Albany history on a roll
Because, obviously.
The modern world is... toilet paper patents going viral.
In 1891 Seth Wheeler of Albany was granted a patent for perforated toilet paper rolled onto a tube (that is, what we all know today to be toilet paper). Jess wrote about this a bunch of years ago here at AOA:
According to the US patent office, Wheeler patented what was then called perforated wrapping paper ("toilet" was a sensitive word in 1871). He patented the idea to have the product wrapped around a central tube in 1891, and is also often credited with patenting a bracket to hold those tubes.
Some people argue that Scott Paper Company invented the stuff before APW, but for the most part, Wheeler gets first credit. His company, Albany Perforated Wrapping Company, was founded in 1878 in a building on the northwest corner of Montgomery and Colonie Streets in Albany. That building was occupied by Albany Terminal Warehouse after the turn of the century.
Wheeler's patent app clearly demonstrates that the toilet paper should go "over" not "under" (as any right thinking person would acknowledge).
Well, the patent image surfaced this week -- maybe on Twitter -- and it is now, in the words of CNET, "all over Facebook" and all over the web.
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Comments
I've never been prouder of my hometown.
... said Jess on Mar 19, 2015 at 5:21 PM | link
"Wheeler's patent app clearly demonstrates that the toilet paper should go "over" not "under" (as any right thinking person would acknowledge)."
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No so fast! Although I prefer that orientation as well, a good and reliable source told me that the orientation of the drwaing is completely accidental. In fact, one of Wheeler's earlier drawings were turned upside down, when Wheeler realized that he didn't have enough toilet paper surface to write all of his "a" "b" "c" "d" etc. There was also some discussion that, when Wheeler was about to make the final decision on toilet paper orientation, he called the inventor of maps and asked him why the North Pole was on top, since inverting the map would essentially not change anything but the designation of North Pole now being South Pole. The inventor of maps agreed that, in space, up and down don't really matter, but if he put all of the European countries on top of the map, people would feel better. And the "over-the-top" notion of toilet paper orientation was born. I mean, history is amazing.
... said Joe A on Mar 20, 2015 at 10:03 AM | link
S Wheeler didn't have cats.
... said Tim on Mar 20, 2015 at 1:58 PM | link
Whether the orientation in this drawing is intentional or not, what we don't see is any other object... so we could be looking at the roll from the back for all we know.
... said Blergh on Mar 22, 2015 at 9:48 PM | link
Team Under for life.
... said acw on Mar 23, 2015 at 11:29 AM | link
That uneven perforations shown as "c,d,c" is the reason why, to this day, TP never tears along the perforation. I wish he had made that line a bit clearer.
... said Joe A on Mar 23, 2015 at 11:46 AM | link