2nd February 1852: World’s first modern flushable public toilets open in London скачать в хорошем качестве

2nd February 1852: World’s first modern flushable public toilets open in London

Sited next to the Society of Arts at 95 Fleet Street, the toilets were exclusively for men. However, a public toilet for use by ladies was opened just over a week later on 11 February at 51 Bedford Street – a mile away. Although public toilets had existed for millennia, these were often simple and unhygienic facilities. This situation changed in the 19th Century with the advent of the water closet. These flushable toilets were popularised following the installation of George Jennings’ ‘Monkey Closets’ at the Great Exhibition in 1851, where users were charged one penny. This payment led to the euphemistic phrase ‘to spend a penny’. Despite the relatively low cost to the user, the Great Exhibition toilets generated a net profit of £1,790 in just 23 weeks. In modern money that would be well over £100,000. Aware of the potential to generate a new income stream, organisations such as the Society of Arts chose to develop public toilets to cash in on the new invention. Despite their elegant mahogany and brass design, and an extensive promotional campaign that featured the distribution of 50,000 handbills alongside an advertisement in The Times newspaper, the toilets proved unpopular. It’s reported that only 58 people visited them in the first month of opening, leading to the toilets closing down soon afterwards. It is interesting to note that one of the members of the committee behind the Society of Arts’ public toilet development was Sir Henry Cole. He is better known as the inventor of the commercial Christmas card and a man who had a key role in the introduction of the Penny Post.