Outhouse

Boy, have we come a looooong way from “back in the day”.  Since all of us take our modern conveniences for granted, I think we should take a moment to reflect on how things used to be. Believe it or not, many moons ago, there was a time when the height or color of a toilet, or the gallons used per flush, was not a concern.  Actually, our ancestors were much “greener” than we are today.  Until very recently, our unfortunate relatives from long ago used ZERO gallons with each flush.   There was also not much else falling down those fabulous holes, until the Sears catalogs started being published.  Ask your grandparents, toilet paper was expensive. 

Toilet with elevated cistern

During the Roman Empire, apparantly people were not embarrassed or ashamed of anything.  They liked to sit on their stone thrones, and then they liked to bathe together.  The medievel times were a little better with respect to privacy, but far worse with respect to hygiene.  During the dark ages, they would enjoy a nice private stall, but unfortunately this was done from an elevated position and a “free fall” was part of the process.  This may have served a purpose.  The “pile” eventually must be moved, and this setup would make that easier.  The Romans solved this by placing thier toilet camps over rivers.  This was a brilliant idea, but it was not such a great thing for the people living downstream.  The term “downriver” was around much earlier than Detroit. 

Chamber Pot

Now, if you thought all of that was bad, I have not yet mentioned quite possibly the worst period of time to have to relieve yourself.  The chamber pot was the receptical of choice once we moved out of castles and away from rivers.  Actually, the chamber pot probably wasn’t too bad for the user, it was the poor unsuspecting fellows outside that suffered.  The chamber pot was kept under the bed, primaraly used at night.  It was typical to just throw the contents out of the windows either that night or the next morning.  This is where the custom came to be that the man should always walk closest to the street, and the woman walk close to the building.  In those days, most windows hung out away from the building slightly.  The woman would be safer from a dousing close to the building.  Think about that guys, next time you don’t want to open the car door for a woman.  At least you don’t have to walk street side to protect her from the unthinkable.

Thomas Crapper is credited with improving the design of the modern toilet.  Among his patents, is the floating ballcock.  This is the device in your tank that stops the water from filling once the water gets to a certain level.  Pictured at left is a Japanese “ultra modern toilet”.  I am not sure how it works, where you sit or what you do.  One can only wonder if Crapper would be impressed or disappointed with such a design.  Also, if you are thinking that this may interest you, I will need your car as a down payment, and then we will talk.

If you havn’t used a public restroom toilet in more than 10 years, this is for you. 

Best Wishes!