Before Toilet Paper: Corn Cobs, Rope, and a Shared Sponge on a Stick

Before toilet paper, people used corn cobs, rope, broken pottery, and in some cases — a shared sponge on a stick in a room full of strangers. And the Romans considered themselves the height of civilization.In this episode of Hidden History with Aiden Thomas, we follow toilet paper from ancient improvisation through the Sears catalogs with holes punched in the corner (so they could hang on a nail near the latrine) — all the way to a 2020 pandemic that emptied store shelves overnight.700,000 sheets per person per year. And almost nobody knows where any of it came from.It wasn't just paper. It was the invention that defined modern dignity.Take a look around. History is everywhere.