‘A thing of unspeakable horror’ - The history of the loo in literature and life

Abstract

The title of this book requires explanation. Some years ago I saw a Don Martin cartoon in Mad Magazine. It was of one of his crazed-looking, loony characters standing in a laboratory with a test-tube filled with smoking liquid in his hand. He says: *One drink of this and I shall turn into a thing of unspeakable horror*. He drinks ... and nothing happens. So he throws the failed experimental liquid into a nearby sink. Instantly it turns into ••• a loo! As we shall see the cartoon is manifestly slanderous. I must also own up to a personal interest in the subject. My father was a plumber; my grandfather was a plumber. I hail from a plumbing line. But I was the stupid one of the family - I became an academic. I have never quite managed to become part of the Brain Drain. Instead I must content myself with being, at least today, the Drain Brain. I am, however, no Specialist, and this book should not be taken as the last word on the subject. The writing of loo history is an ancient and honorable profession and I must thank some of the pioneers in the field whose work I have drawn upon.