|| 30 July 2017

Worst. Bathroom Tissue. Ever.

Remembering French Papier Hygiénique

The problem began because I was too polite. In the paper products aisle this elderly man in a motorized shopping cart was parked in front of the section with the brand of bathroom tissue I usually buy. He was dithering about what brand to buy. I waited patiently for about three minutes, but still he sat there studying the label. And I was in a hurry. So instead of asking him to move, I just grabbed a package of the brand to the left of my usual Northern.

At home I discovered that the bathroom tissue I had purchased was ultra thin — and incredibly non-absorbent. I was muttering “Worst. Bathroom Tissue. Ever.” when I remembered French bathroom tissue of the 1960s.

Oh, dear. That dingy brown, slick papier hygiénique. About as absorbent as waxed paper.

What puzzled me was how a country known for its beautiful, luxury products — Hermès scarves, Chanel dresses, Louis Vuitton bags — could have such a decidedly ugly, non-luxurious bathroom tissue? This in an era when bathroom tissue in the USA was thick and soft and fluffy and could be bought in beautiful pastel shades to match the decor of your bathroom — until it became painfully apparent that the dyes in that colored bathroom tissue were not good for us. Or for the environment.

So while I think this bathroom tissue I recently bought is a close runner-up, in my opinion, that French papier hygiénique of the 1960s was surely the Worst. Bathroom Tissue. Ever.

image: Roll of thin bathroom tissue topped by a yellow rubber ducky and draped around French soap, an Eiffel tower, and French facial spray and perfume

be chic, stay slim — Anne Barone

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