Sweepstakes OFFICIAL ANSWERS

OFFICIAL ANSWERS FOR THE DISPOSABLE PRODUCT QUIZ

Answers 1-4 are taken from Susan Strasser, "Waste and Want: The Other Side of Consumption," in German Historical Institute, Annual Lecture Series No. 5 (Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1992). Answer 5 is taken from Susan Strasser, Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1999).

1. As late as 1900, there were no household products designed and marketed specifically for holding or disposing of garbage—no trash barrels, garbage cans, or wastepaper baskets.

a) True b) False

Answer: a) True- "People used whatever barrels or boxes were on hand instead of purchasing special receptacles to meet a special need." But they didn't have much garbage anyway,  because there were very few packaged goods or disposable products back then. Most people reused things instead of throwing them away.

2. When were paper cups first marketed?

a) the 1670s b) the 1770s c) the 1870s d) the 1970s e) none of the above

Answer: c) Paper cups were introduced "as part of a public health crusade on trains and in schools during the 1870s."

3. When were paper towels first marketed?

a) 1631 b) 1731 c) 1831 d) 1931 e) none of the above

Answer: d) "Paper towels were originally marketed for public restrooms and introduced for home use by the Scott Paper Company in 1931."

4. When were disposable razors first marketed?

a) 1603 b) 1703 c) 1803 d) 1903 e) none of the above

Answer: d) "The safety razor, first advertised in 1903, introduced the concept of the disposable part to the consumer: the razor blade, to be thrown away when dull, supplanted the straight razor, which could be resharpened hundreds of times. For its inventor, King Gillette, the disposable blade landed profits beyond those possible from a onetime purchase."

5. When were disposable menstruation pads first marketed?

a) 1520 b) 1620 c) 1720 d) 1820 e) none of the above

Answer: e) Although disposable pads had been marketed since the late 1800s, they were not a big commercial success until Kimberly-Clark introduced Kotex in 1920. This unique brand was fabricated from cellucotton, a material the company had developed for bandages during World War I. When the market for cellucotton disappeared after the war, Kimberly-Clark was left with warehouses full of the stuff and decided to invent a new product—Kotex— to get rid of it. Wallace Meyer, a copywriter from the Chicago firm of Charles F. Nichols, created advertisements for the product that successfully broke the taboo on public discussion of feminine hygiene.