Julie I. Horan opens her recently published look at the history of the toilet by saying, "Toilet-philes argue that civilization began not with the advent of written language but with the first toilet." The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet explores the history of the toilet and the customs and manners that surround it. Starting at the third millennium B.C. Horan escorts the reader down through time to the modern day challenges of disposing of solid waste aboard a shuttle in space at a cost of 23.4 million dollars.
The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and the Water-Closet by Lawrence Wright
Who would have thought there was so much to learn about toilets and bathroom culture? This is a great primer for those who wonder just how people did bathe and perform 'ablutions' before the days of indoor plumbing and water-trapped toilets for all (or at least those of us in western countries). Written in 1960, it assumes a bit more familiarity than most of us have with English-style boilers and toilets, and more knowledge of history than the average high school graduate would have today.
The following histories appeared over a period of about ten years in Plumbing and Mechanical Magazine, a trade magazine for plumbing, heating and piping contractors. The entire collection is reprinted on theplumber.com site at http://www.theplumber.com/H_index.html
For a detailed look at the History of London and Paris Sewers written by Mary Gayman, check out the following sites:
For those readers interested in such matters, the contributions THOMAS CRAPPER made to modern civilization whether true or not are immortalized in Wallace Reyburn's book, FLUSHED WITH PRIDE, The Story of Thomas Crapper.
Thomas Crapper's name is inevitably linked with the toilet. "T. Crapper Brass & Co., Ld." was emblazoned on toilets all over England. It was the American soldiers stationed in England during World War I who returned to the US using his name as a euphemism for the toilet.
Crapper died in 1910 at the age of 73, although his company lived on until 1966 -- 105 years in business. (However, the company has been resurrected and is again alive and well (see below).
Out-of-print for a number of years, this book is available in limited supply at
Amazon Books
Never have so many owed so much to one almost-forgotten inventor, by: William Ecenbarger of Purdue University.
... Thomas Crapper has been robbed of his good name. He has become the butt of jokes. His achievement has been lost in the lore of Latrinalia. The end result is that Thomas Crapper, the man who did more than any other to clear the air of the Western world, is in danger of being forgotten. His place in posterity hangs by the barest of threads.
History is in arrears on this matter of Thomas Crapper. It is time to get to the bottom of this great historic slight and make Thomas Crapper a household name as he deserves. Consider, first, the magnitude of his achievement.
The flush toilet, or water closet, as it is called in Crapper’s homeland, changed the course of history by allowing society to live with itself. It is more than valves and arms and floats that hiss and gurgle; the flush toilet is the very symbol of modern civilization. It has done more for public health than all the doctors since Hippocrates. Life without the water closet is, for most of us, a horror beyond imagination, so unspeakable and unacceptable that we cannot conjure up the prospect. For the rest of the story >>
~~ An Invitation to Visit Thomas Crapper & Co. ~~
For an up-to-the-minute accounting of the Thos. Crapper & Co. by Simon Kirby, Managing Director, Thos. Crapper & Co. please read his e-mail to Toiletology 101 complete with photos explaining that after an hiatus of twenty nine years, Thomas Crapper & Co. is back in business at Stratford-upon-Avon in England. Mr. Kirby says, "We have our own private 'museum' of rare, antique sanitaryware here at our base near Stratford-upon-Avon; we are always happy to show visitors around."
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Information provided in these documents is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind,
either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose.
