Abigail Martinez
Mr. Skipper
Encounters 7
March 5, 2023
Edward Irvin and Clarence Scott
Introduction
Back then when it was before the mid 1890s when there was no toilet paper to use, people would used to have to wipe with sponges on a stick, rocks, sticks, cloths, and other objects that would be very uncomfortable to wipe with but that was until the Scott brothers started producing toilet paper back in mid 1890 and it was a total hit, the soft clean hygienic way of wiping with the toilet paper. The reason why Scott brothers started wanting to start producing and selling toilet paper was because they wanted to make paper goods and sell paper goods and when toilet paper was being manufactured and the people liked it, and so the Scott brothers started to produce toilet paper and sell the toilet paper so people would buy it. So that’s only a brief explanation as to why they are the best selling toilet paper company but there is more to it than just that.
Early Life
On May 13, 1846 at Saratoga County, New York, Edward Irvin Scott was born, then on April 6, 1848 at Saratoga County, New York, Clarence Wood Scott was born. Their parents were Sophronia Wood Seymour and Capt. Alexander H. Scott and their siblings were, Thomas Seymour Scott, Myron Winfield Scott, Amanda Maria Scott and Cora Scott Waring (¨Edward Irvin Scott¨). Capt. Alexander Hamilton Scott was a justice for peace at the age of 21, he also studied trigonometry, and became a captain on 16 sept. 1822. (“Alexander Hamilton Scott”). Then Alexander and Sophronia married on December 19, 1838 and they had 6 children and for Sophronia there wasn’t any information about her working so she most likely stayed home to care and raise the kids. Clarence Wood Scott, Myron Winfield Scott, Amanda Maria Scott, and Cora Scott Waring there wasn’t any information to find about them. Then for Edward Irvin Scott was educated at Juliet Gardeners Select School in West Greenfield and At Robb’s Boy’s Academy at Saratoga Springs, New York then in 1866-67, he studied two terms at Albany State Normal School and became a school teacher (“Edward Irvin Scott”). Then Thomas Seymour and Edward Irvin Scott began selling butcher paper from pushcarts in 1867 they and they later had failed, so Edward Irvin Scott borrowed $2,000 from their father in law to start a new venture with his younger brother Clarence Wood Scott (“E. Irvin Scott”).(“Sophronia Wood Seymour“). Then their siblings Myron Winfield Scott, Amanda Maria
Beginning of Career
Then when the Scott brothers had first started their new business they had decided to call their new business the Scott Paper Company. At first the Scott brothers would usually just be selling paper bags, wrapping paper, and stationary to people. Then later on when the mid 1890’s came their toilet paper business was their nation’s leading manufacturer of toilet tissue. But because toilet paper was socially considered indecent back in those days, they did not want to sell the toilet paper they made with their name on the toilet paper that they sold so they decided to just sell their toilet paper product to a lot of other toilet paper companies and also drug stores so they would be re-named to be under the companies names that they sold the toilet paper to which would be multiple different brand names instead of under their own company’s name. So then later on when Edward’s son took an active position in the company he had argued and told them to start selling it under their own name because it was their best selling product so it should be sold under their own name instead of the other companies. So then later on in 1902 they finally started selling their toilet paper under their own brand name. (“E. Irvin Scott”).
Significant Accomplishments
So the first accomplishment of the Scott Paper Compay’s many accomplishments was that on June 2, 1874 Scott Paper Company Limited was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Then a final agreement was signed by the Scott brothers, Thomas Seymour, Edward Irvin, Clarence Wood Scott, and their cousins Thomas Seymour and Zerah Hoyt in 1879. Then the Scott Brothers were said to be one of the first people to put toilet paper on a roll in the mid 1890s during the Victorian era and to advertise and sell the toilet paper. Another one of their accomplishments was that in 1913 they had exceeded the $1 million mark for the first time of selling their toilet paper so then they started to start making the toilet paper to be under their name, Scott Toilet Tissue. They also changed the society as well because before they started advertising and selling their toilet paper and making it mentionable, it used to be considered that toilet paper would be unmentionable because of society back in the Victorian era because it used to be considered really indecent to even mention the word toilet paper, but now it’s able to be mentionable because of them advertising their toilet paper and how many people back then would buy their Scott Toilet Tissue product from them back in the Victorian Era. (“A LONG HISTORY OF FIRSTS”)
Impact on the World
That’s why the Scott Toilet Paper Company’s impact on the world was clearly a lot because now their company has officially stayed for more than 100 years now and then they finally made the 1 billion U.S. sales mark in 2006 so that’s how you know that they really made things easier for people because of how long it’s stayed around. That’s why the biggest reason why they made a huge impact on people from all over the world was that they made it way easier and way more comfortable to be able to wipe instead of having to use stuff like sponges on a stick, rocks, cloths, and even sticks to wipe because just imagine how it would feel and how it would be very painful and uncomfortable to use to wipe every day. That is why the Scott Toilet Paper Company is the best toilet paper company because of how they made things easier for humanity in general with their daily life and their comfort. If they had not been born or lived to make their company then right now we would have no toilet paper because there would’ve been nobody else to actually advertise it and sell it to people, so then people would’ve never known about it and would’ve never used it and we would be using sponges on a stick, rocks, sticks, cloths, and other uncomfortable and unhealthy objects to wipe with. (“A LONG HISTORY OF FIRSTS”)
Lessons Learned From Their Life
Depending on what they’ve done in their life, there’s a lot of stuff to write and learn from their ups and downs that were lessons about life. Because first when Edward and his brother Thomas, they failed from their first business but Edward didn’t stop just because of that, he still tried so then he tried doing another business but this time with his other brother Clarence. Their business was about selling paper goods like paper bags, wrapping paper, and stationary but even so, it still didn’t work out until they found out about toilet paper and started selling toilet paper. So that was a lesson about not giving up because no matter how many times you fail, eventually in the end you’ll succeed especially if you take the chance of doing something which will increase the chance of succeeding. That’s why they’re someone to look up to because they changed many lives and made things so much easier, and if you also keep trying to do what you want to do then eventually you’ll be able to achieve it and also possibly change even at least one person’s life no matter how small or big it is what you do.
Works Cited
“Alexander Hamilton Scott.” Geni, 2 Dec 2016,
www.geni.com/people/Capt-Alexander-H-Scott/6000000018022825058.
“A LONG HISTORY OF FIRSTS.” Scott Brand, 2021,
www.scottbrand.com/en-us/about-us/ourstory
Early, Catherine Thérèse. “The Greatest Missed Luxury.” Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Pennsylvania State U, Fall 2010, pabook2.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/TP.html.
¨Edward Irvin Scott.¨ Geni, 27 April 2022, www.geni.com/people/Edward-Irvin-Scott/6000000018022648642.
“E. Irvin Scott.” National Name Database, Soylent Communications, 2019,
www.nndb.com/people/881/000165386/E. Irvin Scott.
Harrel-Sesniak, Mary. “Clarence Scott.” Find a Grave, 21 April 2002, www.findagrave.com/memorial/6362022/clarence-scott.
“Sophronia Wood Scott.” Geni, 27 April 2022, www.geni.com/people/Sophronia-Wood-Seymour/6000000003021424302.
“The Scott Brothers and the Invention of Toilet Paper.” World History, 21 May 2017, worldhistory.us/american-history/the-scott-brothers-and-the-invention-of-toilet-paper.php.
“Vintage Advertising: Scott Toilet Paper Goes Negative.” The Saturday Evening Post, April 16, 2020, https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2020/04/vintage-advertising-scott-toilet-paper-goes-negative/.