U is for Under or Over

It's been a busy day with a lot of brain taxing activities which have turned it to mush. So no Unusual posts today. Just a visit to the past when U was for Under or Over.

U is for Under or Over

or How does your toilet paper roll?

I've spoken about this issue before--how do you install a roll of toilet paper?  Do you put it on so it unrolls from the bottom or unrolls from the top? This seems to be an issue that generates much argument.

Google patents

Recently "new" data has surfaced* that some claim has important bearing on this under/over argument. The information comes from the original patent application for a roll of  perforated toilet paper by Seth Wheeler in 1891. The perforations were seen as an inexpensive way to help prevent the waste of paper. Before this, waste prevention was done by expensive holders that were awkward to use.

But it seems that no one these days is much interested in Wheeler's clever use of perforations to tear toilet paper. Everyone seems to be interested in the pictures that went with the patent. In those pictures, the paper is rolled from the top. The proponents of the over method say that this is definitive evidence that over is the correct way for a roll to flow.

However, the under proponents are holding fast to their beliefs. They are making arguments that the way the pictures were oriented was only to demonstrate the points of the invention and aren't necessarily an endorsement by Wheeler.

So the debate continues. Which side are you on ?


*Recently, I have seen this picture on several social media sites. This also happened last year at this time. Of course, it's not new data since it's been around since 1891.

U is for Under or Over

U is for Under or Over

or How does your toilet paper roll?

I've spoken about this issue before--how do you install a roll of toilet paper?  Do you put it on so it unrolls from the bottom or unrolls from the top? This seems to be an issue that generates much argument.

Google patents

Recently "new" data has surfaced* that some claim has important bearing on this under/over argument. The information comes from the original patent application for a roll of  perforated toilet paper by Seth Wheeler in 1891. The perforations were seen as an inexpensive way to help prevent the waste of paper. Before this, waste prevention was done by expensive holders that were awkward to use.

But it seems that no one these days is much interested in Wheeler's clever use of perforations to tear toilet paper. Everyone seems to be interested in the pictures that went with the patent. In those pictures, the paper is rolled from the top. The proponents of the over method say that this is definitive evidence that over is the correct way for a roll to flow.

However, the under proponents are holding fast to their beliefs. They are making arguments that the way the pictures were oriented was only to demonstrate the points of the invention and aren't necessarily an endorsement by Wheeler.

So the debate continues. Which side are you on ?


*Recently, I have seen this picture on several social media sites. This also happened last year at this time. Of course, it's not new data since it's been around since 1891.

Two posts do not make a trend, but if I keep this up, I may have one going. That is, a trend of posts about unimportant things that people care about. Yesterday was about pedicures and today is about toilet paper.

Over or Under

or How do you hang your toilet paper?

Does it matter to you how your toilet paper is hung? Does it matter whether it unrolls from the top or from the bottom? Apparently it does to many people. Advice columnist, Ann Landers, said the toilet paper debate was one her biggest topics over the years. I, on the other hand, never paid much attention to the way toilet paper was hung until I met Ward. After a couple of years of me and my willy-nilly ways of hanging, he asked if I could hang it so it would unroll from the top. That seemed like a small enough request, so I tried to comply. Eventually, I got the hang of it (pun attended) and over the top became my preferred way also. He gave several reasons of why over the top was the superior method--none of which I can remember now. However, I have learned that always having it hung the same way makes it easier to unroll it in the dark. No guessing if its over or under. We have passed this method onto Wally and Theo also.

So all was right with the world until this weekend when someone else was in the house and just happened to install a new roll in our guest bathroom. And guess what? They put it on so the tissue unrolled from the bottom! Oh no. What to do? I decided to sit back and watch what was going to happen next. Would we be able to use up this roll without changing it? Or would one of us not be able to help ourselves and fix it? Well, it took about eight hours until I noticed that it had been changed. I'm not sure who did it, but my bets are on the person who taught me the over the top method in the first place. And if the truth be told, I also felt a lot better when it was "fixed".

Do you have a preferred way of hanging your toilet paper?