Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Before we start, we have some huge shout-outs today. First, a giant thank you to Emma, Teagan and Bradley, who wrote in wondering about the history of toothbrushes and who invented them. This one is for the three of you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, great question, guys. And we also want to say a big happy sixth birthday to Gabriella in Houston, Texas, who listens every day with her family. Happy birthday, Gabriella!
SPEAKER_00Happy birthday! Now Finn, what if I told you that one of the biggest toothbrush companies in the world was started by a man sitting in a dirty prison cell?
SPEAKER_01Wait, what? A prison cell?
SPEAKER_00Yep. Today, that company makes around 70 million toothbrushes every single year.
SPEAKER_01Whoa, 70 million? If you laid those end to end, they would stretch roughly one-third of the way around the world, just in toothbrushes.
SPEAKER_00Exactly! Today we are exploring the surprisingly long, slightly yucky, and completely fascinating story of how humans got the bright, clean smiles we have today.
SPEAKER_01We are going to travel from the hot deserts of ancient Egypt to a palace in China and all the way to a cold prison cell in London. I can't wait!
SPEAKER_00Let's travel back 7,000 years to ancient Egypt, around 5000 BC, and let's visit Babylon in 3500 BC. Toothbrushes didn't exist yet, and keeping your teeth clean was super important because their bread had lots of desert sand in it, which ground down their teeth. Ouch! So did their breath just smell terrible? Not quite. The Egyptians and the Babylonians chewed on special twigs called chew sticks or a miswak. They would take a twig from a fragrant tree and fray the ends with their teeth until it looked like a tiny bristly paintbrush to scrub away food.
SPEAKER_01Chewing on sticks? That sounds like you'd get a mouthful of splinters.
SPEAKER_00It actually worked pretty well. But the ancient Egyptians were also the first to invent a kind of toothpaste. And Finn, you're going to hate the recipe. It didn't come in a tube, it was a rough powder.
SPEAKER_01Oh no. Lay it on me. What was in it?
SPEAKER_00They crushed up the ashes of ox hooves, burnt eggshells, pumice stone, and water. Pumice is a super scratchy volcanic rock.
SPEAKER_01Ox hooves and volcanic rock? That sounds like it would scrape your teeth right out of your head.
SPEAKER_00It was very abrasive. But wait, fast forward to ancient Rome. The Romans really wanted their teeth to be super white. So they added crushed oyster shells and ground-up animal bones.
SPEAKER_01Okay, crushed bones is weird, but not terrible.
SPEAKER_00Well, they also sometimes added powdered mouse brains and human urine. Yes, pea. The ammonia in urine actually did whiten teeth, and they shipped it in large barrels just for washing clothes and cleaning teeth. Ew!
SPEAKER_01No way! Barrels of pea? I am never ever complaining about my mint toothpaste again. But when did they stop using sticks and pea and make a real toothbrush?
SPEAKER_00For that, we have to jump across the world to China, during the Ming dynasty, right around the year 1498.
SPEAKER_01That's over 500 years ago. Where exactly? Was it a farmer or a king who invented it?
SPEAKER_00It was during the reign of Emperor Hongji. Someone created a small handle carved out of a piece of bamboo or animal bone and attached stiff hairs to it to scrub their teeth. It was the world's first true bristle toothbrush.
SPEAKER_01That sounds basically like a normal toothbrush. But where did they get the hair from? Please tell me it wasn't a mouse brain.
SPEAKER_00Worse, maybe? They plucked coarse, stiff hairs from the back of a pig's neck. Specifically, they used pigs from Siberia and northern China, which are very cold climates, because the freezing weather made the pigs grow thicker and stiffer hair. A pig's neck?
SPEAKER_01I do not want to brush my teeth with freezing cold pig hair. Didn't it smell terrible?
SPEAKER_00They probably cleaned the hair first. These pig hair brushes were a huge hit, and eventually, sea traders brought them all the way to Europe in the 1600s. But they were imported luxury items, which meant they were super expensive. For a long time, only kings, queens, and very rich people could afford them. So what did everyone else do? Did they just let their teeth rot? Most regular people just wrapped a linen rag around their finger, dipped it in coarse salt or soot from a fireplace, and aggressively wiped their teeth. Fireplace soot? That's black ash. That would make your teeth look like coal. Exactly. It was a messy, dark, and not very effective system. But then, in the 1700s, one man changed everything, and he did it from behind the cold iron bars of a jail.
SPEAKER_01Wait, you mean the prison guy from the beginning? Who was he?
SPEAKER_00Yes. His name was William Addis. In the year 1770, he was arrested and thrown into a London prison. The history books say it was likely for starting a street riot.
SPEAKER_01So how do you invent a toothbrush in a dark, dirty 1700s jail?
SPEAKER_00Addis was watching a prison guard sweeping the stone floors with a large bristle broom. He looked at the broom, then thought about how people clean their teeth with salty rags, and he had a genius idea. What if I made a tiny broom just for my teeth?
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's smart. Like a micro broom. But he was locked up. He didn't have a workshop or tools.
SPEAKER_00He used what he had. After dinner one night, he saved a small leftover meat bone from his meal instead of throwing it away. He found a sharp piece of wire and spent hours boring dozens of tiny holes into the hard bone.
SPEAKER_01Okay, he has the handle. What about the bristles?
SPEAKER_00He actually sweet talked one of the prison guards into bringing him some stiff animal bristles. He tied the bristles into tiny tufts, pushed them through the holes he drilled, and sealed them tightly with glue.
SPEAKER_01He built a fully functioning toothbrush out of literal garbage.
SPEAKER_00And it worked beautifully. After Addis finally got out of prison, he founded his toothbrush company and began mass-producing his new invention in 1780. His company became massively successful. Suddenly, regular people across Europe could afford a real toothbrush.
SPEAKER_01That is an amazing turnaround. From eating prison food to becoming a toothbrush millionaire.
SPEAKER_00It really was an incredible business empire. In fact, his family kept running the business for over 200 years. But Finn, even with William Addis' brilliant invention, the world was still brushing with pig, cow and horse hair for another 160 years.
SPEAKER_01Seriously? I'm imagining a wet, soggy pig hairbrush. When did we finally stop using animal hair?
SPEAKER_00Not until 1938. A chemical company called DuPont had invented a brand new synthetic material called nylon in 1935. Then, a company called Wico Products released the Dr. West's Miracle Tough toothbrush using DuPont's material. It was the first brush to use nylon bristles instead of animal hair.
SPEAKER_01Thank goodness, synthetic bristles sound way cleaner. But what about the toothpaste? Was it still a weird powder made of burnt toast and shells?
SPEAKER_00Funny you ask. By the late 1800s, toothpaste was a smooth, minty cream. But it came in little glass jars. The entire family would dip their own toothbrush into the exact same jar every single morning.
SPEAKER_01Gross! Germ City! If my sister dipped her brush in my toothpaste jar, I'd freak out.
SPEAKER_00Everyone did. But in 1892, an American dentist named Dr. Washington Sheffield fixed that. His son Lucius had travelled to Paris and watched artists' painting. He saw them squeezing oil paint out of small collapsible metal tubes.
SPEAKER_01Oh, and they thought, let's put toothpaste in a metal tube instead of a jar.
SPEAKER_00Exactly! He invented the squeezy toothpaste tube, which was so much cleaner and meant everyone got their own fresh paste. Today, humans use billions of toothbrushes every year. All thanks to ancient chew sticks, a Ming Dynasty pig hairbrush, and a brilliant prisoner. Alright Finn, time for the quiz! Let's see how much you remember about the wild history of teeth. Are you ready? Okay, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_01I hope I don't get stumped.
SPEAKER_00First question. What weird ingredient did the ancient Romans use to whiten their teeth? Next one. In the year 1498, what animals' hair did the Chinese use for toothbrush bristles? Question three. Where was William Addis when he invented the modern toothbrush? Here's number four. What year did nylong bristles finally replace animal hair? Last question. What artist's tool inspired the very first squeezy toothpaste tube? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is human urine. Yes, they actually used pea to whiten their teeth. For question two, they used the stiff hairs from the back of a pig's neck. Number three, the answer is he was sitting in a London prison cell in 1770. Question four, nylon was invented in 1935 and first used in toothbrushes in the year 1938. And the final answer is oil paint tubes used by artists in Paris.
SPEAKER_01Wow, this episode really makes me appreciate my boring old plastic toothbrush and minty paste. I am never taking them for granted again.
SPEAKER_00Me too. I don't think I could ever go back to rubbing fireplace soot on my teeth with an old rag.
unknownHaha.
SPEAKER_01Or scrubbing them with ox hooves and pumice stones. My gums hurt just thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00Listeners, if you enjoyed learning about the slightly gross history of toothbrushes, please give us a five-star review. Just scroll down on your podcast app and tap the stars.
SPEAKER_01It helps the show grow and it makes us smile brighter than a brand new toothbrush.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and don't forget to check out our site kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and activities there to keep your brain as sharp as a boar's bristle.
SPEAKER_01And if you want a shout out on the show, or just want to say hi, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. We love hearing from you.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening, everyone. Keep rushing, and we'll see you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye.