What did people use for 'T.P.' before it was invented?

Question

Historical data or simply crazy TP camping horror stories! Pine cones, pison sumac or corn cobs.

Answer 1

Before toilet paper was invented, different materials were used which varied amongst different cultures. In Ancient Rome, public toilet facilities provided a sponge attached to a wooden stick that soaked in a bucket of brine (salt) water. Those who lived in the wealthier suburbs of Rome used wool and rosewater. In Coastal Regions, mussel shells and coconut husk were used (mussels shells particularly). Europeans used marvelous fountains, occasionally with the luxury of warm water. In the Middle Ages, the French invented the first bidet for both sexes, unfortunately with the lack of modern plumbing. People from Islamic cultures wiped themselves first with a smooth stone, rinsed with water, and then finished off by drying with a cloth. Pebbles were used to blot the end of a male’s penis after urination. Men would carry re-usable stones and pebbles with small pitchers of water in their turbans during their busy work hours. The Colonial Americans were dependent upon the core center cobs from shelled ears of corn, whereas the Eskimos used handfuls of snow.

http://bosp.kcc.hawaii.edu/DiamondJournals/Diamondspring03/Wheres_TP.html

Answer 2

Most of the world still doesn't use TP. They use water and their left hand. In much of the world, this is the ONLY thing the left hand is used for. In the west, leaves and grass were early versions. Dried corn cobs used to be kept in western outhouses for this purpose.

Answer 3

Old Sears catalogs! Before that it was pine cones or corn cobs, depending on where you lived!

Answer 4

In the 1820s-1840s (before outhouses), in America, settlers used corncobs and rags that they carried around with them, washing the rags out about once every week.

Pine cobs would hurt! And something tells me that one would only use poison ivy/oak/sumac once...

Answer 5

Once upon a time, I was on a Spring nature hike with a naturalist at a state park in Iowa. He was identifying all the wildflowers along the trail. We spotted this large broad-leafed plant and asked him what that was. He said, "It is Indian Butt-Wipe." We all laughed, but he said he was serious.

Answer 6

And in those countries that use the left hand for T.P., if for some reason you come across a person who does NOT have a left hand DO NOT TOUCH ANY FOOD THAT THEY ARE IN CONTACT WITH

Answer 7

Sears catalogues, old telephone books, 20 singles in exchange for a 20 dollar bill, and so forth.

Answer 8

corn cobs & Sears catalogs

Answer 9

Sears and Roebucks catalogs, the bra ads went last!! LOL

Answer 10

Leaves, newspaper, magazine pages, etc.