(Mental Floss) -- Since the dawn of time, people have found nifty ways to clean up after the bathroom act. The most common solution was simply to grab what was at hand: coconuts, shells, snow, moss, hay, leaves, grass, corncobs, sheep's wool -- and, later, thanks to the printing press -- newspapers, magazines, and pages of books. The average American uses 57 squares a day and 50 pounds of toilet paper per year. The ancient Greeks used clay and stone; the Romans, sponges and salt water. But the idea of a commercial product designed solely to wipe one's bum? That started about 150 years ago, right here in the U.S.A. In less than a century, Uncle Sam's marketing genius turned something disposable into something indispensable.
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Ancient Greeks used clay,stone; Romans, sponges and salt water as toilet paper
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U.S. man designs aloe-infused sheets of manila hemp  in 1857
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Johnny Carson joked about toilet paper shortage, people bought out stores
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U.S. buys $6 billion of toilet tissue annually -- more than any other nation
As time passed, toilet tissues slowly became an @placeholder staple.