The discussion thread at the WeirdToilets subreddit includes extensive discussion as to whether a "stool inspection shelf" is a common feature of toilets in various European and worldwide locations.
Additional discussion at this archived article and in the "washout toilet" section of the Wikipedia page on flush toilets.
"Washout, or Flachspüler ("shallow flush"), toilets have a flat platform with a shallow pool of water. They are flushed by a jet of water from the back that drives waste into the trap below. From there, the water flow removes it into the sewage system. An advantage of the design is that users will not get splashed from below. Taking of stool samples is also simplified. Washout toilets have a shallow pool of water into which waste is deposited, with a trapped drain just behind this pool... Washout pans were among the first types of ceramic toilets invented and since the early 1970s are now only found in a decreasing number of localities in Europe.[citation needed] A washout toilet is a kind of flush toilet which was once predominantly used in Germany, Austria and France. It was patented in Britain by George Jennings in 1852 and remained the standard toilet type in Britain throughout the 19th century..."
please don't misspell them
ReplyDeleteit's Habsburg
I've made that mistake before -
Deletehttps://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2011/01/genetic-map-of-hapsburg-jaw.html
- and corrected it then. This time I was copying someone else's mistake (which is hardly an excuse).
Fixed. Thanks for the proofreading. :-)
reporting from germany: it’s the weirdest feeling to see a reference to a particularly strange toilet (here even from a castle! i was expecting the peaks of medieval imagination!), and then the photo is a plain everyday toilet.
ReplyDeleteraphael
Your point is well taken, Raphael. I suppose the original intent was to emphasize the legitimacy of the existence of the design, but its location is quite irrelevant. I've amended the title of the post accordingly. Tx.
Deletestan,
Deleteoh no, don’t worry it over much – i meant it more as a reminder of how fragile a concept ‘normal’ (and expectations relating to it) is. it’s not a bad thing to get an occasional reminder that your normal is somebody elses strange, and that somebody doesn’t need to come from a vastly different context either.
raphael
Raphael, I quite agree and understand. But my point as a blogger is that I was too hasty in constructing the post, copying title info from the source while the Habsburg location is quite irrelevant. The post is about the design, not the location. And for search engine purposes, it's way better to have the current amended title rather than the original one.
Delete"as a reminder of how fragile a concept ‘normal’ (and expectations relating to it) is"
DeleteLike learning most Americans don't have electric kettles, though the reasons are obvious when you think about it.
Codex: Saw them in Vienna. Hate them. There is still a splash unless covered with TP, any samples are contaminated. Why people think that inspecting anything will give them any indication of health is a mystery.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lengthy discussion of these in Fear of Flying, with theories about the impact on the art and culture of countries that have them or don't (as of the 1970s when FoF was written).
ReplyDeleteThe toilet with the shelf is type seen (original to) the tenements of the Lower East Side.
ReplyDeleteTotally normal over here (The Netherlands). But we have the other type too.
ReplyDelete