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We’ve all been in a situation when a bathroom experience would only be enhanced if there were realistic representations of supervillains trying to break through the wall and kill us. Probably daily. So rileyreplicas, a forum user at The PF, made one for a friend’s husband. The site is currently down, so I can make no guarantee about what you’ll find at the link. But you can also visit Geekologie to see more pictures. That’s a good idea, because this one photo doesn’t do justice to the extensive modifications to the entire bathroom.
Link -via Geekologie
This urinal video game allows you to control a slalom skier via *ahem* your stream, as you try to reach the finish line before you’re finished emptying your bladder. And while this might sound like fun after lifting a few pints, I can’t imagine it’s going to last long in the typical men’s bathroom, what with all the graffiti artists and *ahem* wetness everywhere.
Since the dawn of time, people have found nifty ways to clean up after the bathroom act. The most common solution was simply to grab what was at hand: coconuts, shells, snow, moss, hay, leaves, grass, corncobs, sheep’s wool—and, later, thanks to the printing press—newspapers, magazines, and pages of books. The ancient Greeks used clay and stone. The Romans, sponges and salt water. But the idea of a commercial product designed solely to wipe one’s bum? That started about 150 years ago, right here in the U.S.A. In less than a century, Uncle Sam’s marketing genius turned something disposable into something indispensable.
How Toilet Paper Got on a Roll
The first products designed specifically to wipe one’s nethers were aloe-infused sheets of manila hemp dispensed from Kleenex-like boxes. They were invented in 1857 by a New York entrepreneur named Joseph Gayetty, who claimed his sheets prevented hemorrhoids. Gayetty was so proud of his therapeutic bathroom paper that he had his name printed on each sheet. But his success was limited. Americans soon grew accustomed to wiping with the Sears Roebuck catalog, and they saw no need to spend money on something that came in the mail for free.
Toilet paper took its next leap forward in 1890, when two brothers named Clarence and E. Irvin Scott popularized the concept of toilet paper on a roll. The Scotts’ brand became more successful than Gayetty’s medicated wipes, in part because they built a steady trade selling toilet paper to hotels and drugstores. But it was still an uphill battle to get the public to openly buy the product, largely because Americans remained embarrassed by bodily functions. In fact, the Scott brothers were so ashamed of the nature of their work that they didn’t take proper credit for their innovation until 1902.
“No one wanted to ask for it by name,” says Dave Praeger, author of Poop Culture: How America Is Shaped by Its Grossest National Product. “It was so taboo that you couldn’t even talk about the product.” By 1930, the German paper company Hakle began using the tag line, “Ask for a roll of Hakle and you won’t have to say toilet paper!”
As time passed, toilet tissues slowly became an American staple. But widespread acceptance of the product didn’t officially occur until a new technology demanded it. At the end of the 19th century, more and more homes were being built with sit-down flush toilets tied to indoor plumbing systems. And because people required a product that could be flushed away with minimal damage to the pipes, corncobs and moss no longer cut it. In no time, toilet paper ads boasted that the product was recommended by both doctors and plumbers.
The Strength of Going Soft
In the early 1900s, toilet paper was still being marketed as a medicinal item. But in 1928, the Hoberg Paper Company tried a different tack. On the advice of its ad men, the company introduced a brand called Charmin and fitted the product with a feminine logo that depicted a beautiful woman. The genius of the campaign was that by evincing softness and femininity, the company could avoid talking about toilet paper’s actual purpose. Charmin was enormously successful, and the tactic helped the brand survive the Great Depression. (It also helped that, in 1932, Charmin began marketing economy-size packs of four rolls.) Decades later, the dainty ladies were replaced with babies and bear cubs—advertising vehicles that still stock the aisles today.
By the 1970s, America could no longer conceive of life without toilet paper. Case in point: In December 1973, Tonight Show host Johnny Carson joked about a toilet paper shortage during his opening monologue. But America didn’t laugh. Instead, TV watchers across the country ran out to their local grocery stores and bought up as much of the stuff as they could. In 1978, a TV Guide poll named Mr. Whipple—the affable grocer who implored customers, “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin”—the third best-known man in America, behind former President Richard Nixon and the Rev. Billy Graham.
Rolling the World
Currently, the United States spends more than $6 billion a year on toilet tissue—more than any other nation in the world. Americans, on average, use 57 squares a day and 50 lbs. a year. Even still, the toilet paper market in the United States has largely plateaued. The real growth in the industry is happening in developing countries. There, it’s booming. Toilet paper revenues in Brazil alone have more than doubled since 2004. The radical upswing in sales is believed to be driven by a combination of changing demographics, social expectations, and disposable income.
“The spread of globalization can kind of be measured by the spread of Western bathroom practices,” says Praeger. When average citizens in a country start buying toilet paper, wealth and consumerism have arrived. It signifies that people not only have extra cash to spend, but they’ve also come under the influence of Western marketing.
America Without Toilet Paper
Even as the markets boom in developing nations, toilet paper manufacturers find themselves needing to charge more per roll to make a profit. That’s because production costs are rising. During the past few years, pulp has become more expensive, energy costs are rising, and even water is becoming scarce. Toilet paper companies may need to keep hiking up their prices. The question is, if toilet paper becomes a luxury item, can Americans live without it?
The truth is that we did live without it, for a very long time. And even now, a lot of people do. In Japan, the Washlet—a toilet that comes equipped with a bidet and an air-blower—is growing increasingly popular. And all over the world, water remains one of the most common methods of self-cleaning. Many places in India, the Middle East, and Asia, for instance, still depend on a bucket and a spigot. But as our economy continues to circle the drain, will Americans part with their beloved toilet paper in order to adopt more money-saving measures? Or will we keep flushing our cash away? Praeger, for one, believes a toilet-paper apocalypse is hardly likely. After all, the American marketing machine is a powerful thing.
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The article above, written by Linda Rodriguez, is reprinted with permission from the Jul/Aug 2009 issue of mental_floss magazine.
Be sure to visit mental_floss‘ website and blog for more fun stuff!
Mosaic artist Katy Galbraith made this wonderful shower stall of hand-cut tiles with some broken ceramics. There are tile books perched on the sink as well! It turns out, you can enjoy this bathroom yourself, as it is part of a rental accommodation called the Galvelmore House Garden Flat in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland. An artful spot for a private getaway! Link -via TYWKIWDBI
(Image credit: Flickr user Katy Galbraith)
This picture shows a school restroom stall on which someone has written the entire first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Schools have much nicer restrooms now than when I was a student. Link -via The Daily What
Matthew Kitson spent a few months traveling around in South America and stumbled into the most perplexing bathroom quandary ever to face the traveling public: what to do with the toilet paper after you’ve done with it (or what to do if there’s no toilet paper to begin with!)
So he decided to make an aptly named website so you don’t ever have to ask "where do I put the paper":
Brazil
In common with most Latin American countries, the sewage system can’t cope with paper being flushed to use the bin provided. If you’re in the jungle or up the Amazon, take your paper with you and dispose of it somewhere hygienic, or burn it on the way. Brazilian public toilets are mostly very good, although if you’re in Rio, avoid the portaloos in Lapa at all costs.Brunei
Squat-style toilets are common and in these you’ll find a hose or other water carrier to wash with. Throwing paper in one of these toilet will probably bung the whole place up, so throw it away. European-style toilets suggest a sewage system that can accept paper. [...]Burkina
You’ll be cleaning up with your hand (make sure it’s your left hand) and water from a colourful teapot provided if you’re living like the locals. If you’re using paper, use a bin of provided, if not, dispose of it sensibly. You can’t flush the paper.
Link – via Linkfilter
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Restroom signs say much the same thing all over the world, but the way they say it says a lot about how view the differences between men and women. Why are women so often depicted as wearing skirts? And why do we have to use separate bathrooms anyway?
Women’s and men’s washrooms: we encounter them nearly every time we venture into public space. To many people the separation of the two, and the signs used to distinguish them, may seem innocuous and necessary. Trans people know that this is not the case, and that public battles have been waged over who is allowed to use which washroom. The segregation of public washrooms is one of the most basic ways that the male-female binary is upheld and reinforced.
As such, washroom signs are very telling of the way societies construct gender. They identify the male as the universal and the female as the variation. They express expectations of gender performance. And they conflate gender with sex.
Link -via Metafilter
Cartoonists have a crazy streak. They can’t help themselves; it’s how they are made. As a cartoonist-inventor, I sometimes cannot resist the temptation to illustrate a concept even while knowing it is crazy, stupid or at least poorly conceived. For instance, I have invented silly toilets solely to keep myself amused. I have also spent time pondering whether there might be non-traditional locations within the home where a toilet might be placed. Is it merely for reasons of tradition that toilets are consigned to bathrooms? Could toilets be placed in hallways, in dining rooms, or in the middle of the living room? Why not outhouse-like facilities (of modern design) on the porch, deck, or in the garden?
There are likely many good reasons for not locating a toilet in the middle of a kitchen. I understand that. But why not locate a toilet inside a shower stall? In fact, I can imagine extreme situations where water and space are so scarce, as on a submarine, where toilets might be incorporated into showers. But admittedly that is not the case in a home or apartment. But to see what it might look like, I drew a toilet inside a shower and I succeeded in amusing myself. I admit the concept is somewhat disgusting and disturbing given that dampness is the perfect medium for the spread of disease, contamination, smells, and so forth. I will give my idea an F for practicality but an A for whimsy.
Where else in a home might a toilet be placed? In 1983, I proposed The Living Bathroom, a space-saving concept for small apartments and cabins. I like my cute and clever execution of the idea, though I worry that the issue of odors was not addressed.
In 2007 I revisited my Living Bathroom concept, making it more stylish and adding a chimney. The chimney contains a built-in fan that sucks vapors from the toilet toward a roof vent. Both the chimney and the toilet come in polished stainless steel and look very modern. Note how the Toilet Concealment Chair slips over the toilet. It rolls forward on wheels when there is urgent need to use the toilet.
It’s time once again to cast your vote for America’s Best Restroom! Will it be the toilets at Bryant Park in New York City, the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, or maybe the Santa Monica Pier in California? Ten finalists are going for the title. You can take a virtual tour of each convenience facility and rank your picks accordingly. Pictured is last year’s winner, the The Shoji Tabuchi Theater in Branson, Missouri. Link -via Metafilter
Tracy Woodhouse and Graham Peck found a century-old abandoned public bathroom on the shore of Scarborough, UK and decided to turn it into a home:
The £35,000 project is now finished and the couple have settled down in their new home, which they have named The Lookout. Their television is situated where the men’s urinals used to be, and their bathroom is in the former ladies’ toilets. [...]
Metal gates at the separate entrances for Gentlemen and Ladies are signs of the building’s original use as well as the bay window – which used to be the toilet’s kiosk, but once they started digging much of its past was revealed.
The couple filled six skips with maroon glazed earthenware bricks and dug out the drains of the old urinals and a dozen cubicle
Link | Photo: Ross Parry/Daily Telegraph
You know the honeymoon is over when this happened: when the husband found out that his new wife took too long in the airport restroom, he decided to get on the plane without her!
The woman in question, a teacher, had gone to use the facilities at the airport before boarding a flight back in Saudi Arabia.
Quite how long she stayed in the toilet remains unclear. What is certain is she emerged to discover her husband had vanished without trace. The woman, who had paid for the holiday, began a desperate search of the airport and grew increasingly concerned that something terrible had happened to him. [...]
When he arrived at his destination, he calmly told relatives his new wife was still in Malaysia. His bride was not so calm about his behaviour. She has demanded an immediate divorce.
Joel Veitch of rathergood.com and his wife just wanted to record a simple song with/for their kids. The second half of the video shows how difficult that process is! Oh, the “for” part is simple, but the “with” part can take all day. Link -via b3ta
Why wasn’t I told that June is National Bathroom Reading Month? I’ve been celebrating it all year long!
Anyways, to celebrate this momentous occasion, our pal Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader is running a neat contest: Deep Thoughts From the Throne.
You can win nifty prizes (including an iPhone, a set of Bathroom Reader books autographed by Uncle John himself and a year’s supply of toilet paper – a year! – now that’s a prize) for entering a video clip you create about … your bathroom!
Here’s the details: Contest Rules | Visit Uncle John’s YouTube channel for approved entries
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