National Thomas Crapper Day!
National Thomas Crapper Day!
It’s time to celebrate the porcelain royalty of Thomas Crapper because it’s National Thomas Crapper Day! I seriously thought the phrase “sit on the crapper” was just from the word “crap”. It would appear that story was flushed right down the tubes! Let’s learn a bit more about Thomas Crapper.
According to nationaltoday.com, January 27th is the anniversary of Thomas Crapper because he passed on this day. A man who was famous for providing such comfort to our behinds. Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet, but he spend his life perfecting it.
Your average toilet did its job, but Thomas Crapper added eloquence and optimization to the design. He added designs to the toilet like the ballcock that would prevent water from flowing back into the toilet. You could say he was above the rim when it came to toilet design.
But let’s have a backup and talk about potties for a moment. Humans have always had to remove waste from their bodies since the dawn of man, but toilets didn’t come around till the fourth century B.C. Before that, people just did their business wherever they felt like going. Which helped spread plenty of diseases and plagues.
These toilets first appeared in Mesopotamia. Then later in Roman and Greek societies. Sewers were also in development if not crudely. The lovely words of cesspool, cesspit, and chamber bots were the norm until the 19th century.
Water Closets?
In the 19th century, “health” experts determined that creating pipes to carry away the waste would provide for better sanitary conditions. These “water closets” would not become widely used until the late 19th century. While toilets were already here, Thomas Crapper helped speed them along.
In 1880, Thomas started The Crapper & Co. showroom in London. He manufactured and patented all sorts of toilet and sanitary tools. Things like pipe joints, manhole covers, and improvements to drains.
Todayifoundout.com claims that “Crapper” was used during World War I by English soldiers to describe when they were off to do a number 2!
There are so many terms to describe toilets. A “John” came from Sir John Harrington who was another expert on the porcelain throne. The “loo” is from the French “guardez l’eau” which means “watch out for the water”. They would yell this before throwing the contents of their chamber pots out the window!
Why not do some shopping while you break-in that throne at a friend’s house:
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