Toilets: A Brief History
Toilets, complete with seats and proper drainage pipes, have allegedly been around for thousands of years. Archaeologists claim that early civilizations knew how to make such sophisticated toilets as far back as 4,500 years ago. However, somewhere in the course of history this knowledge was lost.
In the 16th century inventing the toilet (or more probably
‘reinventing the toilet’) was, by all accounts, not easy. Early inventors were ridiculed by their peers for their efforts. Most people seemed quite happy to use a pot, or hole in the ground. Nevertheless the intrepid pioneers labored on. One of the earliest names in the history of the toilet is that of one Sir John Harrington, an Englishman, whose godmother was none other than Queen Elizabeth I. In 1596, Sir John made a toilet for his famous godmother, who was apparently very appreciative of it. Others, however, were less complimentary and the idea didn’t catch on.
The next important name as far as early toilets are concerned, is Alexander Cummings. In the late 1770s he made an important contribution to the development of the water closet by means of inventing the S-trap (a kind of valve under the toilet bowl). This prevented potentially poisonous fumes from backing up out of the sewers. At this point the idea started to take off. Patents were applied for in 1777 and 1778 as inventors began to improve on the Cummings design. It took another one hundred years, however, for toilet design to make real progress. It wasn’t until 1885 that the design of the toilet was revolutionized by a man called Thomas Twyford, who built the first porcelain loo. (Previously toilets had been made mostly of wood.) Twyford worked in the pottery industry, a sector which quickly caught on to the idea of china toilets. Soon Twyford had competition from other famous British china and porcelain companies, such as Doulton and Wedgewood.
Toilet design continued to be refined, not only in England but also in the USA. Among the earliest Americans to receive a patent for their water closet design were William Campbell and James Henry, in 1875. The
following year one William Smith was granted a patent for a toilet in which the water gushed into the bowl thanks to a jet-siphon device. This idea attracted George Waring who went on to develop the idea further, with great success.
By the end of the nineteenth century innovations in toilet design were rife. In the first thirty years of the 20th century no fewer than 350 hopeful inventors applied to the US Patent Office for patents regarding their toilet designs.
And toilet design continues apace even now. The Japanese are the modern world’s toilet pioneers. Japanese toilet-making companies compete fiercely to launch new and ever more technically and technologically adv anced loos on the market. Today’s toilets can do everything from glow in the dark to measure your body-fat ratio by sending a small electric charge through your buttocks! Tourists beware! The Japanese are even developing futuristic ‘smart’ toilets which wi ll respond to voice commands and monitor users for early signs of ill-health. The information would then be sent, by the toilet itself, to the user’s doctor via an Internet connection built into the loo.
And so it seems that the evolution of the humble toilet is nowhere near complete. One has to wonder if the inventors of early water closets, so unappreciated in their day, had any idea where it would all lead in the centuries to come!
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by Hardi ? Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:53 pm
It sure is important to have a working toilet. What will be called a real toilet I'm not sure. For me the minimum requirement is a hole in ground to squat in fresh air. Well of course I would prefer a hi-tech Japanese toilet, just a hole in ground without roof and walls aren't pleasant in blizzard weather, but that will do too when there isn't anything better and it's in private unpopulated area.
Hardi
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by MissLT ? Sun Nov 09, 2008 7:14 pm
Hardi wrote:It sure is important to have a working toilet. What will be called a real toilet I'm not sure. For me the minimum requirement is a hole in ground to squat in fresh air. Well of course I would prefer a hi-tech Japanese toilet, just a hole in ground without roof and walls aren't pleasant in blizzard weather, but that will do too when there isn't anything better and it's in private unpopulated area.
Beside pottying in a bush any other means of dumping is a real toilet, I guess. So, I guess, the answer is yes, it's very important. I cannot go in a bush. Shooooot, I can't even go number 2 using a public restroom. My friends called me weird because they said, "what's wrong with you? Everyone poops!" My answer: "In a public restroom? I'll pass!"
MissLT
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by tomcat ? Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:04 pm
As for me, when I get the urge I′m not so choosy. But finally, also for the environment it′s
definitely better if there is a hygienic place for a cleaner business, isn′t it?
tomcat
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by Hardi ? Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:11 pm
Dumping into bushes is in most countries obviously illegal. Even when you're middle of huge forest where's no toilet nearby, it will be still considered as illegal dumping. Therefore I think
you need a bag like those you use for dog poop in case when you gonna use a bush.
Hardi
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by tomcat ? Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:38 pm
Hardi wrote: Therefore I think you need a bag like those you use for dog poop in case when you
gonna use a bush.
Really, you might toss the result of your doing away later, when there isn′t any game- or forest warden there. In addition to that, if the bag is made from plastic who should care? At least your poop don′t have any influence on the environment, does it?
tomcat
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by Hardi ? Tue Nov 11, 2008 8:36 pm
tomcat wrote:
Hardi wrote: Therefore I think you need a bag like those you use for dog poop in case when you
gonna use a bush.
Really, you might toss the result of your doing away later, when there isn′t any game- or forest warden there. In addition to that, if the bag is made from plastic who should care? At least your poop don′t have any influence on the environment, does it?
However modern dog's poop bags have made of cornstarch not plastic. Tossing plastic bags to forest isn't acceptable either. You have to carry it all the way to nearest... I don't know where it's allowed to dispose it. Well I think if you dig a little hole instead of using bag, then it's fine too, but in winter when soil is frozen it would be troublesome too. And I'm not sure if there's some stupid law that disallows doing so. Surely it's not allowed to bury that kind of stuff where ever in huge amounts. You have to bring it to somewhere, some facility to dispose. So I guess a very enthusiastic forest warden might still shoot you into buttock.
Anyway I believe accessing the real toilet can't be as important as food, as far as the lack of real toilet doesn't spoil environment... The real toilet's effect to environment I haven't examined of course yet. I guess if it's built of wood and composting the wastes is organised well, it doesn't have any negative effect.
Hardi
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by tomcat ? Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:27 pm
Hi Hardi,
agreed. Especially since the way to the next disposal facility might be quite long if one′s located midst the jungle.
So let′s replace nature to nature!!!! If there isn′t any forest warden, of course.
tomcat
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by JungwonGirls ? Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:52 am
We here at Jungwon Girl's Middle School in Seoul, Korea believe that this is true. Food is very important BUT if you don't have a clean toilet you might not be ALIVE to eat it. We believe that toilets should be very clean. If they are not clean, they might have diseases on them. And then, when you sit on them you could get sick and then other people would get sick and then the whole country could get sick. We also think that they should be beautiful! We also want to say
that the public toilets in Korea smell okay and are clean.
JungwonGirls
Re: Is access to a real toilet is as important as food?
by sandoy ? Sun Nov 23, 2008 4:25 pm
i think strongly that the toilet must be as luxurious and healthy as our food.
you know what we call the toilet in morocco " room of relaxation" it is a translation from arabic, like we care a lot for choosing the best food for us we should do the same thing for toilet time.
sandoy
Your Journal Questions
1. 2.6 billion people in the world have no toilet at home T F
2. Nearly 40% of the world’s population lack access to a proper toilet. T F
3. Over 60% of the people in Africa do not have access to a proper toilet. T F
4. Over 100 million people in Latin America do not have a proper toilet. T F
5. Make a list of all the words/phrases that mean “toilet” in the readings.
6. “Having access to a real toilet is as important as have sufficient food.” What are your thoughts on this. Agree or disagree with one of the writers.