Watch Johnny Carson joke about the toilet paper shortage

No, that isn't a deepfake. In 1973, the stock market crashed and an Arab oil embargo resulted in a gas crisis. With that as the context, the (false) rumor of a toilet paper shortage emerged from and spread like wildfire via news outlets and then was fueled by Johnny Carson (who later apologized). It's a fascinating story of shortage psychology and panic buying . From Priceonomics:

In November of 1973, several news agencies reported a tissue shortage in Japan. Initially, the release went unnoticed and nobody seemed to put much stock in it -- save for one Harold V. Froelich. Froelich, a 41-year-old Republican congressman, presided over a heavily-forested district in Wisconsin and had recently been receiving complaints from constituents about a reduced stream of pulp paper. On November 16th, he released his own press statement -- "The Government Printing Office is facing a serious shortage of paper" -- to little fanfare.

However, a few weeks later, Froelich uncovered a document that indicated the government's National Buying Center had fallen far short of securing bids to provide toilet paper for its troops and bureaucrats. On December 11, he issued another, more serious press release:"The U.S. may face a serious shortage of toilet paper within a few months...we hope we don't have to ration toilet tissue...a toilet paper shortage is no laughing matter. It is a problem that will potentially touch every American."

In the climate of shortages, oil scares, and economic duress, Froelich's claim was absorbed without an iota of doubt, and the media ran wild with it. Wire services, radio hosts, and international correspondents all sensationalized the story; words like "may" and "potentially" were lost in translation, and the shortage was reported as a doomed truth. Television stations aired footage from the Scott Paper Company -- one of the ten largest producers in the U.S. -- of toilet paper rolls shooting off the production line.

The ground had been set for a consumer panic; all it needed was a spark to ignite it. When Johnny Carson cracked a joke about toilet paper on his television talk show, things got serious.

(via r/ObscureMedia)