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[[Image:407350408 Newsprint.jpg|thumb|The "over" orientation]]
[[Image:407350408 Newsprint.jpg|thumb|The "over" orientation]]
[[Image:2235714275 Toilet paper.jpg|thumb|The "under" orientation]]
[[Image:2235714275 Toilet paper.jpg|thumb|The "under" orientation]]

Revision as of 23:40, 12 July 2010

The "over" orientation
The "under" orientation

There are two choices of toilet paper orientation when using a toilet roll holder with a horizontal axle parallel to the wall: the toilet paper may hang over or under the roll. The choice is largely a matter of personal preference, dictated by habit. In surveys of American consumers and of bath and kitchen specialists, 60-70% of respondents prefer over.[1]

What surprises some observers, including advice columnist Ann Landers, is the extent to which people hold strong opinions on such a trivial topic. Defenders of either position cite advantages ranging from aesthetics, hospitality, and cleanliness; to paper conservation and the ease of detaching individual squares. Celebrities and experts are found on both sides. Theories abound of what one's choice might say of a person: possibly it indicates age, or gender, or socioeconomic status, or political philosophy; possibly it offers insights into personality traits such as dependability and flexibility; possibly it correlates with ownership of a recreational vehicle or a cat.[2]

Solutions range from compromise, to using separate dispensers or separate bathrooms entirely. One famed enthusiast advocates a plan under which his country will standardize on a single forced orientation, and at least one inventor hopes to heal the rift by popularizing a new kind of toilet roll holder: a mechanism that can swivel from one orientation to the other.[3]

Motivations for study

In the article Bathroom Politics: Introducing Students to Sociological Thinking from the Bottom Up,[4] sociology professor Edgar Alan Burns describes some reasons why toilet paper politics is worthy of examination. On the first day of Burns' introductory course in sociology, he asks his students, "Which way do you think a roll of toilet paper should hang?"[5] In the following fifty minutes, the students examine why they picked their answers, exploring the social construction of "rules and practices which they have never consciously thought about before".[6] They make connections to larger themes of sociology, including gender roles, the public and private spheres, race and ethnicity, social class, and age. Moreover, Burns argues that there is an additional lesson:

Sociologists are often concerned that their discipline is seen merely as an elaboration of the trivial or the obvious. Therefore, the theoretical point illustrated through the paper-hanging exercise is not that small-scale realities are the opposite of big picture sociology, but rather that the big picture does not exist separately "out there." Minor details and "taken for granted" rules and beliefs are the built-in meta-narratives of society, and this is what makes them so powerful.[6]

Burns' activity has been adopted by a social psychology course at the University of Notre Dame, where it is used to illustrate the principles of Berger and Luckmann's 1966 classic The Social Construction of Reality.[7] Similar everyday topics that have been used to awaken the sociological imagination include games of tic-tac-toe, violations of personal space, the rules of walking, and the etiquette by which men choose urinals in public restrooms.[8]

Christopher Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, classifies the choice of toilet paper orientation under "tastes, preferences, and interests" as opposed to either values or "attitudes, traits, norms, and needs". Other personal interests include one's favorite cola or baseball team. Interests are an important part of identity; one expects and prefers that different people have different interests, which serves one's "sense of uniqueness". Differences in interests usually lead at most to teasing and gentle chiding. For most people, interests don't cause the serious divisions caused by conflicts of values; a possible exception is what Peterson calls "the 'get a life' folks among us" who elevate interests into moral issues.[9]

In his book Conversational Capital, Bertrand Cesvet gives toilet paper placement as an example of ritualized behavior—one of the ways designers and marketers can create a memorable experience around a product that leads to word-of-mouth momentum. Cesvet's other examples include shaking a box of Tic Tacs and dissecting Oreo cookies.[10]

Sometimes toilet paper is simply entertaining. In between songs at a concert, John Hiatt will sometimes tell the tale of his wife switching her preference.[11][12] Broadcaster Jim Bohannon, who once spent an hour on toilet paper orientation, explains that such issues are good for talk radio: "It is an interactive medium, a certain kind of clash, it doesn't have to be a violent clash, but at least a disagreement would certainly be at the top of the list. It has to be something that's of general interest."[13] There is a difficulty in the medium of television: on the major American networks NBC and CBS, as of 1987, toilet paper was not allowed to be shown hanging next to the toilet.[14]

The Courier-Mail's manners column notes that people judge each other by the presentation of their bathrooms: "So having your toilet paper the wrong way around could indeed cause you to be banished from polite society."[15]

Preliminaries

As Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres write in their 2006 book Why Not?, the debate over toilet paper is a debate about symmetry. By taking an approximately symmetric situation and flipping it around, one can sometimes arrive at a new solution to a problem with its own surprising advantages. Other physical examples include peeling a banana from its apex rather than its stem, or steering a car from the rear rather than the front.[16]

There is a reflection symmetry between the left and right sides of the roll, so whether it rotates clockwise or anticlockwise is ambiguous; it depends on one's point of view.[17] The up/down and front/back symmetries are broken by the force of gravity and the locations of the wall and the user, so one can distinguish bewteen two orientations:

  • Over: the end hangs away from the wall and dispenses over the top of the roll when pulled.
  • Under: the end hangs next to the wall and dispenses under the bottom of the roll.

This nomenclature can also be read ambiguously. In 1991, a customer wrote to Herb Kelleher, chairman of Southwest Airlines, with an unusual complaint: "Dear Herb:...Last week in my journey to SFO someone put the toilet paper in wrong. Any damn fool knows the papers come out the bottom of the roll and not over the top. I couldn't figure out how to correct the error..."[18] Kelleher replied, copying his senior management committee, general counsel, and customer relations manager: "Dear Jim: What the hell were you doing upside down in our lavatory?"[18][19]

Arguments

Folded and sealed toilet paper with cover, Hotel Monasterio 2009
Paper mounted under with upside-down images and text

The main reasons given by people to explain why they hang their toilet paper a given way are ease of grabbing and habit.[20] Some particular advantages cited for each orientation include:

  • Over reduces the risk of accidentally brushing the wall or cabinet with one's knuckles, potentially transferring grime and germs.[21][22][23]
  • Over makes it easier to visually locate and to grasp the loose end.[21][24]
  • Over gives hotels, cruise ships, and homeowners with guest bathrooms, the option to fold over the last sheet to show that the room has been cleaned. See hotel toilet-paper folding.[25][26][27][22]
  • Over is generally the intended direction of viewing for the manufacturer's branding, so patterned toilet paper looks better this way.[28][22][29][23]
  • Under provides a tidier appearance, in that the loose end can be more hidden from view.[30][23]
  • Under reduces the risk that a toddler or a house pet, such as a dog or cat, will completely unroll the toilet paper when batting at the roll.[31][22][32]
  • Under in a recreational vehicle may reduce unrolling during driving.[33]

Partisans have claimed that each method makes it easier to tear the toilet paper on a perforated sheet boundary, depending on the direction of pulling and the use of a second hand to stabilize the roll.[21][34][35] (A traveller from the U.S. to China in 1991 noted a different setup: non-perforated paper with a metal cutter above the roll, which obligates the over direction.)[36]

It is unclear if one orientation is more economical than the other. The Centralian Advocate attributes a claim that over saves on paper usage to Planet Green.[37] A reader of The Orange County Register found a "six month study" by a "university in the US" that came to the same conclusion.[38] But a reader of the Cape Argus wrote that a "British loo paper manufacturer" came to the opposite conclusion.[39]

Survey results

The question "Do you prefer that your toilet tissue unwinds over or under the spool?" is featured on the cover of Barry Sinrod and Mel Poretz's 1989 book The First Really Important Survey of American Habits. The overall result: 68% chose over.[40] Sinrod explained, "To me, the essence of the book is the toilet paper question... Either people don't care, or they care so much that they practically cause bodily injury to one another."[41] Poretz observed, "The toilet-paper question galvanizes people almost like the Miller Lite tastes-great/less-filling commercial."[42]

In Bernice Kanner's 1995 book Are You Normal?, 53% of survey respondents prefer over, while "a fourth" prefer under and 8% don't know or care.[43]

Sitting Pretty: The History of the Toilet, a travelling exhibition that tours Canadian museums, asks visitors to register their preferred roll direction. When the exhibition reached Huntsville, Ontario, in June 2001, 13,000 visitors had taken the survey, with 67% preferring over.[44] At the Saint Boniface Museum in Winnipeg in February 2005, a voting machine registered 5,831 over versus 5,679 under, or 51% over. Saint Boniface's director noted, "I think there's been some cheating, though."[45]

Georgia-Pacific commissioned a survey of Americans' bathroom habits in 1993 to launch its new Quilted Northern brand, and more surveys followed:[46]

  • 1993 Practices and Preferences of Toilet Paper Users: 73% over out of 1,200 respondents[47]
  • 1994 Toilet Paper Report: 59% over,[48] out of 1,000 respondents; conducted by KRC Research and Consulting[49]
  • 1995 Bathroom Tissue Report: 59% over versus 29% under[50], out of 1,000 respondents; conducted by KRC Research and Consulting[48]
  • 2001 Bathroom Confidential: 63% over out of 1,001 respondents; conducted by Impulse Research[51]
  • 2004 Bathroom Confidential: 72% over[52][53]

In 1993, American Standard Brands conducted a poll of "designers, contractors, dealers, distributors and other bath and kitchen reps"[54] at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The question: "What is the correct and only way to hang the toilet paper - under or over?"[55] Over won 59% of the vote, 1,826 to 1,256.[54] American Standard spokeswoman Nora Monroe observed, "The bathroom is a territorial place. You'd be surprised how many people have definite opinions on this issue."[56] In 2008, American Standard commissioned the 2008 Bathroom Habits Survey, a more traditional format conducted by Opinion Research Corporation with 1,001 respondents. This time, "three-quarters" answered over.[57]

In 1995, a survey by Scott Paper Company's "Cottonelle College of Freshness Knowledge" had "most Americans over 50" preferring over.[58] In another Cottonelle survey in 1999, 68% of respondents preferred over to 25% under. Columnist Bonnie Henry hypothesizes of the others: "Meanwhile, 7 percent - no doubt bored beyond belief at this point by the inane questioning - had slipped into a deep, irreversible coma."[59]

On January 27, 2010, the one hundredth anniversary of Thomas Crapper's death,[20] Cottonelle launched a "Great Debate" advertising campaign, inviting American consumers to vote their preference at CottonelleRollPoll.com. The result was announced during the 82nd Academy Awards: 72% had voted over.[21] In a more traditional preliminary survey of 1000 Americans, Cottonelle found that "overs" are more likely than "unders" to notice a roll's direction (74%), to be annoyed when the direction is incorrect (24%), and to have flipped the direction at a friend's home (27%).[60]

Themes

Gender

A gender difference in preferences was suggested by the American Standard conference poll: "Many men voted for over, saying it made the paper easier to reach."[56] Inventor Curtis Batts arrives at a different conclusion from his personal experience: "Women like it over, and men like it under. I think it bugs women when it touches the wall."[61] Advice columnist Ms Maud of The Press asserts that women prefer over because they are "logical thinkers".[62]

A Cottonelle survey indicated that men were more likely than women to notice, and become annoyed with, a toilet roll hung against their preference.[63]

A popular-culture occurrence of a gender theory is found in the Weekly World News, a supermarket tabloid that runs outlandish stories for comedic effect. In the 2003 story North Korea Shocker!, the WWN claims that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is secretly female. As supporting evidence, Kim supposedly watches the Home Shopping Network, is a member of Oprah's Book Club, and "Yells at staffers who leave the toilet seat up and hang toilet paper rolls outward instead of inward."[64] The story's subhead reads, "Dictator Kim Jong Il is a Woman",[64] although North Korean officials have argued that Kim is not, in fact, a dictator.[65]

Character

In his 2003 book 10 Steps to Sales Success, Tim Breithaupt proposes a set of four personality types evolving from Carl Jung's work: Socializer, Director, Thinker, and Relater. Breithaupt writes that toilet paper management is an important detail for Thinkers, while Directors don't care so long as the paper is available.[66] In her 2001 book Three Keys to Self-Understanding, Pat Wyman locates having an opinion on toilet paper hanging on the Enneagram of Personality, which classifies people as Ones, Twos, Threes, and so on: "Ones know the answer to such dilemmas."[67]

Gilda Carle, a therapist and Cottonelle consultant, offers her theories on character traits:

If you roll over, you like taking charge, crave organization and are likely to over-achieve.
If you roll under, you're laid-back, dependable and seek relationships with strong foundations.
If you don't care as long as it's there, you aim to minimize conflict, value flexibility and like putting yourself in new situations.[63]

David Grimes, a columnist, takes a more sarcastic attitude towards bathroom-informed personality tests:

If you are the kind of person who prefers the paper to roll over the top, then you are an outgoing, free-spending type who gets his kicks trying to sneak 11 items through the 10-items-or-less line at the grocery story; if you are the kind of person who prefers the paper to roll from the bottom, then you are a naturally suspicious sort who vacuums his house three times a day and thinks Jerry Springer is god.

Or perhaps the other way around.[68]

A reporter for the trade journal Fund Action relays a story of a mutual fund firm that profiled job candidates with questions that would be analyzed by a psychologist. One of the questions was "Which way do you hang toilet paper? So it unrolls from the front or the back?". The story does not reveal the name of the firm or its preferred answer.[69]

Age, class, and politics

According to W. C. Privy's Original Bathroom Companion, Number 2, "By more than 4 to 1, older folks prefer to have their toilet paper dispense over the front."[70]

Sinrod observed of his survey, "60 percent of those who earn $50,000 or more prefer it to be over and 73 percent of those who earn less than $20,000 prefer under".[41] On what that proves: "I don't know, but it's sure interesting."[40]

In one local election in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, new voting machines were given a trial run by asking the question, "Are you in favor of toilet paper in all public washrooms being installed with the loose end coming up and over the front of the roll?" The answer was yes: 768 to 196, or 80% over. It was thought to be a question "which carried no political association".[71] Yet one teenager's science project at the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair, and a favorite of the fair's coordinator, was a survey concluding that liberals roll over while conservatives roll under.[72]

Solutions

Toilet paper orientation is often mentioned as a hurdle for married couples.[73][74] The issue may also arise in businesses and public places.[75][18] Even at the Amundsen-Scott research station at the South Pole, complaints have been raised over which way to install toilet paper. During the six-month winter, a few dozen residents are stuck living together, and while many of the headaches of modern life are far away, food and hygiene are not. Despite the hostile conditions, "It is in the more mundane trials of everyday life that personality clashes are revealed."[76]

Some of the proposed solutions to this problem involve more or better technology, while others concentrate on human behavior.

Mechanical

The Tilt-A-Roll is a swiveling toilet paper dispenser invented by Curtis Batts, a Dallas-native industrial engineer.[61] His patents on the invention published in 1996 and 1997, US 5588615  and US 5690302 , summarize its design:

An adjustable angle coupling secures the yoke to the mounting assembly and permits rotation of the yoke about an axis directed orthogonally through the spindle such that the paper roll can be oriented to unroll paper either from over or from under the roll as desired.

Batts explains that his parents argued over toilet paper placement "all the time", as do he and his wife; the device's motto is "Let Tilt-A-Roll save your marriage!"[61] The Tilt-A-Roll has been featured on a variety of newspapers, magazines, radio interviews, and TV shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[77] Batts entered the Tilt-A-Roll at the 1999 INPEX invention show, the world's largest invention show with 800 inventions,[78] and it won third place "for its appeal and simplicity".[79]

Batts started out constructing the devices in a workshop in his garage. He explains, "I've had a few sleepless nights where I went 24 hours making these things. I've got to find a manufacturer for it. I can't keep up with the volume."[61] As of 2000, Batts was still "in the process of selecting a distributor";[80] he has tried The Home Depot[77] and QVC.[81] As of 2008, the Tilt-A-Roll is on sale at Batt's website.[79]

An inventor named Rocky Hutson demonstrated a similar device he called the T.P. Swivel to the producers of the television program PitchMen in late 2009. Of 173 entrants gathered at Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, Hutson was one of the 20 chosen to pitch their products to Anthony Sullivan.[82] (As of July 2010, the second season of the show has yet to air.)

Twelve rolls in a mix of states

Another solution: install two toilet paper dispensers, as is more common in public restrooms and hotels.[83][84] A reader of the Annie's Mailbox column recommends using a holder large enough to fit two rolls, noting that the roll mounted over is more popular. Another reader sidesteps the issue by foregoing the holder, instead piling five or six rolls in a big wicker basket.[85] Even using separate bathrooms can help.[86][23]

George Baughman, an entrepreneur who sells lobster and moose-themed toilet paper to tourists in Maine, was inspired to think about toilet paper packaging by the over-under debate in his family. He therefore named his business "Roll-Rite Paper Products".[87][88]

Behavioral

A Grand Rapids, Michigan toilet paper enthusiast named Bill Jarrett argues that previous polls have been too small. He wants a national referendum with a least one million votes, with the result to decide a "national toilet paper hanging way" to be enforced by "the toilet paper police".[89] Jarrett refuses to reveal his own preference; he even removed the toilet paper from his house's bathrooms before inviting in an AP reporter for an interview. "I'm not saying because I don't want to influence the vote."[90] Voting requires the purchase of a $5 debate kit. His value proposition to the nation: assuming that one can spend half an hour per year searching for the end of the toilet paper, the United States should save 90 million hours at home per year—and $300 million at the workplace.[25]

Toilet paper orientation has been used rhetorically as the ultimate issue that government has no business dictating, in letters to the editor protesting the regulation of noise pollution[91] and stricter requirements to get a divorce.[92] In 2006, protesting New Hampshire's ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, representative Ralph Boehm (R-Litchfield) asked "Will we soon be told which direction the toilet paper must hang from the roll?"[93]

In a column in the Houston Chronicle, Jack Brewer observes that it only takes five seconds to turn the roll "the right way" around (over), which is much less than the time it takes to "start a fuss" with his wife.[94]

In a column in The Grand Rapids Press, Karin Orr relates her chance discovery that her husband and sister both turn the toilet paper around in others' houses—and in opposite directions. Orr writes, "You just can never really know another person."[95]

David O'Connor's 2005 book Henderson's House Rules: The Official Guide to Replacing the Toilet Paper and Other Domestic Topics of Great Dispute aims to solve disagreements with a minimum of debate or compromise by offering authoritative, reasonable rules. The "House Rule" for toilet paper is over and out, and a full page is dedicated to a diagram of this orientation. But O'Connor writes that "if a female household member has a strong preference for the toilet paper to hang over and in, against the wall, that preference prevails. It is admittedly an odd preference, but women use toilet paper far more often than men—hence the rule."[96][32]

Noted preferences

Advice columnist Ann Landers (Eppie Lederer) was once asked which way toilet paper should hang. She answered under, prompting thousands of letters in protest; she then recommended over, prompting thousands more.[84] She reflected that the 15,000 letters made toilet paper the most controversial issue in her column's 31-year history,[97] wondering, "With so many problems in the world, why were thousands of people making an issue of tissue?"[84]

In November 1986, Landers told the Canadian Commercial Travellers Association that "Fine-quality toilet paper has designs that are right side up" in the over position.[97] In 1996, she explained the issue on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where 68% of the studio audience favored over; Oprah suggested that under uses more paper.[98] In 1998, she wrote that the issue "seems destined to go on forever", insisting, "In spite of the fact that an overwhelming number of people prefer the roll hung so that the paper comes over the top, I still prefer to have the paper hanging close to the wall."[71] On the day of her last column in 2002, Landers wrote, "P.S. The toilet paper hangs over the top."[99] Her commentary on the issue has even continued after her death. 2005 saw the premiere of a one-woman play written by David Rambo: a character study of Ann Landers titled The Lady with All the Answers. Toilet paper comes up once again, and the actress surveys the audience for their opinions.[100][101]

Other noted opinions include the following:

Over
Ambivalent
  • Annie's Mailbox, advice column by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar: "If the toilet paper has a pattern, it should roll from the top over. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. Really. However you like it is just fine with us."[29]
  • Heloise, advice columnist: "Both ways. I try not to get obsessed about these things."[109]
  • Erik Seidel, brand director for Kimberly-Clark's Scott portfolio: "That's a key debate in my house. The 'under' looks cleaner and neater because you don't see it. The 'over' is more convenient."[30]
A toilet seat left up: not ready to be sat upon
Under
  • Ann Landers, advice columnist: "I'm very compulsive about it. The toilet paper needs to be hung down along the wall. I'll actually rearrange it myself if I'm over at someone's home and I see it hung over the top."[110]
  • Dean McDermott, actor: "Under just says Zen to me. When it rolls over, the toilet paper seems so aggressive. Calmly rolled under, it's symmetrical and orderly and there when I need it."[63]
  • Mel Poretz, author and marketing executive: "I'm an 'under' and thought we were in the majority by far. I never thought there were civilized people who put toilet paper over the top."[42] "...I married an under-the-roll girl. If not, we'd probably be divorced."[111]
  • Barry Sinrod, author and marketing executive: "I'm an under person, I don't know why."[41]
  • Gene Weingarten, journalist: "The main reason is aesthetic. It looks better. I will warrant that 80 to 85 percent of artists, architects and interior decorators have it spool out from below, with the overage hanging against the wall, not flappying down from the top into the middle of the room. I am so right. I am inarguably correct. I cannot even believe we are having this discussion."[34]

Besides orientation, toilet paper manufacturers and survey authors have studied other private practices around toilet paper: how much is used; whether it is torn off with one hand or two; whether it is torn off right-to-left or left-to-right; and whether it is crumpled or folded before use.[47]

Domestic strife can arise from many other situations where a household item, such as a tube of toothpaste, is left in the wrong state.[32] Some closely related examples:

  • Which way should a paper towel hang in the kitchen? When Ann Landers was asked this question in 1997, she replied, "I'm still trying to recover from the flak... I'm not giving any more advice on how to hang anything."[112]
  • Should a toilet seat be left up or down? This debate involves a stronger asymmetry between the sexes, as women rarely want the seat up.[49]
  • Should a twist tie be tightened clockwise or counterclockwise?[113] Since some store-bought products are pre-tied by machine, this question also pits consumer against engineer.[114]

There are other everyday objects that dispense a sheet of material from a roll: fax machines, cash registers, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and parchment paper. As argued by one columnist who believes in the importance of toilet paper orientation, "all have to exit in the correct direction or it doesn’t work, or you cut yourself, or both."[115]

References

  1. ^ This paragraph summarizes material in the body; details and citations are found below. For definitions of the choices, see #Preliminaries. Habit is discussed in #Arguments. See #Survey results for statistics.
  2. ^ This paragraph summarizes material in the body; details and citations are found below. For pros and cons, including RVs and cats, see #Arguments; for celebrities and experts, including Ann Landers, see #Noted preferences; for theories, see #Themes.
  3. ^ This paragraph summarizes material in the body; details and citations are found below. The enthusiast, Bill Jarrett, and the inventor, Curtis Batts, are described in #Solutions.
  4. ^ Burns, Edgar Alan (January 2003), "Bathroom Politics: Introducing Students to Sociological Thinking from the Bottom Up", Teaching Sociology, 31 (1): 110–118
  5. ^ Burns 2003 p.111
  6. ^ a b Burns 2003 p.113
  7. ^ Collett, Jessica (Spring 2008), "Class 4: Social Construction of Reality", Notre Dame OpenCourseWare, retrieved 12 July 2010
  8. ^ Paul, John (2006), ""Flushing" Out Sociology: Using the Urinal Game and other Bathroom Customs to Teach the Sociological Perspective" (PDF), Electronic Journal of Sociology, retrieved 11 July 2010 The previous topics are discussed in the section "Finding Sociology in everyday places: a review".
  9. ^ Peterson, Christopher (2006), A Primer in Positive Psychology, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Cesvet, Bertrand; Babinski, Tony; Alper, Eric (2008), Conversational Capital: How to Create Stuff People Love to Talk About, Pearson Education, p. 68, ISBN 0-13-714550-0
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  21. ^ a b c d "The Kimberly-Clark company cites three advantages for rolling over: perforation control, viewing advantage and wall avoidance." Ode, Kim (16 March 2010), "psst...", Star-Tribune, p. 1E, Factiva MSP0000020100322e63g0006s
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  23. ^ a b c d Jarski, Rosemarie; Jarski, Milena (2007), How to Do Everything!, Globe Pequot, p. 143, ISBN 978-1-84537-415-0
  24. ^ a b Elliott, Carson (11 June 2006), "The proper thing: Position places so that meat is closest to diner, unless dishes display pictures", Augusta Chronicle, p. G02, Factiva AGCR000020060809e26b00004
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  26. ^ "The Grand Princess cruise ship replaces its toilet paper with the leading edge over the front, so that it can be folded as is done in five-star hotels. (Yes, someone really did ask this question.)" Carpenter, Richard P. (28 March 1999), "It's swimming vs. snoozing", The Boston Globe, p. M4, Factiva bstngb0020010825dv3s00asy
  27. ^ Rosencrans, Joyce (7 November 1998), "To fold or not to fold/ guest-bathroom tissue", The Cincinatti Post, p. 1C, Factiva cinp000020010916dub700mw1
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  32. ^ a b c O'Connor, David (2 May 2005), Henderson's House Rules: The Official Guide to Replacing the Toilet Paper and Other Domestic Topics of Great Dispute, East Quincy Publishing, pp. 2, 3, 63, 64, ISBN 0976407809
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Further reading

  • "For Your Information", The News & Observer, p. C1, 4 October 1993, Factiva rnob000020011101dpa400p2p
    References "a Reader's Digest poll". Primary source unclear.
  • Brody, Ed (2002), Spinning Tales, Weaving Hope: Stories, Storytelling, and Activities for Peace, Justice and the Environment, New Society Publishers, p. 158
  • Cameron, W. Bruce (2004), How to Remodel a Man: Tips and Techniques on Accomplishing Something You Know Is Impossible But Want to Try Anyway, Macmillan, p. 185
  • Freeman, Kim (8 February 1986), "Vox Jox", Billboard, p. 16
    References a poll by Ric Hanson featured in USA Today.
  • Goodwin, Peter (1985), Physics can be fun: a sourcebook of practical problems, J. Weston Walch Pub., pp. 65–67
  • Grossvogel, David I. (1987), Dear Ann Landers: our intimate and changing dialogue with America's best-loved confidante, Contemporary Books, p. 257
  • Kelly, William Jude (1988), Models in process: a rhetoric and reader, Macmillan, p. 154
  • Kogan, Rick (2004), America's Mom: The Life, Lessons, and Legacy of Ann Landers, Thorndike Press, p. 224
  • Poretz, Mel; Sinrod, Barry (19 July 1989), The First Really Important Survey of American Habits, Price Stern Sloan, ISBN 084312735X
    Possibly contains more breakdowns of results by population segment.
  • Praeger, Dave (2007), Poop Culture: How America Is Shaped by Its Grossest National Product, Feral House, p. 72
  • Selby, David (1995), Earthkind: a teachers' handbook on humane education, Trentham Books, p. 367
  • Singular, Stephen (1987), Talked to death: the life and murder of Alan Berg‎, p. 305
    Mentions Bob Palmer of Denver's KCNC-TV doing a show on this topic.
  • Society of Automotive Engineers (2004), Reliability and robust design in automotive engineering, p. 412
    Presents a statistical test to determine gender differences in toilet paper orientation.
  • Trachtenberg, Robert (2005), When I Knew, HarperCollins, p. 69
  • Walker, Jearl (1977), The flying circus of physics: with answers, Wiley, pp. 32, 235
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