Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers: A History of the Bathroom

by Penny Colman

Overview

A fascinating, lively account of toilets, tubs, and sanitation systems with intriguingly catchy chapter titles from "Splish, Splash, the First Bath," "The Queen's Toilet," "Ugh, Gross!" to "Bathrooms Beyond Belief." Award-winning author, Penny Colman traces the fascinating history of the bathroom, starting thousands of years ago on the Orkney Islands of Scotland where hollowed-out slabs of stone with a crude drain served as the first indoor bathroom, to the ancient Egyptian city of Tel el Amarna where in 1370 B.C. there were limestone toilet seats and stone bathtubs; to the years when people in western Europe didn't pay any attention to sewage disposal or bathing; to the International Space Station where a water regeneration system distills, filters, ionizes and oxidizes wastewater, including urine, into freshwater for drinking. A list of "Ten Facts About Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers" includes the fact that Albert Einstein once said that if he had it to do all over again, he would become a plumber. The book includes an extensive bibliography and webliography.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940032953524
Publisher:	Penny Colman
Publication date:	12/22/2011
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	151 KB

About the Author

Penny Colman writes about illustrious and fascinating women and a wide range of significant and intriguing topics in her award-winning books for all ages. Born in Denver, Colorado, in 1944, she grew up in North Warren, Pennsylvania, on the grounds of a state mental hospital, where her father was a psychiatrist. In 1960, she joined a group of teenagers and rode her bicycle (plus took a few train rides) across the U.S. In 1964 she dropped out of college, worked in a frozen food factory in Sweden and hitchhiked throughout Europe, including to Turkey and Greece. Between 1965-1970, she graduated from college and graduate school, got married, and had three very close-in-age children. In 1987, as her children were graduating from high school, Penny Colman embarked on a freelance writing career and has been going full steam ever since. A popular speaker and educator, she has spoken in a variety of venues and taught at universities and colleges, including Teachers College, Columbia University and New York University.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-A well-written book that provides interesting tidbits about the history of personal cleanliness and hygiene. Among other things, readers will learn that the first flush toilet was found at the palace at Knossos on Crete; that citizens of Babylon had to build stairs down to reach their houses because the streets rose higher and higher with successive layers of garbage and sewage topped with clay; and that the early Christians considered bathing sinful. The catchy chapter titles, e.g., ``Ugh, Gross!,'' are not always indicative of the material covered; the index, however, is detailed and more than makes up for this lack of concreteness. The text is well illustrated with black-and-white photographs and reproductions on almost every page. Unfortunately, there are no maps or timeline to pinpoint the locations and periods of the various accoutrements discussed. This title might inspire further forays into the cultures mentioned, and at the very least is an entertaining addition.-Kate Hegarty Bouman, Susquehanna Valley Junior High School, Conklin, NY

School Library Journal

"There is no truer sign of civilization in culture than good sanitation. A good drain implies as much as a beautiful statue." So said a British archaeologist, and readers will agree after reading this intriguing account of toilets, tubs, and sanitation systems. Colman begins with speculation about how prehistoric types might have taken care of waste and then speeds through history, zig-zagging across continents, telling us who washed (the Minoans and the Romans, among others), who didn't (medieval Europeans), and the various methods for taking care of personal hygiene. Naturally, this topic will be utterly fascinating to middle-graders (and let's face it, for adults, too), and while Colman stays within the bounds of good taste, she offers plenty of anecdotes that will have kids happily yelling, "Gross!" Among them: Marco Polo's observation that the residents of Kinsai wiped themselves with a bare left hand; that people used to throw the contents of chamber pots into the streets, often splattering passersby; and that Queen Isabella of Spain considered it a source of pride that she had taken only two baths in her life. Lots of black-and-white photos supplement the text and show a remarkable variety of sanitation devices. This one will be hard to keep on the shelves. Get two copies--one for serious students of the sanitary arts, the other for captivated browsers.

Ilene Cooper