E-mail: cze5012@psu.

edu
Topic: Toilet Paper

February 25, 2010

Alan Jalowitz, Editor

Paterno Library
University Park, PA 16802

Dear Mr. Jalowitz,

There is an object that people use every day without even

thinking about it. Little do they know that by using it,
they are helping to stop the spread of disease as well as
promoting cleanliness. Often times the only times people
think about this product is when suddenly they realize that
they don’t have access to it. This object is packaged
toilet paper.

Although in 1857 Joseph Gayetty produced the first toilet

paper in the United State, he was not successful at selling
it. The idea of packaged toilet was first successfully
advertised and sold by Scott Paper Company in 1879 when the
Scott Paper Company was founded in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. At this time they did not market the toilet
paper as Scott Tissue since they did not want to soil the
family name.

Credentials
For the past three summers I have worked at a patent
attorney office. Part of my job was to research inventions
and trademarks in order to determine whether clients’ ideas
could be patented or if they had already been patented.
Because of this I know how to use many resources to find
information on inventions. Having access to all of Penn
State libraries’ databases also provides almost unlimited
access to journals and newspapers.

Description of Research
I began my search at the Scott Paper Company website in
order to get an idea of where I could look for more
information on my topic. This gave me the names, location
and date of the first successfully sold packaged toilet
paper. From here I was able to find online virtual paper
museums and museum websites that contained unbiased
information regarding the start up of the Scott Paper
Company and the packaging of toilet paper. However since
all of these sites already contained the idea of toilet
paper in a roll I decided to search the patent office
records to find the first patent for toilet paper.

The patent office gave me information to work off of and

understand the setting and ideas on which the Scott
brothers’ first successfully sold packaged toilet paper.
Then using journals on the Scott Paper Company I was able
to further look into how the Scott brothers were able to
make the selling of toilet paper an acceptable trend in
such a conservative time period. This also shows how big
of an achievement their efforts were. Journals also
outlined general information regarding toilet paper and
gave me a greater understanding of the importance and
innovation behind toilet paper that still affects our
everyday life.

Technical Description
Modern toilet paper is a soft form of paper, which provides
the user with a sanitary method of cleaning oneself after
using the bathroom. Originally, however, toilet paper was
made of individual coarse paper squares that came in a box.
In 1890, Irvin and Clarence Scott of the Scott Paper
Company revolutionized toilet paper. They put toilet paper
on a roll and began to individually package these rolls for
sale in drugstores and pharmacies.

The Scott Paper Company set up a

plant in Chester, Pennsylvania
where 72-inch parent rolls of paper
were transformed into small rolls
of 1,000 white, perforated sheets
to be sold in individual rolls. At
the time, a roll of 1,000 sheets
sold for 10 cents. It did not take
long for the Scott Paper Company’s
successes to hit the mainstream and
by 1925 they were the leading
toilet tissue provider in the
world.
Due to the conservative tones
of the country at the time
that Scott Paper Company set
up production of packaged
toilet paper, they began by
selling to private dealers who
then sold the packaged toilet
paper under 2,000 different
brand names. Eventually,
under the guidance of Arthur
Hoyt Scott, Irvin Scott’s son,
Scott Paper Company began to
produce toilet paper that was
marked with the company name.

By promoting Scott Tissue as a

health-promoting product, the
Scott Paper Company was able
to find proper venues for
their advertising efforts.
From there the company’s
marketing efforts brought
Scott Tissue to be a common
An early journal article
household name brand. They
regarding toilet paper’s
were able to add
health benefits. Good
advertisements and articles
promoting their product in Housekeeping, 1930.
health magazines as well as in
drug stores and the health section of newspapers.

Conclusion
While often overlooked, the convenience of packaged toilet
paper is clearly one of the most useful inventions that
people encounter every day. By taking a risk in a
conservative time and choosing the right route for a
marketing campaign, the Scott Paper Company successfully
promoted one of the most frequently used cleanliness
promoting products.

I would like to formally request permission to continue to

write an article on the invention of package toilet paper.
I feel that I have collected an adequate number of
resources to help me tell the little known story of
packaged toilet paper.

Sincerely,
Catherine Earley
 Annotated Bibliography

(1) About the SCOTT (R) Brand Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., 2005. Web. 8 Feb.
2010. <http://www.scottcommonsense.com/AboutScott.aspx>.
- This source give background information about the history of the Scott Brand
however it could be biased since it is information provided by the company’s website.
This information is relevant to my subject since it allows me to talk about the legacy of
the first successfully packaged toilet paper sold.

(2) Hughes, Walter T. "A Tribute to Toilet Paper." Reviews of Infectious Diseases 10.1
(1988): 218-22. JSTOR. Web. 8 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.jstor.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/stable/4454293?
seq=1&Search=yes&term=toilet&term=paper&term=tribute&list=hide&searchUri=
%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Da%2Btribute%2Bto%2Btoilet%2Bpaper
%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26wc
%3Don&item=1&ttl=734&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doB
asicResultsFromArticle>.
-This article provides information of the contribution of toilet paper to the world.
It also mentions the Scott Paper Company specifically. This article is out of the Reviews
of Infectious Diseases journal which makes it more credible and unbiased that
information taken from the company’s website. This is relevant to my topic because I
think I’m going to focus primarily on how the Scott brothers were able to successfully
promote toilet paper in such a conservative time and what impact it has had on the world.

(3) Robert C. Williams Paper Museum - FAQ Georgia Tech, 4 Jan. 2009. Web. 8 Feb.
2010. <http://www.ipst.gatech.edu/amp/general/museum_faq.htm>.
-This gives a brief look at the Scott Paper Company as well as a brief insight into
how the company first went about selling their product. Once again this is an unbiased
source from the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at Georgia Tech. This give me a little
more background into the selling of Scott Paper Company toilet paper when they first
began selling it in Philadelphia.

(4) The roll that changed history: Disposable toilet tissue story The Virtual Museum of
Toilet Paper, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. <http://www.kimberly-clark.com/pdfs/Toilet
%20Tissue%20on%20a%20Roll%20Evolution.pdf>.
-This gives a in depth breakdown of the Scott brothers’ ideas, business strategy
and evolution of the company to meet consumer’ needs throughout the years. However
this is also presented by Kimberly-Clark, which now owns the Scott Paper Company so I
have to be sure to keep in mind any bias. This is obviously related to my topic since it
gives insider information regarding the start up of the Scott Paper Company and their
successful distribution of toilet paper.

(5) Wheeler, Seth. “Improvements in wrapping paper.” Patent 117,355. 25 July 1871.
-This is the first patent for toilet paper as presented by the United States Patent
and Trademark Office, which is a credible unbiased source. I think this is good
background information to get myself acquainted with the state of toilet paper before the
Scott brothers were able to successfully sell packaged toilet paper to the public. I could
possibly use this information to set the scene for the Scott brothers’ accomplishment.

(6) Scott Paper Company International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Adele Hast.
Vol. 4. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. p329-331.
<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNa
me=psucic&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegme
nt=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&contentSet=GALE|
CX2840800115&&docId=GALE|CX2840800115&docType=GALE&role=>.
-This given an in depth history of the Scott Paper Company from an unbiased
source, International Directory of Company Histories, which provides me with more
information on how the Scott brothers began selling toilet paper. I can use this to show
why the Scott brothers efforts were successful.

(7) Scott Paper Company International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Tina Grant.
Vol. 31. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. p409-412.
<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNa
me=psucic&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegme
nt=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&contentSet=GALE|
CX2843500114&&docId=GALE|CX2843500114&docType=GALE&role=>.
-This is the same unbiased source as the last source. While it still provides me
with information regarding the background of the Scott Paper Company, it also provides
more about the legacy that it created up through its merge with the Kimberly-Clark
Corporation. This I can use towards the end of my article in order to leave the reader with
the importance of toilet paper.

(8) Tissue Paper Products Encyclopedia of Products & Industries - Manufacturing. Ed.
Patricia J. Bungert and Arsen J. Darnay. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2008. p967-975.
<http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupNa
me=psucic&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegme
nt=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=18&contentSet=GALE|
CX2831100115&&docId=GALE|CX2831100115&docType=GALE&role=>.
-This article gives a more general background of toilet paper and
gives facts as to its importance. It is from an unbiased Encyclopedia
and contains general information that I find to be good background
information to give myself a stronger understanding of the importance
and innovation behind toilet paper.