A Room with a Loo
This photo appeared on Conrad’s blog the other day. The post was entitled It All Depends Upon How You Look At It… I tried to be polite with my comment… Well my mother did her best to make a lady out of me!
Had Conrad asked us to give our very first thought on seeing the photo, mine might have been ‘Extreme Constipation’!
The specimen roll of paper above appears to be embossed with hearts. It was a reminder to me of how this particular product has changed over the years and the uses to which it is put. Loo paper has almost a status these days. First off we have one, two and three ply, plain or embossed. I have also come across it coated with Aloe Vera or Shea butter. We have certainly come a long way from cut sheets of newsprint threaded onto string and hung on a nail in an outside privy.
Then we have the more specialist varieties:
The one on the left looks a little rough & as for the one on the right…. well I’m saying nuttin!
I have heard about throwing money down the drain.. but this is taking it a bit far!
The roll above reminds me of a shop in Exchequer Street in Dublin during my childhood days. The shop was almost opposite the Central Hotel, and I think it was called Waters. It was an original version of a ‘£Pound’ Shop or ‘2€uro’ Shop as they are down South. Nancy will tell us what they are called on the other side of the pond. On fine days boxes and baskets of goods spilled out onto the street to entice the customers to come inside. Special offers were written on the window in tennis shoe whitener. The most popular offer (well they had it on all the time) was for seconds in loo paper!
I almost pushed my mother under a moving car one day trying to cross the road in case she decided to save a few bob on this item. There was no way I would carry a bundle of them home on the bus. My brothers swore that ’seconds’ meant that they were made from second hand paper that had been washed and re rolled, no matter how many times mammy said they were the end of a run on the rolling machine and unevenly wrapped or cut.
See I am not the only snob! 
This final photo of an advertisement takes me back to the days before soft tissue. The paper was smooth and shiny on the front and rough on the back, not what you would call absorbent. It came on a roll or loose interleaved sheets in a box. 500 sheets on the roll for 1s/3d and for a box of 300 interleaved sheets it was 1shilling.
The interleaved sheets bring back another memory from 1959.
We, all eight of us were on holiday in England with my Aunt. One of my Uncles wrote a letter to us with all his news. The letter was addressed to all eight of us. Each time someone was mentioned he drew a picture of that person with their name written on them. I had a bow on my head and curly hair. Mammy had an apron on and my brothers had long or short trousers according to their age.
He drew pictures instead of words whenever possible e.g. the ship was a picture of the boat, for the sea he drew waves and we also had the sun, clouds and the birds flying overhead. It was all written on about six sheets of bronco special. My uncle died over 40 years ago but the letter is still about. I gave it to his eldest son a couple of years ago. Somehow computer graphics will never be the same.
For those who are unaware of the Andrex Adverts:
Conrad said,
July 3, 2009 at 7:35 am
Grannymar…this is a post!!!
Bravo! Bravo!
Nick said,
July 3, 2009 at 8:47 am
When I was a child, we always used bits of newspaper in the toilet, my father refused to splash out on proper toilet paper. Eventually we switched to Bronco which was almost as bad. Nowadays of course I only use hand-crafted anatomical wipes from Harrods of Knightsbridge.
Kate said,
July 3, 2009 at 10:37 am
I remember using that shiny stuff as tracing paper when I was little - we didn’t have it at home so I used to collect it from the bus station loo!
Happy days!!!
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 10:50 am
@Conrad - Thank you.
@Nick - I suppose you have steps up to the throne to go with the fancy paper!
@Kate - You a thief! I don’t believe it.
Kate said,
July 3, 2009 at 10:59 am
You got me Grannymar - bang to rights… started early you see …
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 11:02 am
Kate,
I think you are well forgiven by now.
Darlene said,
July 3, 2009 at 1:36 pm
That TP commercial is the cutest one I have ever seen. Priceless!
I’m not Nancy, but I am on the other side of the pond. I believe the type of store you are describing would be called a Mercantile here. They sold everything from boots and booze to bread.
Now they have been spiffed up and are called Dollar Stores. They sell end runs and seconds, but they don’t have a liquor license so you have to go to the grocery store for your whiskey and someplace else for your boots. Now I have given a good ‘take off’ for one of Nancy’s jokes.
rummuser said,
July 3, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Brilliant post Grannymar. It is more than what anyone can write about this fascinating subject!
Nancy said,
July 3, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Grannymar,
In the second World War , I wanted to join the Army but was stopped at the thought of needing to use the loo and having to use WAC’S PAPER….For all you folks under 75 that branch of the service was the Woman’s Army Corps (WAC).
Yes, as Darlene said, those are now called Dollar Stores and everything is exactly $1.00. The first time I ever saw one I was delighted and ran through the place buying everything in sight. “Oh. look. Prell Shampoo $1.00.” And Colgate Toothpaste only $1.00″. Here’s Ivory Soap $1.00. I ended up spending about $20.00.
Then, I went to the regular store to check the prices and see how many dollars I had saved with my shrewd purchases. What I found was quite an eye opener. Prell Shampoo 79 cents. Colgates 85cents.
Ivory Soap 69 cents.
Needless to say, that was my first and last foray into the Dollar Store……
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 2:35 pm
@Darlene - Thank you for the name of the stores. Here they sell end runs and what we refer to as ‘unknown brand’ items. Some items are actually very good value. The stock changes on a daily basis.
@Ramana - It just goes to show that we can write about anything under the sun!
@Nancy - You need to have your eyes wide open to see the true bargains in a store like that.
Conortje said,
July 3, 2009 at 3:02 pm
someone gave me suduko loo roll recently…very strange
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Conor,
Did they give you a pen to go with it?
Annb said,
July 3, 2009 at 4:13 pm
That’s quite an impressive sociological study of the humble bog roll. Very impressive Grannymar.
wisewebwoman said,
July 3, 2009 at 4:55 pm
All I can remember, GM is Izal, do you remember that, shiny and boy it hurt and it smelled like dettol, I much preferred the softened newspaper that you got from crunching it between your hands.
When we had company my mother would put the good stuff on the roll but one time her friend came up our street and said as soon as she got to the door, well it was like Hansel and Gretel and the breadcrumbs getting to your house!
My mother was mortified. My three year old brother had unwound the brand new roll all the way down the stairs, out the front door and down the street.
We laughed until we were sick.
XO
WWW
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 5:39 pm
@Annb - It is amazing what you can write about when you are stuck!
@WWW - I remember Izal, it was a hard as greaseproof paper! Maybe your brother was the inspiration for that Andrex advert!
Magpie11 said,
July 3, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Brronco, Jeyes, Ibcoll and the stuff at boarding school…printed alternately with “Supplied by the management” and “Now wash your hands please”!
We used the said papers as tracing paper at school!!! But the real tour de force is this…there was never a better product for Blues Blowing aka playing a comb and paper…. Is it still available?
Gary said,
July 3, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Your Uncles letter sounds wonderful, written with love and still full of it I bet.
As for the toilet paper - Izal, the shiny stuff, beloved of school toilets because no-one would steal it, and it was medicated too, why it had to be medicated I know not but there was obviously a genuine reason for in all these years I have never once had a disease of the arse.
I could have said “bottom” to be polite, but “arse” scans better.
kenju said,
July 3, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Love it, Grannymar. That is the sweetest advertisement I’ve ever seen for toilet paper.
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 7:25 pm
@Magpie - You must have gone to a posh school … with messages reminding you to wash your hands!
Poor Lady Magpie! Is she in for an evening of comb playing now? We used the tissue that backed the foil in cigarette boxes for playing the comb. Why do people waste money on expensive musical instruments?
I suppose you made telephones with matchboxes and string too!
@Gary - The letter was very special and so was my uncle. I spoke of him in a Podcast called The Caller back in August 07.
Scanning gets you away with murder round here!
@Judy - Those adverts have been going for a long time.
Nancy said,
July 3, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Grannymar,
My oldest son, Chris, was almost thrown out of University before he even started.
He got his letter of acceptance to Temple University in Philadelphia and in the papers from the school was a notice from the Band Director asking new students if they would like to be part of the prestigious Temple University Diamond Marching Band.
Chris marked YES and sent the paper back. A week later he got a letter from the band director welcoming him to the band and asking what instrument he played. That’s when the trouble started; he wrote that he played the COMB.
His joke was not well received by the faculty of the school and apologies were in order….
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Nancy,
That story beats the band!
Magpie11 said,
July 3, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Not that posh…we were house din WWII Nissen huts…it used to be a USAF Hospital during WWII and I think the loo rolls were left over too.
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Magpie with fancy messages, you must be right!
Baino said,
July 3, 2009 at 11:17 pm
What a post and all stimulated by dunny paper. My nana always had the sheet stuff or should that be the sh*t stuff. We have a similar advertisement here with labrador puppies and their slogan is “Sorbent - lab tested for softness”
bikehikebabe said,
July 3, 2009 at 11:50 pm
25 comments so far. And rummuser & Conrad’s posts are about toilet paper too. Everyone loves toilet paper.
20 some years ago when my daughter first lived in Sweden, she said the toilet paper was like waxed paper. “It didn’t do the job.”
Grannymar said,
July 3, 2009 at 11:52 pm
@Baino - There was one thing sure; the stiff stuff was no way “Sorbent - lab tested for softness”!
@BHB - Well we all have to use it! We Europeans of a certain age are all used to the stiff stuff.
bikehikebabe said,
July 4, 2009 at 12:00 am
The other toilet paper posts: Conrad’s
http://www.levintel.com/2009/06/30/it-all-depends-upon-how-you-look-at-it/#comments
bikehikebabe said,
July 4, 2009 at 12:04 am
Sorry , I had to put this on two comments because my message went away between gathering the links.
http://rummuser.com/?p=1388#comments (And this link doesn’t work as is.)
bikehikebabe said,
July 4, 2009 at 12:05 am
Opps! Yes it works. Now I’ve used 3 comments.
Grannymar said,
July 4, 2009 at 12:08 am
BHB,
Who is counting? We can blame your new hip! How is it going?
bikehikebabe said,
July 4, 2009 at 2:08 am
And I was blaming my husband. Tom is a really bad nurse, mainly because he doesn’t know where anything is & I’m pretty much immobile. (He doesn’t know where his own stuff is.)
Has been 1 1/2 weeks & all-of-a-sudden my hip is starting to feel fine.
Grannymar said,
July 4, 2009 at 9:58 am
BHB - Chase Tom around the house and you will soon be up to speed!
Magpie11 said,
July 4, 2009 at 5:36 pm
back again;
used to make telephones with baked bean tins..and cap bombs with old fashioned keys and nails and red Vesta tips or with a nut and two bolts……piece of string to steady the flight!
Back to loo rolls……lovely image of a male child carrying a 24 pack of rolls home behind a “mother with three stomachs” in a discussion about films on Radio 4 today!
And then this in the Independent today…
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/minor-british-institutions-izal-toilet-paper-1727294.html
Tell everyone!
Grannymar said,
July 4, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Magpie,
They hardly got the idea from my blog… what do you think?
Magpie11 said,
July 4, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Serendipity… but spooky!
Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk said,
July 4, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Well done!
Grannymar said,
July 4, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Jean, thank you!
Maria said,
July 4, 2009 at 8:08 pm
From across the sea. . . I found you in the comments to Judy from the blog Can You Imagine and came for a visit. Excellent job, my dear of explaining the history of toilet paper and its progression into something nicer and softer.
I remember that when I made my first trip to Europe, I was warned by paranoid Americans, that the toilet paper was a cross between sandpaper and waxpaper. That was years ago. Someone suggested that I carry a roll of American toilet paper with me. Of course, that was the most ridiculous of ideas.
Grannymar said,
July 4, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Welcome Maria to the party.
I hope you feel at home with so many or your fellow countrymen and women who visit on a daily basis. Judy is a talented lady… she makes flowers talk!
I know many people who carry a roll of toilet paper in their car at all times. It comes in handy to mop up spills, wipe hands and indeed when checking the oil level in the car.
Grannymar » Creating a Consortium said,
July 10, 2009 at 6:11 am
[...] 2nd July an email popped into my inbox… At the time I was very busy with loo paper. No, I was not in the throne room, don’t be silly I am not quite soldered to the [...]