After a nice time in the living room you may be thinking about visiting the restroom because…well, let’s just say you want to. Toilets, restrooms, outhouses, toilet paper, outdoor plumbing and all the related paraphernalia is the next chapter of my “Behind the Iron Curtain” series.
1.Toilet paper.
Toilet paper was hard to find. If it was available you had to stand in line like the one on this picture and then it was probably limited to a certain number of rolls per person. A proud new owner of the precious TP would head home with a bunch of rolls hanging around their neck causing jealous reactions from the not so lucky bystanders. Of course that was not soft, quilted or baby skin toilet paper that American buttocks are so used to. It was more like your printer paper in a roll, maybe a little thinner but still required substantial calluses in certain places. And calluses we had: since the paper was not readily available everything served the purpose. It could be magazines, newspaper, stolen forms from work. I distinctly remember reading an obit for some communist party honcho in the paper before using it for its intended purpose, and the guy died in 1983. In more civilized houses the newspaper was pre-cut into squares, in others you had to rip it yourself. Outdoors people used leaves and whatever else was easy to reach, I myself once split an empty cigarette box with my buddy when nothing else was available.
Now with toilet paper in hand you are about to discover the facilities.
To be continued.
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Heather // Jan 7, 2008 at 12:23 am
I really could have gone my entire life not knowing what you used to wipe your ass with…
2 meesha.v // Jan 7, 2008 at 7:51 am
You read every word of it and you want more.
3 Midtown Miscreant // Jan 7, 2008 at 8:15 am
I cant wait to see how this one comes out.Pun intended.
4 Waldo Oiseau // Jan 7, 2008 at 12:39 pm
If you use colored newspaper, would it leave your tushy all colored up? (Although I’m guessing everything was only b/w.)
5 meesha.v // Jan 7, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Not everything was b&w but I never had an inclination to crawl up down there and look. must be a woman thing
BTW, I forgot to mention that glossy paper is pretty worthless for this purpose.
6 edward // Jan 11, 2008 at 2:03 am
Kind of seams like a big boy scout outing . . . use whatever is available for Hygiene and don’t bitch.
7 Behind The Iron Curtain: International Women’s Day // Mar 8, 2008 at 2:29 pm
[...] you think that all we did behind the iron curtain was standing in line to see dead people and trying to find an unused square of rough toilet paper you’d be wrong: we had holidays too. American holidays are all too predictable: Easter- eggs [...]
8 Behind The Iron Curtain - #1 and #2 // Mar 13, 2008 at 5:50 pm
[...] production notes: this will conclude my ground-breaking series on this subject. I received requests not to link self-respecting bloggers to posts [...]
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