antique bathrooms designs

it is a truth universally acknowledged, thateverybody in history pooped. in ancient times, the romans built publicunderground sewer systems, which not only carried waste, but also drinking water, so it paid to be up stream. the romans used large, divider-free publicrestrooms - some with up to 50 toilets. many people read prayers and protection spellsto keep them safe from demons, rats biting their bums, or open flames that could flareup from methane pockets.

in the middle ages, where you pooped largelydepended on your class. lower class people pooped in chamber pots - aka jerry, guzunder,a po, thunder pot… if you were really poor, a bucket. in medieval london it was illegal to emptythese out the window (not that that stopped many people). most people carried their fullchamber pots to a nearby stream or river and emptied it there. larger houses had attached latrines whichdrained into cess-pits which were emptied by men called “gongfermours” or “gongfarmers.” who would then carry the waste to the streams and rivers. the gong farmersof london would end their shift bathing in

the river thames, which was probably onlyslightly cleaner than themselves - at least they were well-paid. for the top of the pooping-ladder, castlesfeatured rooms called garderobes, which had literally a seat with a hole to the outsidecut into it. poop would drop right into the castle moat. when the tide was low, it wouldpile up above the water until it was flushed away into the river. which was also drinking water. the word garderobe is french for wardrobe.people would hang their clothes in these rooms, as the fleas and moths didn’t like the smell.

there was a job called “the groom of theking’s stool,” whose job was to wipe the king’s bum when he was finished pooping.naturally, this was a job of honor and only princes or boys of royalty were allowed todo it. with all this poop being throw around, youcan imagine the smell literally everywhere. if you can’t, think about this, archaeologistshave found medieval poop and it still stinks to this day. this past year they even foundseveral 700 year old barrels unearthed in denmark in the werner’s square. boy, dowe stink brandon. finally, in 1596, a man named john harrington,who was actually an english poet, invented a flushing toilet for queen elizabeth thefirst. but it was so loud it scared her from

using it. it did, however, become popularto call this new invention after it’s creator, john. by the 1850s over 400,000 tonnes of sewagewere flushed into the river thames each day - around 150 million tonnes of poo a year. eventually, in the 1880’s, a man came alongwho invented the ballcock and many other patents, which helped silence the scary flushing toilet,leading to its widespread adoption… his name? thomas crapper. fun fact:

the us navy has developed a way to vaporizeon their vessels. the technology has been installed on their newest aircraft carrierthe gerald ford aircarft carrier because he was a real stinky president.

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