We have come to appreciate the value of bathroom tissue

During the depths of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, when packages of bathroom tissue rolls were a scarce commodity in grocery stores, people prayed for shipments to miraculously arrive. 

In Albany, N.Y., Times Union newspaper columnist Chris Churchill went to hallowed ground and placed a coveted roll of perforated toilet paper as a memorial at the gravesite of Seth Wheeler, who invented the product in 1871.

Chris Churchill

 

The pandemic-related toilet paper shortage has since worked itself out, so this is a good time to reflect on the upcoming 50-year anniversary of the “first toilet paper crisis” that occurred in America in 1973. 

Freelance journalist Jake Rossen of Binghamton, N.Y., tells the story best. He traced the origin back to U.S. Rep. Harold V. Froehlich of Appleton, Wis., who had begun receiving complaints from constituents in the fall of 1973 “that pulp paper was getting harder to come by.”

 Harold Froelich went on to serve for more than two decades as a state circuit court judge in Wisconsin. 

Rossen said that Rep. Froelich feared “a serious paper shortage of all types” was looming. Then the congressman “discovered the federal government’s National Buying Center had failed to secure their normal number of bids for a four-month toilet paper supply intended for soldiers and bureaucrats.” 

That sent him over the edge to issue a news release on Dec. 11, 1973, stating: “The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months. It is a problem that will potentially touch every American. We hope we don’t have to ration toilet tissue…a toilet paper shortage is no laughing matter.” 

Ahh, but it did indeed become a “laughing matter” on Dec. 19, when Tonight Show host Johnny Carson made mention of the story in his monologue,” Rossen said. 

Johnny Carson yucked it up pretty good with a series of spin-off jokes, but he effectively fanned the flames for a national run on toilet paper when he said: “There is an acute shortage of toilet paper in the good old United States.”

 

Immediately, the toilet paper inventory in supermarkets vanished. “I thought I would come and stock up,” said one customer, “but I see someone beat me to the punch.” 

“I’m used to being able to go when I want to, but suddenly I think I’m going to have to start curbing my habits,” one woman said. 

“The toilet paper frenzy continued into 1974, but eventually, consumers realized Rep. Froehlich’s concerns simply weren’t materializing. 

Carson felt compelled to issue an apology. “For all my life in entertainment, I don’t want to be remembered as the man who created a false toilet paper scare,” he told viewers. “I just picked up the item from the paper and enlarged it somewhat…there is no shortage.” 

“Respected CBS broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite urged calm on his newscast and aired footage from the Scott Paper Company that demonstrated toilet paper was coming off the factory line without delay,” Rossen reported.

 

The furor soon wound down. 

Toilet paper is an important American industry. The average person in the United States uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per year, and the average household flushes about 80,000 sheets annually. 

Economists expect U.S. sales to exceed $16.32 billion in 2023, as the market is experiencing an annual growth rate of 4.91%.

 

A major milestone in the toilet paper industry history occurred in 1935. Northern Paper Mills of Green Bay, Wis., advertised the first “splinter-free toilet paper.” Its engineers solved the problem of removing even the smallest of splinters from the finished product. The process was called “linenizing.” 

Take note: Aug. 26 is National Toilet Paper Day.