What sort of hair did William Addis use for the bristles in his first toothbrush?

In Europe, William Addis of England is believed to have produced the first mass produced toothbrush in 1780. In 1770, he had been jailed for causing a riot. While in prison he decided that using a rag with soot and salt on the teeth was ineffective and could be improved. After saving a small bone from a meal, he drilled small holes into the bone and tied into the bone tufts of bristles that he had obtained from one of the guards, passed the tufts of bristle through the holes in the bone and sealed the holes with glue.

After his release, he became wealthy after starting a business manufacturing toothbrushes. He died in 1808, bequeathing the business to his eldest son. It remained within family ownership until 1996. Under the name Wisdom Toothbrushes, the company now manufactures 70 million toothbrushes per year in the UK. By 1840 toothbrushes were being mass produced in England, France, Germany, and Japan. Pig bristles were used for cheaper toothbrushes and badger hair for the more expensive ones.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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18 Comments

Larry Miller III

Although I got it right, a lot of historical references note boar, badger and horse hair as first used. None reference human hair.

Linda Dodds

It was boar hair

weathernco

The first toothbrush was made in china using boar hairs in 1498

Janice Glass-Daniel

Disgusting fact but interesting.

gbluemoon

He asked a guard for hog bristle.Although I answered human human hair was not used.The author of this question assumed a guard gave him hair.William Addis could have used his own hair provided he was not totally bald.

Judy Moran

Why can't I find the mention of human hair in your explanation? How did you decide that human hair should be the correct answer? We would like to know. Thank you.

jcurdie

This is what I found from http://mikerendell.com/william-addis-and-the-story-of-the-modern-toothbrush/ once again lack of research and multiple answers and yet not one of them is lsted, so how can the submitter say any answer is wrong or right for that matter since the correct answer on many web sites does NOT mention human hair but in fact mention boars hair. The story goes that in 1780 our rag-maker William Addis was picked up in Spitalfields and thrown into Newgate prison for causing a riot. People from the East End did that sort of thing apparently. Anyway, he was bored, and a bit fed up of rubbing his teeth with an old rag and a spot of brick dust when he thought he would come up with a better solution: modern hygiene was just around the corner. We are led to believe that he saved a piece of bone found in his prison meal, drilled half a dozen small holes in one end, and, inspired at seeing a broom standing in the corner of his cell, decided to thread bristles though the holes (“Guard, be so good as to go and fetch me the bristles from a Siberian boar, there’s a good chap”). The bristles were then glued or wired into place.

john duckett

Like Frank I did some research and none of the options in the question were mentioned, but hog, or boar, was prevalent and also badger. Even in the quotation given I could find no specific mention of human hair, which one would imagine is far too soft anyway (more useful as a substitute for dental floss). So I agree with nearly all of the comments below. WRONG

Ross Shoemaker

Wrong, the correct answer is boars hair, stiff enough to do the job.

Gold Toy Box

"Addis had a eureka moment and as soon as he got out of jail he experimented with materials until he ended up with a serviceable brush, in all probability using horse hair."

Sharron Caputo

Just because he obtained "bristles" from a guard, we can't assume they were human hair. Frankly, I don't think human hair would be stiff enough to use as a toothbrush.