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What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

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Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#251

Post by benpiper »

lainga wrote: post #99
bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

This is the 6th post I have seen this week along the formula (1) I am from Europe and I went to America. (2) Americans do things in a way I find unusual and/or distressing. (3) The cause must be a character flaw shared by all Americans (security and puritanical reasons...?).

Apparently the very private Puritan outhouses were really time machines which they used to time travel to the 20th century and help pass the ADA.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#252

Post by toast0 »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #78
baddox wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense, but it would still be a huge improvement to eliminate gaps everywhere but the floor. The cost argument makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why it’s ubiquitous in the US but not in Europe, since the cost-saving incentive should be roughly the same in both regions. Perhaps it started in the US because of safety or puritanism, but has now simply become a de facto standard in the US building industry. I…

The gaps are an improvement. I take it you never had to piss in a trough? :P

My favorite: when the only way to tell the handwashing trough from the urinating trough is the height on the wall.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#253

Post by pacificmint »

tyingq wrote: post #243
stiGGG wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only premium toilets have this shit shelf here in Germany. The advantage is to prevent a big splash making your butt wet ;)

Perhaps, maybe you can also explain "Dusch Das, das dusch, ass...ahh" to me :) https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1481387945255625...

Ass (pronounced with a short A, rather than the long A as in english) means Ace in German. (Before 1996 it was spelled As I believe)

Dusch Das is the brand name of the shower gel, Dusch means shower, Das is one of the three articles, so by turning the words around and into a rhyme, and says: "Dusch Das, the shower ace."

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#254

Post by tyingq »

pacificmint wrote: post #253
tyingq wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps, maybe you can also explain "Dusch Das, das dusch, ass...ahh" to me :) https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1481387945255625...

Ass (pronounced with a short A, rather than the long A as in english) means Ace in German. (Before 1996 it was spelled As I believe) Dusch Das is the brand name of the shower gel, Dusch means shower, Das is one of the three articles, so by turning the words around and into a rhyme, and says: "Dusch Das, the shower ace."

Perfect. Though, for a native English speaker, this commercial (and others of the same genre) left me with hard to resolve giggles. I still remember them fondly 20 years later. Also the German TV show Tutti Frutti (https://youtu.be/RZeQ-b1z_6c)

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#255

Post by bayareabronco »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #56
bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

> It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit alone in a toilet; I still don't know if it's for security purposes (to check if someone has a heart failure?) or puritanical reasons (make sure people aren't having sex?) but it sure feels strange, and very difficult to get used to when one comes from a different culture. I've always thought it was far less interesting than that: they're cheaper and faster to inst…

If you visit an upscale hotel, the "public" restrooms in the lobby typically have larger stalls with fully enclosed doors/rooms. I think you're right. It's mainly a cost cutting issue.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#256

Post by matt_the_bass »

tyingq wrote: post #193
bambax wrote: post #54

> To ancient Romans, the practice of sitting on a shared toilet in an open room full of people was entirely ordinary. That's a funny thing to say for an American, because, to Europeans, American toilets are much too public: doors don't go to the floor or ceiling, and even "walls" are thin sheets of wood/plastic loosely joined together with huge spaces between them. It seems, Americans don't trust one another to sit a…

Perhaps NSFW, but being frank so it's clear what I'm saying. There's cultural differences the other direction. German toilets catch feces on what we called a "shit shelf" instead letting it fall and submerge in water. Which, of course, made for a pretty bad odor situation. And in Turkey, the "toilet" was a hole in the ground. Even in the Hilton, it was a fancy carved marble and gold leaf "4 inch diameter hole in the…

When I lived in France in ‘98 a good 30% of the toilets were the porcelaine hole. My guess is they are less expensive and easier to clean.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#257

Post by booleandilemma »

bandrami wrote: post #168
adrianratnapala wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, so cost and cleanability might be incentive so have doors like that, but not incentives to make regulations. Those regulations likely there for "decency and safety". E.g. to discourage people having sex, or to make it more obvious if someone passes out. That is: the regulations really are there to make reduce privacy. There might be good arguments for reducing privacy, but that is still the proximate goal of the…

I think the end goal is making it harder to do heroin in a bathroom.

I can understand this in a public restroom, but why do the bathrooms in my 30-story office building have to be this way?

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#258

Post by jdtang13 »

salmanarshad321 wrote: post #17
k__ wrote: post #3

I read that many asian people don't even use it and simply wash themselves with a showerhead instead. Maybe we should just do it like that?

I guess most Muslims use them as well because washing with water is commanded in Islam. In case there was no water, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would command his followers to use pebbles. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_toilet_etiquette Coming to India, I have been to a lot of toilets in different places and it's hard to find the ones _with_ a toilet roll. The only place I remember I couldn't find a hand shower w…

I was about to comment this, nice link! I did not know it was advised to face away from qiblah.

Re: What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

#260

Post by tyingq »

freeflight wrote: post #245
tyingq wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps NSFW, but being frank so it's clear what I'm saying. There's cultural differences the other direction. German toilets catch feces on what we called a "shit shelf" instead letting it fall and submerge in water. Which, of course, made for a pretty bad odor situation. And in Turkey, the "toilet" was a hole in the ground. Even in the Hilton, it was a fancy carved marble and gold leaf "4 inch diameter hole in the…

> There's cultural differences the other direction. German toilets catch feces on what we called a "shit shelf" instead letting it fall and submerge in water. Which, of course, made for a pretty bad odor situation. You get the odor anyway, that difference is quite negligible, but the "shit shelf" also serves a purpose: It "breaks up" the log by curling it and thus prevents clogging the toilet/the log getting stuck. W…

Appreciate the details, but disagree strongly with "You get the odor anyway, that difference is quite negligible".

Submerging it in water made a huge difference. Maybe some chemical engineer can confirm my layman observation.

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