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Amherst couple's toilet paper collection earns feature on Smithsonian Channel
from: MassLive.com
by STAN FREEMAN
AMHERST - Woody Allen may have said it best: "Why this?"
A toilet paper collection (none of it used) compiled over more than three decades, with many of the sheets bearing the signatures of celebrities (including Woody's and his query), has landed Flo and Rich Newman on TV's Smithsonian Channel as a future segment in the "Stories from the Vaults" series.
The collection, nearly 900 unique sheets, includes toilet paper from every continent except Antarctica, multicolored toilet paper from Switzerland, toilet paper with printing on it from Germany, antique toilet paper made from hemp and even Martha Stewart's toilet paper.
But why toilet paper?
It was a reaction to their own creeping materialism, said Flo Newman, who with her husband, began the collection in 1978.
"Before this, we used to collect antiques, and when we'd go to someone's house, they'd have a pretty plate or something, and I would think, 'What's that worth?' We were always thinking in terms of monetary value, and we didn't want to think that way anymore. So we decided we wanted to collect something worthless," she said.
"We had friends going to Europe, and they said, 'What can we bring you back?' We said, 'How about a piece of toilet paper from France,'" Newman said.
And, thus it began.
The couple, who are songwriters and have a band, Tagyerit, have put photos of much of their collection online at tagyerit.com, naming it the Whole World Toilet Paper Museum.
"I have only one case on display in my house. The rest is hidden away in little storage containers," she said.
In the early years, friends would travel and dutifully bring back a sample, with its origins written on the sheet.
"At some point, though, it started getting over the top. Friends would get creative in what they brought us. One friend, who is an artist, drew a picture on the sheet of every toilet she went to. Then people started competing to see who could get the craziest piece. Three people have sent us toilet paper on their wedding days," she said.
Someone thought of getting famous people to contribute a signed piece of their own toilet paper, and many were more than willing - Madonna, David Lynch, Sharon Stone, JOAN JETT, Penny Marshall, Harrison Ford, Barbara Walters, among others.
There were the unexpected discoveries, though.
"A friend had to go shoot an ad at Martha Stewart's house. He had to use the bathroom, and he came back with a piece for us. It was one-ply. That was a big surprise," Newman said.
There were also unexpected dangers.
"I had a friend who went to Ireland in the days when they were having all the problems. She was getting ready to go on a ferry, and she decided to go to the bathroom to get a sheet of toilet paper for us. But she left her suitcase in the hall."
"The bomb squad came, and two big guys went into the bathroom wanting to know why she left the suitcase there. She couldn't just say, 'I was trying to get a piece of toilet paper for my friend,'" she said.
On July 15, a crew from the Smithsonian Channel spent five hours interviewing the couple for a future segment; the air date has not yet been determined.
However, the collection has never been about fame, nor has it been a serious undertaking, Newman said. Their philosophy has been more about humor and fun than anything else.
"That's our life - lived in jest."Ê
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