Genealogy Chat

Just discovered a rellie whose occupation is listed as 'Agent of Roll Paper' on the '91. Since toilet tissue on a roll was made available in the late 19th century, wonder if this was what he dealt in?

The rest of the family had been involved in the tea trade for the last century. Maybe he needed to perforate away from family tradition. lol!!!

Could it have been the big rolls of paper used for printing newspapers??

Yeah, could be Karen, but I quite like the idea of having a relly who was rolling in it.

You have returned then Rebs?! Paper for the print industry i'd have thought, I wouldnt have thought loo roll was popular enought in those days to make a living selling it

The mind boggles doesnt it - same with poor women before sanitary towels. Well, I know when I was a kid, my uncle had an outside loo still and newspapers had been cut into neat little oblongs and hung on a nail next to the loo. Im wondering if paper on rolls could also be to do with accounting stationery - you know those old machines which added up and a roll of paper was printed as they went?

Heidi. seeing as you asked...!!! It's amazing how often we get some variation of the questions, 'When was toilet paper invented?', 'Who invented toilet paper?', and 'What did people use before toilet paper was invented?' Here are a few of the highlights in the evolution of toilet paper that we've compiled from various sources. Some links to more comprehensive articles follow. What did people use before toilet paper? Well, just use your imagination: grass, leaves, fur, mussell shells, corncobs, stinging nettles... okay, maybe not that last, at least not more than once. The ancient Greeks used stones and pieces of clay; ancient Romans used sponges on the ends of sticks, kept in jugs filled with salty water. Mideasterners commonly used the left hand, which is supposedly still considered unclean in the Arabian region. 'Official' toilet paper - that is, paper which was produced specifically for the purpose - dates back at least to the late 14th Century, when Chinese emperors ordered it in 2-foot x 3-foot sheets. Corncobs and pages torn from newspapers and magazines were commonly used in the early American West. The Sears catalogue was well-known in this context, and even produced such humorous spinoffs as the 'Rears and Sorebutt' catalogue. The Farmer's Almanac had a hole in it so it could be hung on a hook and the pages torn off easily. Joseph C. Gayetty of New York started producing the first packaged toilet paper in the U.S. in 1857. It consisted of pre-moistened flat sheets medicated with aloe and was named 'Gayetty’s Medicated Paper'. Gayetty's name was printed on every sheet. Rolled and perforated toilet paper as we're familiar with today was invented around 1880. Various sources attribute it to the Albany Perforated Wrapping (A.P.W.) Paper Company in 1877, and to the Scott Paper company in 1879 or 1890. On a side note, the Scott Company was too embarrassed to put their name on their product, as the concept of toilet paper was a sensitive subject at the time, so they customized it for their customers... hence the Waldorf Hotel became a big name in toilet paper. Here's an 1886 Albany Perforated Wrapping (A.P.W.) Paper Company ad for perforated, medicated, rolled toilet paper. In 1935, Northern Tissue advertised 'splinter-free' toilet paper. Yep, you read that right; early paper production techniques sometimes left splinters embedded in the paper. And you thought you had it tough! In 1942, St. Andrew's Paper Mill in Great Britain introduced two-ply toilet paper Amnerica experienced its first toilet paper shortage in 1973. The Virtual Toilet Paper Museum opened its virtual doors in 1999.

I would just add to this - I was at a local history event in the village a couple of miles away where a lot of my ancestors were born and people had brought along bits and pieces they had found during house renovations (Im afraid its become a very posh commuter village - all the old cottages my ag labs once struggle to live in are all named things like Dower House and Church Cottage now) Anyway, one lady who had bought a large house which I discovered had been owned by a very well off chap had among her discoveries a few 'draft' letters this chap had written - covered in poo stains! She said she had found them during the chimney renovations so I assume the servants or whatever used them for bottoms and then stuffed them up the chimney (the paper that is).

Charming Heather!!! Erm, can I point out that I'm currently sitting here eating my dinner. lol!!!

Whereabouts was he, Rebs ? Do you know his occupation on previous census ? I used to work for Wiggins Teape, paper manufacturers. There was a pub in the building called the Dandy Roll.

Did he sell wallpaper?

Altrincham, Cheshire Joy. He was only 44 on the '91 census, and I haven't found him yet on any earlier ones. But like I said earlier, most of the family were involved in the tea trade. The family had tea estates in Darjeeling so they were their own middle man so to speak. Maybe by the end of the 19th century the family had expanded too much to accommodate everyone into the business. Or maybe he was in it and decided to get out. Either way, someone involved in the good old dunny roll (let me dream) is a change from having ag labs. Could have been anything along those lines Gwynneth, but I'm sticking to the toilet roll theory. lol!!!

My Great Grandfather, William Seymour Holden, was President of the Cooperative Wholesale Society,Manchester, during WW1 and WW2. Family legend has it that in this capacity, he cornered the world market in toilet paper, which he stashed in three huge warehouses. The Co-op never ran short of toilet paper! It was that stuff like greaseproof paper, came in interleaved sheets in a flat pack - Bronco, I think. We as a family were still using this awful stuff well into the 1970s. Olde Crone

Tesco still sells Izal shiny paper, in a box! Merry

Just another thought, could Roll Paper also be as in tobacco roll paper?

Ah, this thread takes me back. Bronco. You'd have to screw each sheet into a ball and then smooth it out again to make it usable. There was a TV series when I was a kid called Bronco, so I assumed it was what cowboys used.

Ooh, I hated that stuff. I used to take my own toilet paper when I went to visit my parents.