interesting sidenote to privies

[bunnyjadwiga]

The Water Closet: A New History by Roy Palmer (Newton Abbot, England: David & Charles, 1973) covers much the same territory as Bogs, Basins, and Baths, albeit much less interestingly. It is distinguished, for my purposes, by a different list of surviving medieval privies, extensive quotes from the writings of Sir John Harrington, and by this contemporary (1970s) note:

The Swedes have perfected a method by which the use of toilet paper will no longer be necessary. The performer on this amazing machine has his rear quarters washed by a jet of warm water after which he is dried by warm air. This so-called 'Clos O Mat' has obvious advantages for disabled people, in particular, for whom toilet facilities constitute a special problem. (p. 130)

He also mentions the 'dual flushing cistern' now used for saving water by earth-conscious people (and apparently by law in Australia-- one can use either less or more water depending on the absence or presence of solids. (Trying to look up a good link on these products, I was stymied but did find out you can buy a bidet spray toilet seat to do the same thing as the Clos O Mat.

Comments

[colmunson.livejournal.com]

the seats -- yeah, the Japanese have been obsessed with them for years. Go down to Assi Plaza, or better yet, to Mitsuwa in Edgewater, and you can choose from several models from a dealer.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

I always wanted a dual-flush commode, even before I'd heard of them.

[iestynapmwg.livejournal.com]

That "Clos O Mat" sounds eerily familiar to what i encountered in Japan. The icons on the buttons aren't much of a warning... "Hmm... wonder what this button's for... OH!" At first i put it down to an hotel being overly pretentious, but even the public bathrooms there had an array of such devices.

[trinapink.livejournal.com]

Our hotel in London (in April) had a dual-flushing commode. I thought it was a great idea except for one thing: "solid" apparently included the little scrap of toilet paper women use to wipe.