The Evolution of the Crapper

The modern day flush toilet may have been inspired by ancient sanitation practices. The outhouses of yester year utilized a constant stream of water to carry away waste date back 5,000 years. These systems were used by ancient civilizations including the Romans.

These non-flushing water closets used portable pieces of furniture with removable containers for waste. But how to get rid of the waste was the issue.

Sir John Harington invented the first modern flushable toilet in 1596. Devised for Queen Elizabeth I the system included a 2-foot deep oval bowl and fed through an upstairs cistern. This was a time period before indoor plumbing. However, it would take several centuries for this indoor toilet to catch on.

The wall mounted cistern was popular during the 1870s but there was still improvement that needed to be done. A large number of water with more pressure aided in the process but the rudimentary traps struggled with letting waste go down the drain or keeping sewer gases out of the building. The first step would be to make the toilet bowl out of china rather than other pottery form.

Another English inventor Alexander Cummings would be the next to be innovative with an indoor toilet in 1775. A new S-pipe would be added to create a seal to keep sewer gas out.

Thomas Crapper a plumber from London during the 19th century would develop a tank filling mechanism that toilets still use. The doughboys from WWI called the toilets "crappers" and returned to America with the new knowledge. The backyard outhouses were still very popular but non flushing water closets were becoming a bit more popular.

The traditional Victorian toilet would soon become a fixture known as a bathroom in the home of tomorrow. The 1920s ushered in indoor plumbing and was soon a requirement for all American homes to have indoor bathrooms. The bathroom was a fixture of the home before the modern day sewer system was created.

Today, the modern day bathroom is a fixture that we can no longer do without. It was just less than a century ago that the bathrooms started growing in popularity but today we think of them as just always being there.


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