THE BLACK BOTTOM by John Semple What links the above photos? Readers my age will recall that the tissue paper from Outspan oranges was smoothed out and used as a luxury item in our outside toilets. Now that is going back. The use of an outside toilet is an anathema to today’s generation. To us it was the norm and it was usually shared by two or more households. They were freezing cold but always spotlessly clean and toilet paper usually consisted of newspaper torn into sheets approximately 6 inches by 6 inches and the sheets were held together by string pushed through a hole at the top and suspended from a nail in the wall. Newspaper, that had been used to hold a fish supper, was never utilised in our home. We were the posh ones. Thinking back it’s no wonder we had so many blockages with our facilities. Biodegradable, newspaper is not. It is said that this is where a dance called “The Black Bottom” got its name. Outspan Oranges sometimes came wrapped in white or orange tissue paper and this provided a bit of luxury, mainly for the woman folk. My wife remembers her Gran smoothing out the sheets in readiness for their new role, an early recycling activity no doubt. Amazing how a little thing like this could provide so much pleasure. It is interesting what causes me to remember things from my childhood. Today it was a report that workers on the Ferrybridge Power Station had gone on strike because of poor toilet facilities and the strike was led by a man holding up a roll of toilet paper complaining that he had to provide his own. He will get little sympathy from the generation brought up on newspaper wipes. Conditions at football grounds in Scotland were dire in the 1940s and 50s and when we gave a ticket to a young punter to see Scotland play Wales at Annfield it was not a surprise that he was over the moon with the ground and he stated that they even had toilet paper in the cludgie (toilet). Things have changed so much now where we even have different colours to match the colour scheme in our toilets and adverts with cute little puppies pulling out soft wipes are commonplace. I think I will send a copy of this to Andrex and suggest they design a soft roll printed with a newspaper design, they would go down a treat with all the over 65s who will remember the sheets doubling up as reading material. They could even have special issues with old headlines to commemorate remembrances such as the 1966 World Cup. Now that would be popular in Scotland, what a way to celebrate such an event.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 04:54:36 +0000
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