Hollenbeck: Shrinkflation
Every time you go shopping, especially at the grocery store, what product costs more every time you need to purchase it? Every time. Nowadays that means “about everything”, but the one thing that gets higher and higher and soon to be out-of-reach (hope not) and direly needed in nearly every home, is none other than toilet paper. That is one thing your frugal parents or grandparents did not have to spend money on because it was not until the early 1900s when the indoor plumbing boom entered American lives, and few people, especially in rural America, experienced the luxury of indoor plumbing or bathrooms.
So, what was it like to not have indoor plumbing? A little building was erected outside, usually behind the house, called an “Outhouse.” You rarely see one of these today except at a remote camp ground, country church, or certain settlements, and the general public no longer has any concept about life before costly toilet paper. My parents put indoor plumbing in our little house in 1946; I was born in 1945, so I was the first in my family of six to live my entire life with that luxury, however a visit to my grandparents’ and most of my farm-family relatives let me experience outhouses. My husband’s family here on the ranch did not get indoor plumbing or electricity until 1951-52 when he was ten, so he has a good background in outhouse nostalgia. Many people who lived in rural communities had outhouses in their back yards through the 1950s, however, zoning regulations and restrictive covenants have stopped that ability in most urban areas.
So, what did folks use “BTP” (Before Toilet Paper)? Natural products such as soft corn cobs (if there was such a thing), leaves, old rags, but mostly paper…sheets torn from old catalogs, newspapers, mail, and any unwanted paper items. Because these types of wiping products would clog up traps and pipes in modern bathroom facilities, users were forced to switch to water-soluble tissue after adding indoor plumbing to their homes. But why is something so simple so expensive?
Most toilet paper is made either in the United States or China. It is made mostly from a blend of wood pulp which comes from softwood trees. Recycled paper is also de-inked, turned into pulp and blended with the wood pulp. Scott Paper Company began manufacturing and marketing toilet paper in 1890, but I doubt that anyone in rural America had heard of it. Northern Tissue Company refined the product as “splinter free” in the late 1930s. Softer two-ply toilet paper was introduced in Britain in 1942.
Just last week I ran across an empty toilet paper roll among some old craft supplies and was shocked at the difference in size compared to today’s rolls. Today’s rolls are much larger in circumference and approximately one inch narrower in length. Today’s toilet paper is the subject of “Shrinkflation,” whereby manufacturers have quietly reduced sheet counts, decreased roll height or made individual sheets thinner while keeping prices the same or higher. Another price factor is that most of that soft wood pulp used comes from Canada, so I think we can look forward to a large increase in price, regardless of “Shrinkflation.”
Today, people are concerned about the price of beef. Beef has indeed increased in price the past few years, but in comparison, the inflation cost of toilet paper is considerably higher than most other products, including beef. When you buy a pound of hamburger, you get a pound of hamburger and can prepare a nice meal for four with that pound. You can avoid buying beef which is your prerogative, but the only way to avoid buying toilet paper is to go back to using an outhouse, which is probably not an option. I will advise you to not try saving money by buying the cheap stuff or you will understand what “Shrinkflation” really means.
