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How One Albany Inventor Revolutionized Toilet Paper

By Natalie Moore

June 27, 2020

OK, this may not technically be “Made in Saratoga,” but this Capital Region patent is just too good (and timely) not to bring up. While toilet paper—one of the COVID-19 pandemic’s hottest commodities—was officially invented in 14th-century China, an inventor in Albany named Seth Wheeler was the first person to think of putting it on a roll, an invention that he patented in 1871.

That’s right: rolled toilet paper was invented in the Capital City. And that’s not all. Wheeler was also responsible for adding perforations to the paper, creating the toilet paper square, for which he nabbed a patent 20 years later.

Over the course of his lifetime, Wheeler, a Chatham native, would go on to receive more than 100 patents. Some might say he was on a roll.

Natalie Moore

Natalie Moore is the editor of Saratoga Living and Capital Region Living magazines. A native of Ballston Lake, she began her career as an editorial intern at Saratoga Living, and, essentially, never left. In addition to overseeing the creation of the print magazines, she is the main contributor to Saratoga Living After Hours, a Substack newsletter that covers the Spa City’s social scene. In an alternate reality, she is a professional pickleball player.