There was a cotton ball on the counter today - it was in a little bottle of pills. I wondered about its origin. Something so ubiquitous was invented, but when? As far back as 589 AD in China. Toilet paper was made in part of cotton or other plant fibres such as hemp.
We move to Europe for our next reference to cotton balls. They were used for applying gold leaf - the evidence is an artists' manual in 1801. The alternate tool recommended was a 'squirrel's tail'.
Then cotton balls were used for medical purposes by the late 1800s - that's where our reference starts. I got to thinking about how we frame the origins of something. It occurs to me that this is the underlying question: When were cotton balls mass produced? I realize that my thinking around invention involves the industrial revolution as the origin of things. I expect I am typical.
We know that cotton was one of the first mass consumer commodities - after sugar and tobacco. It was the textile revolution that fuelled the American economy - with the use of slave labour that caused the civil war.
The story of cotton ball industrialization comes later - in the 20th century. In 1937, Joseph A. Voss invented a machine that unravelled rolls of cotton and cut them at a fixed interval into cotton pads. That is what started widespread consumption for first aid, personal hygiene and cosmetics.
And today, cotton balls are not cotton anymore, mostly polyester or nylon. They still have the signature 'delicate crunch' - so soft and silky.
Can you imagine this use of cotton balls? There is a cotton ball diet. "In the cotton ball diet, those in search of a smaller waistline eat cotton balls soaked in juice to curb their appetite and dramatically cut their daily calorie intake. But eating cotton balls isn't just unappetizing. It's potentially deadly." -It causes intestinal obstructions or can become toxic in the stomach.
Our flower of the day is Bird of Paradise - a reliable winter bloomer for me in the conservatory greenhouse.
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