Flushed with success! A history of bathrooms and water closets!
A few weeks ago I bought a book called " Clean and Decent: The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and Water Closet ." It struck me that sanitation is so rarely mentioned in romance books unless there's a steamy scene in the baths such as I included in The Scandals of an Innocent . Perhaps this is because bathrooms and water closets are so determinedly unromantic; functional but not quite nice to talk about. And yet the history of sanitation is fascinating and without developments in sanitation engineering, where would be be today? I cannot do justice to the whole of Clean and Decent here but I would like to share some little gems that I have picked out. The bidet was first mentioned in 1710 when the Marquis d'Argenson was enchanted to be granted audience by Madame de Prie whilst she sat. What they talked about is not recorded. In the 19th century a novelty of the chamber pot was that some had concealed musical boxes which gave a concert of appropriate chamber music...