Hoarding purchases of toilet paper existed as early as 1973
News News blog
During the Corona crisis, there have been multiple hoarding purchases of toilet paper. But did you know that in 1973, people in the U.S. were already hoarding toilet paper, too - and without any pandemic at all? And the culprit was a joke....
Against the backdrop of the 1973 oil crisis and skyrocketing gasoline prices, viewers took the joke seriously and stormed the stores. And by noon the next day, all stocks were sold out.
But how did Johnny Carson get from the oil crisis and gasoline shortage to a toilet paper shortage in the first place?
Obviously, there had already been such a shortage in Japan in November 1973, which had been reported in newspapers. There were photos of angry Japanese people fighting over toilet rolls.
Then in early December, Harold Vernon Froehlich, the representative for Wisconsin in the House of Representatives, issued a press release stating "that the U.S. may be facing a toilet paper shortage in a few months."
The media seized on the issue and inflated the "possibility of a toilet paper shortage" to a certainty. The "Tonight Show" gag writers therefore took up the issue and wrote the joke for Johnny Carson.
However, Johnny Carson was blamed for the toilet paper shortage and he apologized to the audience with a correction that there was actually no shortage of toilet paper.
But it was no use, the panic had spread and people were still buying up toilet paper in stores everywhere and others were following their example. It was not until February 1974 that the whole spook was over.
