The Unremarkable Toilet Paper Roll

History of toilet paper on a roll... Perforated rolls like what we use today were patented in 1871 by Zeth Wheeler. In 1890, Irvin and Clarence Scott of the Scott Paper Company of Philadelphia revolutionized toilet paper. They put toilet paper on a roll and began to individually package these rolls for sale in drugstores and pharmacies. Fortunately, Scott Paper Company’s timing coincided with the increased use of indoor plumbing and because the product was so popular, coining it as a health-promoting item made it more acceptable in the public’s eye. By touting Scott Tissue as a health-promoting product, the Scott Paper Company was able to find proper venues for their advertising efforts. From there, the company’s marketing efforts made Scott Tissue a common household name brand. They were able to add advertisements and articles promoting their product in health magazines as well as in drug stores and the health section of newspapers. The Scott brothers finally took full and proper credit for their invention in 1902. Other manufacturers then also became flush with the sale of toilet paper.

The Unremarkable Sugar Cube Exhibit

The Unremarkable Sugar Cube

In the early 1800s, sweetening your tea was a complicated affair. To the cone-shaped loaf of refined sugar you'd bought from your grocer, you'd take a sugar nipper—a pair of sharp-edged cast-iron pincers—to twist off a fist-sized chunk. If you were cooking, you’d then shave it down into powder, but for beverages, it was much easier—if not tidier—to simply dunk the chunk in your drink, let it dissolve to your taste, then fish it out and let dry for the next cup of tea. In the 1840s, progress was made when Juliana Rad, who was married to the head of a sugar refinery in Moravia, cut a finger while chopping sugar. She complained to her husband, perhaps while waving her bandaged hand: why not make units of sugar that would come perfectly sized for one cup of tea? Jakub Krystof Rad’s innovation was to use a press to make the cubes, and he soon presented a box of them to his wife. He patented this specialized press in 1843.

The Unremarkable Post-It Note

The idea for the Post-it note was conceived in 1974 by Arthur Fry as a way of holding bookmarks in his hymnal while singing in the church choir. He was aware of an adhesive accidentally developed in 1968 by fellow 3M employee Spencer Silver. No application for the lightly sticky stuff was apparent until Fry's idea. Fry decided to make 3M corporate headquarters his proving ground. Fry supplied the entire company with the new adhesive notes. Employees loved them.3M initially launched the product in four cities under the name Press 'n Peel with mixed results. Marketers decided to put the product directly into consumers’ hands. The massive sampling effort — known as the Boise Blitz because of its launch in Boise, Idaho — was a runaway success. Ninety percent of those who tried the product said they’d buy it. On April 6, Silver and Fry’s unsung hero debuted in US stores as Post-it® Notes. Its now iconic Canary Yellow color was chosen by happenstance — a lab next door only had scrap yellow paper on hand. Post-it® Notes are now available in many standard sizes, shapes and colors in more than 150 countries. Currently, there are more than 1,000 Post-it® Products. Having seen Post-it® Notes featured in films, mosaic pop art and the daily lives of millions, Silver is blown away. “The fact that they’ve just exploded as a product is more than I could ever hope for."

The Unremarkable Button Exhibit

The Museum of Unremarkable Objects "Button" Exhibit

Looking for Submissions

Have an idea? Want to contribute something for an exhibit? Keep in mind the building will be small...around 8x10...so exhibits should not take up too much space. The exhibits could hang on the wall or sit on a shelf, hang from the ceiling or sit on the floor. There will also be an outdoor display area. Exhibits should be of unremarkable items. Things we see and use everyday, but, seen in a whole new way.For instance...Sugar Cubes...but build something out of the sugar cubes. Got an idea? Let's hear it!

Unremarkable Buttons

The earliest known button, writes Ian McNeil in An Encyclopedia of the History of Technology, "was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found in the Indus Valley [now Pakistan]. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old." Early buttons like these usually consisted of a decorative flat face that fit into a loop. Buttons appeared as a means to close cuffs in Eastern Roman, and Byzantine empires, and to fasten the necks of Egyptian tunics, no later than the 5th century AD. Functional buttons with reinforced buttonholes for fastening or closing clothes appeared in Germany in the 13th century. Ornate buttoning among the wealthy required some help. During the Renaissance era in Europe is when buttons migrated to different sides of a shirt for men and women. Men usually donned their own shirts, so their buttons faced right for their convenience. Women with ladies’ maids wore their buttons on the left, to make it easier for the maids to maneuver while facing them. The Industrial Revolution helped popularize and democratize buttons. Once they became cheap enough to produce en masse, buttons by the hundreds lined most kinds of tight-fitting clothing, including shoes. More buttons, closely spaced, gave the wearer the tightest fit. Buttons have proven to be firmly fastened to the fabric of human society – at least the past five thousand years of it. Even with the development of zippers, poppers and Velcro, buttons are still the fastening of choice for people the world over.