir on ancient alternatives to toilet paper

[bunnyjadwiga]

Frank Muir. An Irreverent and Almost Complete Social History of the Bathroom. New York: Stein and Day, 1983.

In ancient times, before the invention of paper, the cleaning-off problem was solved in a number of ways. Water was the answer where water existed. Failign that it was a matter of using a scraper or an abrasive.
The Romans favored a kind of minature hockey-stick (in wood or precious metal according to the user's status, or a sponge on the end of the stick . . .
In desert areas it was normal to use sand, powdered brick, or earth. A book on Muslim law published as late as 1882 . . . recommends using stones: 'There shall be three stones employed or three sides of the same stone'.
A favourite scraper throughout the ages, probably because of its convenient shape and easy availability, was a mussel shell.</blockquote. Aside from the Muslim law text, of course, Muir gives no sources. *rolls eyes* though he does quote a mention of the mussel-shell in a 1751 text, which doesn't date it to our period.

Comments

[kali-ma.livejournal.com]

In the Deep South where I was raised, it was not uncommon for my relatives or friends of family to have little plaques on the wall in the bathroom with joking references to people in outhouses using corncobs for toilet paper. The gist of the joke was not to feel sorry for yourself if your toilet paper was too scratchy, I think. I'm not sure if people really did that or if it's just a joke.

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

people really did that.
It's the other reason Sears Catalogs were so important about 100 years ago.

[montuos]

People really, truly did do that. During family reunions, I still hear first-person reminiscences of using a white corncob to see if you needed to use another red one, so we're talking less than a hundred years ago. And this is not just the Deep South, either; my family are Virginians, and minor gentry, too.

[luscious-purple.livejournal.com]

Just the phrase "cleaning-off problem" makes me smile. :-)

[amazon-42.livejournal.com]

Sheryl Crow would be so pleased to learn of this, seeing's how she thinks we should be restricted to one square each.

[angorian.livejournal.com]

is this the Frank Muir who wrote the what-a-mess books?

[iasmin.livejournal.com]

Ah, shades of Demolition Man.

[h3salthea.livejournal.com]

*agrees with above poster*

Yep, looks like we now have a clue what was up with the three shells...

[iasmin.livejournal.com]

Yep. And just in case anyone is confused, here's the quote, courtesy of IMDB:

John Spartan: [whispering to Lenina] Look, I don't know if you guys know it, but uh... you're out of toilet paper.
Alfredo Garcia: [confused] Did... did you say toilet *paper*?
Lenina Huxley: Um... they used handfuls of wadded paper back in the 20th...
[Lenina, Alfredo, and Erwin all laugh]
John Spartan: I'm happy that you're happy, but the place where you're supposed to have the toilet paper, you've got this little shelf with three seashells on it.
Erwin: He doesn't know how to use the three seashells!
[Erwin continues to laugh, then calms down]
Erwin: I can see how that could be confusing.