The Loo

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject: The Loo

I could have sworn we had discussed this here once before, but again for the life of me, I cannot find mention of it anywhere.

Bathrooms...I realize they were few and far between in our era, but from all my reading, it seems only the wealthy had privvys in their homes and considering most lf the h/h's we write are in the ton, I would think they would have bathrooms in their houses, especially in the grand country manors. What did the bathrooms entail and what type of toilet was it? Was it the high-mounted flusher or some other older, cistern fed thing? Were they large withdrawing trype rooms, or tiny converted closets perhaps??? Anyone know?
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Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

I've done a tiny bit of research in this area, and from what I can find it seems that while flushing toilets did exist, they were extremely rare until the Victorian era. Most people, of all classes, seem to have used chamber pots when indoors (the sideboard-like piece of furniture called a "commode" often held one or two, and some even opened up into a seat).
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-Kalen
w/a Isobel Carr
Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011
Book 1: The League of Second Sons
www.isobelcarr.com

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:30 am Post subject:

So would my hero's country estate have a commode room or would they just have the chamberpot/commode in their bedchamber as usual? Were there such things as washing rooms then? I know there were tub rooms in the late 1800s where the bathing/showering was done, but I don't know how late in the century this was. Seeing as toilet facilities were new, i would think most of the upper echelon would have them installed if they were "all the rage".

Funny thing is, I remember commodes. We had one at my grandparents summer house and it looked kind of like a vanity with a lid and there was an enamel chamber pot inside. When it was closed, the wash basin and pitcher sat on top of it, so it was like an all-in-one toilet facilty. Smile

Then again, I remember the privvy as well, put back in the woods...big wooden outhouse with a wooden plank as a seat and a permanent stick tethered to a string so you could "knock the vermin down" before you sat. yeah, those were the good old days. Shocked

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Live up to your potential instead of imitating someone else's. ~ Martha Burgess

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:53 am Post subject:

I think bathrroms as we know them were rather late in coming into general use. Quoting from the National Trust's book Household Management:

"For centuries, private washing meant a basin and ewer in the bedroom or dressing room, with warm water brought up from the kitchen. In the late 19th century, washstands fitted with taps were introduced."

and ...

"Fitted bathrooms with hot and cold water were introduced into country houses from the 1820s, but the supply was not over-generous -- when Lanhydrock was rebuilt in the 1880s, only one bathroom was provided-- and this was for the use of gentlemen rather than ladies. Indeed Lady Fry in the 1920s dismissed bathrooms as 'only for servants.'"

and ...

"For those who preferred privacy [as opposed to communal privies], a chamber pot would be kept under the bed, or a close-stool in the closet. The latter was a box containing a padded seat and a set-in pot."

and ...

"Only in the 1870s did Harrington's vision [of flushing water closets] come to fulfillment with the 'wash down' closet, using a flush of sufficient power to force the contents through the S-bend."

So, in writing about the Regency, your best bet is to assume no special facilities existed. And if they did, it would have been remarked upon as something unique and unexpected.
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Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:01 am Post subject:

OK, That's pretty much what I thought. I didn't expect that early washrooms would have any running water at all, I was just wondering if in the larger estates if a room was set aside for such things as washing, since they had the space. I know they bathed and quiet frequently, but I couldn't see why they would risk getting water all over the expensively carpeted bedroom floors if they could have a tub in a room full of italian marble instead. Just a thought. I know its hard to consider when you haven't lived through it....
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Live up to your potential instead of imitating someone else's. ~ Martha Burgess

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:02 am Post subject:

Found this as a reference, btw...very nifty

http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item7/16603
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Live up to your potential instead of imitating someone else's. ~ Martha Burgess

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Some estates had bath houses, with large (almost Roman-style tubs that you walked down into). Some estates even had bathing chambers added in to what were once the "closets" beside some of the bedrooms (I went this route in my book, even though I know that this was very cutting edge).

Personally, I rarely go into the land of bodily functions. Unless I need it for the plot I don't see the point.
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-Kalen
w/a Isobel Carr
Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011
Book 1: The League of Second Sons
www.isobelcarr.com

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:43 am Post subject:

Well, in the end, I removed the scene, but I was still curious. My heroine had been bed-ridden and was tired of using a bedpan and was embarrassedly trying to tell the hero that "she had to go" - in not so many words. It was an amusing scene, but one I could cut.
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Live up to your potential instead of imitating someone else's. ~ Martha Burgess

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:09 am Post subject:

I remember reading a book where the hero's country house was fitted with a shower, and the heroine was amazed when she got to use this new-fangled contraption. I can't for the life of me recall the book, though. Julie Anne Long, maybe? Or Kathryn Caskie?

Anyway, I remember the scene and thinking how weird those early showers must have been - assuming the scene was based on fact and some showers did indeed show up in the early decades of the 19th century. I tend to give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume she did her research.
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Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:11 am Post subject:

Yeah, the shower I thought was nifty was the one I saw that was basically a big, brass donut with holes attached to a hose and you would put the ring over your head and rest it on your shoulders and your body would be showered. I guess they didn't want to get their hairdos wet. LOL
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Live up to your potential instead of imitating someone else's. ~ Martha Burgess

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:48 am Post subject:

yeah, I remember that as well and thinking to myself how immodest bathing must have been then with servants scampering about trying to keep the water hot, or in a showers case, continuous.
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Live up to your potential instead of imitating someone else's. ~ Martha Burgess

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject:

Er, if I may add to this enlightening discussion, in the Royal Navy of our period, the bathroom was known as--drum roll, please!--the seat of ease. I believe a version of the padded thingie was briefly featured in a somewhat humorous scene in Master and Commander, which included a shot of Jack Aubrey's ruined privy aboard HMS Surprise. Laughing

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Ath
Bed in a Bog has Runned Away Wink

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:33 pm Post subject: