This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is our American stories, and we tell stories about everything here on this show.

And our next story comes to us for a man who's simply known as the History Guy.

His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands of people of all ages on YouTube.

The History Guy is also heard here at our American Stories.

Here's the History Guy with the story of toilet paper.

For much of history in many societies, wiping was done with things that were commonly

available and disposable.

Grass, leaves, moss, straw, even snow.

And while in some ways it seems a pure-isle discussion, actually it tells us something about

culture.

For example, ancient Greeks used bits of pottery to scrape themselves clean, and there's evidence that they sometimes used ostracus.

Ostrasa were pieces of pottery that had a name inscribed on them, and it was part of a voting process on whether a person was so bad that they should be kicked out of a community, or ostracized.

And so if a Greek was using an ostracus for toilet purposes, in essence they were

wiping their bottom with their enemy's name. And reusing ostracus in that purpose tells us

something about the ancient Greek sense of humor, as well as the extent to which

they carried a grudge. The Romans used a tool called a xylospongium, which

was essentially a bit of a sponge on a stick. Wealthy Romans might have their own personal

zylosponsium, but for the most part they were communally used, paste in latrines, which might

accommodate 10 to 20 patrons at a time. The sponge would be rinsed in a mixture of water,

salt and vinegar. Sponges would

have been breeding grounds for bacteria, and some historians suggest they serve to spread

...