1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so 3 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. Let's hear it for the man, 4 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: the myth legend, our super producer, mister Max Williams. I 5 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: want to brag about Max just a little bit because 6 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,919 Speaker 1: this guy, Uh, I'm ben bowling, You're no brown? Yeah, 7 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,239 Speaker 1: Uh No, I got to brag about our super producer, Uh, 8 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: mister Williams, because, uh Max, if you could explain how 9 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: you went from long flowing stresses to donating your hair 10 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: to an actual charitable society. 11 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 2: Well, I'm still working on that. 12 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 3: I got the hair right here. 13 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: Actually, he's got his hair in a bag. 14 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 3: I had to get it. 15 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 2: It doesn't fit in a normal envelope, so I have 16 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 2: to get a larger envelope. But I no, I'd rather 17 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 2: more talk about the mustache. But I guess if you. 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 4: Really love it, I think that I think the cut 19 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 4: looks dope, it suits you. The stash is rocking, and 20 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 4: it's all for a good cause, So I mean there's 21 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 4: no downside. 22 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 2: Frankly, I mean I've been going that hair for about 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 2: seven years now, so it feels really great to cut 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 2: it all off and ship it out to hopefully somebody 25 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:36,119 Speaker 2: who has better use for it. 26 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 4: Wasn't Locks of Love. It was the other one right 27 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 4: that you were shooting for. It's one of them. 28 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: You're just seeing to any takers. I got it, and 29 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: welcome to the mustache Mafia. 30 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 4: Max. 31 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: It's a pleasure to have you as always. Quick question 32 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: by way of an awkward segue. Uh, when you were 33 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: getting your flowing locks on, lock severed? There we go? 34 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 3: Thank you all. 35 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: Uh did you have to use the restroom? 36 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 3: Absolutely? Of course I did. 37 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 2: But the place I got my haircut was really nice, 38 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 2: and it's like one of those really fancy restrooms that 39 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 2: have like real towels that like you know, you unrolled 40 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: you was you try your hand? 41 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 3: Are you saying you had to use the restroom mid cut? 42 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 3: You couldn't? I mean, how long could it before that? 43 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 3: Because you knew it was going to be in the chair? 44 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,839 Speaker 3: I got yeah, I gotcha. I got you now. 45 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: Uh, Noel, you and I have well you, Max and 46 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: I have traveled these great United States often and our 47 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: travels continue. 48 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 3: Uh. 49 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: You and I in particular have traveled across the planet 50 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: pretty often, and uh not to put too fine a 51 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: point on it. We've had to be in poob at times. 52 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 4: You know what, I'm a fan of travel Band. I'm 53 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 4: also a fan of Pean and poopin. I can't lie satisfy. 54 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 4: I mean, you know, it's an opportunity to catch up 55 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 4: on the day's news. I mean, I will say I'm 56 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 4: gonna sit down the pier, not to be tmi, but 57 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 4: I mean, I just I look at it as an opportunity, 58 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 4: That's all I'm gonna say. 59 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,519 Speaker 1: I hear you, man, and no matter who you are, 60 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: prince princess has a pauper at some point in the 61 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: next twenty four hours, science proves you are going to 62 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: need to use the restroom. It's nuts, because, you know, dud, 63 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: back when I was back when I was writing a 64 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: show we called brain Stuff, I figured out how many 65 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: times the average person farts per day. 66 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 3: Technically, people fart and they don't even know it. 67 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: Right? 68 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 4: Are we talking about like little just any expulsion of gas. 69 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: Little hinges, little fins of your. 70 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 3: Little What did he say? What did our boy not? Hemingway? 71 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 4: Little little little spart, spooty spooty sports little little thing. 72 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 3: James Joyce, Oh little creaky creaky, creaky toots. 73 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: Are we ever going to recover from that episode? 74 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 4: I was actually walking in a subway station with my 75 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 4: girlfriend and there was a James Joyce quote on the 76 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 4: wall and I just did one of those did you. 77 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 3: Know moments that were so known for. 78 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 4: She did not not only did she not know, she 79 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 4: didn't believe me, And then I had to pull it 80 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 4: up and can I just say that James Joyce letter 81 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 4: about the farts and all that pky stuff. 82 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 3: It's on lyricsgenius dot com. It's amazing. 83 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 4: It's like dissected like like a like like a Kanye bar. 84 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 3: To jump in here real quick. 85 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 2: I was out in Portland last year and somehow we 86 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 2: got on topic of James Joyce, uh with my friends 87 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 2: Kevin and Lizzy, and I read them the letter and 88 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 2: they're just like, this isn't comedy. This is a real 89 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 2: thing that he wrote. 90 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 3: Yes, this is a real thing. 91 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, he's not comedy poetry, I would argue. 92 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, an abundance of flatche And please do check 93 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: out our earlier episode, which I still can't believe we 94 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: got away with. 95 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 4: One of the few NSFW episodes of ridiculous history. 96 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 3: I think you could. 97 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 4: Maybe include the one about the George Carlin swears yes 98 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 4: that we did with Fetterman. 99 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 2: And in the History of BS, did we believe the 100 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 2: the James Joyce episode. 101 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 3: I can't remember if we did or not. The sexual 102 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 3: f bombs we had a disclaimer at the top. 103 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: What you need to know is that James Joyce is 104 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: there as a person. James Joyce is very interested in but. 105 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, but he's a kinky boy, and we 106 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 4: don't think shame here on ridiculous history. But all this 107 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 4: to say, Everybody Poops, which was a book we all 108 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 4: maybe grew up with making you feel good about your 109 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 4: body and all the things that come out of it. 110 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 4: And then I'll never forget the Family Guy joke, and 111 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 4: then the less popular, much less popular Nobody Poops but 112 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 4: You Yes, which was a Catholic children's book in the 113 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 4: Family Guy universe. 114 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: We do know that most people on average are going 115 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: to pull a number two between three times a week 116 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: up to three times a day. Very very loose estimation there, 117 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: like loose bowels. Will keep it regular is what they 118 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: call it, right there is Yeah, you're fiberfolks. As a result, 119 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: we also know that humanity overall, despite all the differences 120 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: cultures may have, they all spend a great deal of time, 121 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: research and energy figure it out the best way to 122 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: handle this unceasing universal need for urination and defecation because Noel, 123 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: as you and I have discussed in previous episodes, a 124 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: lack of public hygiene inevitably will lead to serious disease. 125 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:04,280 Speaker 4: Outbreaks right the miasma effects as it was once believed 126 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 4: to be during the Great Stink of London, This idea 127 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 4: of sanitation creating some sort of stink cloud that infected 128 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 4: people through the air alone, which you know, nobody wants 129 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 4: to breathe in the stink of others. But truly, what 130 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 4: is most dangerous is when let's just say, human waste 131 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 4: leaks into you know, communal drinking water and groundwater and 132 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 4: things like that. 133 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: And battles have been won and lost based entirely upon sanitation. 134 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: Even before humans understood germ theory, every culture, every civilization 135 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: figured out, hey, this human waste can be fertilizer, but 136 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: it can also be incredibly dangerous in addition to you know, 137 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: being gross. This all leads us to the oft ignored 138 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: wonder of the modern world, the public blake toilet. When's 139 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: the last time, Nola, Max, you guys used. 140 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 4: A public toilet, So it's funny you should ask that one. 141 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 4: Not funny, it's just and then we're going to get 142 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 4: into it. But here in the States, by and large, 143 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 4: you're gonna do everything you can to avoid using a 144 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 4: public toilet because they are notoriously quite gross. Whereas in 145 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 4: Europe and definitely in Asia, uh, they are much more 146 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 4: well maintained. Some of them even cost a few shekels, 147 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 4: and that money is then used to you know, keep 148 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 4: them in a tip top shape. But here, uh, you 149 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 4: end up seeing a public bathroom at a gas station, 150 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 4: for example, You got to really have to go to 151 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 4: want to give that a try. And I did do 152 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 4: that recently because I really had to go. 153 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,679 Speaker 1: Oh and you walk or the the the odor or 154 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: the employee at the at the gas station hands you 155 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: a small key with a cartoonish big key. 156 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 3: Ye, what is this like a boat key? Like it overboard? 157 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: It's gotta like. I saw one that was a shingle 158 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: from a rooftop and the guy told me, well, that's 159 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: so we know people bring it back. Let's go to you, Max. 160 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 2: Yes, So I was gonna originally say, like, oh, I 161 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 2: can't even think of the last time, but Noldan mentioned 162 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 2: the gas station bathroom, like, oh, because I just came 163 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 2: back from the beach. I was down at Saint George Island, 164 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 2: which a beautiful, wonderful beach down in Florida, and uh yeah, 165 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 2: we stopped at a gas station on the way back, 166 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 2: and oh, yeah, I had forgotten how rancid gas station 167 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 2: bathroom is gonna be. 168 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you also here in the States, you'll 169 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: see porta bodies, that's what we call them, at concerts, 170 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: at public venues. 171 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 3: I mean plastic boxes and blue. 172 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: Plastic boxes, rectangles where people do bathroom war crimes. 173 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 3: You know what another name for those is. And I 174 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 3: know we'll probably get into more of this as well. 175 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 4: Chemical toilets, Yes, yes, the idea, that's what the blue 176 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 4: stuff is that's supposed to make it somehow sanitary. I 177 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 4: don't know that it always works, because boilboy, I've never 178 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 4: met a porta potty that I wanted to be friend. 179 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, I've never sent a Michelin star review for a 180 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: porta potty. But we know that rest stops along these 181 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: great highways of these wonderful United States, they have bathrooms. 182 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: A huge amount of businesses, like we were talking about 183 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: with gas stations, they will tend to have restrooms, not 184 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: all of them. The trick is that often businesses in 185 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:40,079 Speaker 1: the United States will require you to purchase an item 186 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: before you use the facilities. But still, especially if you've 187 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: traveled across the world, you know that the USA is 188 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: a pretty easy place to pop a squat. This is 189 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:56,319 Speaker 1: not the case in other parts of the world. Leads 190 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,959 Speaker 1: us to today's episode. This is part one of a series. 191 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: How did we get free public restrooms? What a ridiculous 192 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: what a necessary invention? We have a notoriously capitalistic society here, 193 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: So how did everybody seem to largely agree on this 194 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: specific point of waste down welfare? 195 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. 196 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 4: And I mean, you know, to your point, then it's 197 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 4: not quite the same in other parts of the world. 198 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 4: But also your experience may differ by geographic location here 199 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 4: in the United States, because in places like New York, 200 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 4: for example, there are people that go to great length 201 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 4: to make spreadsheets of the public bathrooms that are available, 202 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:38,839 Speaker 4: and typically that are only at like. 203 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 3: Starbucks, Yeatarbucks, thank you. 204 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 4: But to your point about having to buy something, which 205 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:48,559 Speaker 4: I think is such an odd like sort of what's the. 206 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 3: Copy for caveat? 207 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 4: But also weird to enforce accept under certain circumstances, one 208 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 4: of which which I really appreciate. I recently went to 209 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 4: a McDonald's in Queen's and there is a bathroom with 210 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,199 Speaker 4: a code, and it's one of those places where everything's 211 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 4: kind of automated. And guess where the code is ben. 212 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: On the receipt? 213 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 4: Correct something correct, which I think is an enforceable way 214 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 4: of doing that, because the people are not really available 215 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 4: there for you to get the code from, and if 216 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 4: you do ask for it, they'll just be like, my 217 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 4: hands are tied. 218 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 3: It's on the receipt. 219 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: And by the way, folks, fellow ridiculous historians, not to 220 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: call you out, but we know that some of you 221 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,559 Speaker 1: are in a bathroom stall as you're listening to this. 222 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in. It's an opportunity, It's an opportunity. 223 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: Let's fast forward past the ancient civilizations struggles with sanitation 224 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,439 Speaker 1: to look at the rise of the modern toilet situation. 225 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: We owe a lot of our research here to an 226 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: historian named Peter C. Baldwin, who traces the origin of 227 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: public toilets in US cities to the old saloon, the 228 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 1: old back bat wing doors, you know, the kind of 229 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: stuff you'd see Doc Holiday engaging with in Tombstone. 230 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 4: For sure, they looked at this as a way of 231 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 4: attracting clientele, much like you know, back in the day 232 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 4: when movie theaters were the only some of the only 233 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 4: public places that had air conditioning, you know, in the summer, 234 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 4: in the summer heat. 235 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 3: In early days of AC, very similar deal. 236 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 4: It was a built in way of attracting folks as 237 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 4: effective Peter C. 238 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 3: Baldwin puts it as free lunches. 239 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, as effective as right. And now we see 240 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: hotels and department stores and railroad stations they're offering washroom 241 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: or water closet facilities, but they tend to screen out 242 00:13:55,760 --> 00:14:00,359 Speaker 1: entire sectors of the population. We found in the research. 243 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: I found an eighteen ninety three manual for designing railroad stations, 244 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: and it said you need to create these specific distinct 245 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: spaces so the paying customers not only can poop where 246 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: they want, but they also will not have to interact 247 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: in any way with what the manual call the lower 248 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: classes and quote in southern sections the colored element. 249 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 4: Poof Indeed, in the early nineteen hundred is when railroads 250 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 4: really became an embedded part of the infrastructure of the 251 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 4: country and the great connector between some of America's biggest 252 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 4: metropolitan cities and some more rural kind of outposts train stations. 253 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 4: And it kind of continues to be the joke today 254 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 4: about like train station bathrooms not being the best were 255 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 4: sometimes the only place in town with modern plumbing. So 256 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 4: to keep locals from just absolutely, you know, blowing up 257 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 4: the bathrooms, railroad companies installed locks on the stall doors, 258 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 4: only to be unlocked by a railroad employees for ticketed passengers. 259 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 4: So we're looking here at the advent of you got 260 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 4: to buy something to. 261 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 3: Use the john very much. 262 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 4: So. 263 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:17,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, and that leads us to understand that the nineteenth 264 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: to early twentieth century story of public toilets in the 265 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: US was really a story of inequality. We have to 266 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,880 Speaker 1: remember that a ton of people in this country did 267 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: not have running water at the time. They relied on 268 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: ditches or streams or outhouses. And people with money had 269 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: the challenge of pooping way easier, especially if they were 270 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: identified as white and Christian or wasp right white faction 271 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: and products. 272 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 4: Yeah, that was only a few years in the past, 273 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 4: old when I learned what that actually meant. 274 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:09,040 Speaker 1: Right. Yeah. We also know that public urinals around American 275 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: cities in the eighteen hundreds, they were pretty sparse, they 276 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: were pretty scattered, so public urination was frequent. Also, urinals 277 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: were not very user friendly for women or female identifying people. 278 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 3: Nope. 279 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: Yeah. This led the progressive reformers to push for municipally 280 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: supported toilets. They used a specific turn of phrase. They 281 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: called them comfort stations or rest rooms. 282 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, much like truck stops are often referred to as 283 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 4: rest areas. I think it is another kind of version 284 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 4: of sort of sanitization of you know, something that maybe 285 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 4: folks would not typically like to think about what actually 286 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 4: goes on there. 287 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 3: Let's just call it in a place of rest. 288 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 1: What's in that closet? Water? It's the poo poo hole, right, 289 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: you can't call it the poopee passage. 290 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 3: The WC. 291 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:05,160 Speaker 1: Man. 292 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 3: I love that to this day. It's such a funn 293 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 3: throwback when you go to places and it's the WC. 294 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 4: Which I guess that would be maybe a naval term, right, 295 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 4: wouldn't that have been a military term? 296 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 3: The water closet? 297 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: That's interesting. I don't know, I wonder if I wonder 298 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: if it just dates back to that being the place 299 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:23,640 Speaker 1: that had running water. 300 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 4: Also sure, because to your point, that was not common 301 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 4: indoor plumbing. Much like like I was mentioning earlier in 302 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 4: the early days of air conditioning, most people couldn't afford it, 303 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 4: but it was a great way to get your cool 304 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 4: on in the hot summer months by going and catching 305 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 4: a film at the nickelodeon. 306 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, we know that elite women's groups got involved 307 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 1: with progressive reformation movements, specifically for the idea of public toilets. 308 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: By nineteen nineteen in the United States, more than one 309 00:17:55,720 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: hundred cities had opened what they again called comfort states, 310 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:05,160 Speaker 1: either above the surface or underground. We got a plot 311 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: twist for you, folks. Everything went wrong again in nineteen 312 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: nineteen when the United States of America enacted a cartoonishly 313 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: bad idea cold prohibition. It's a crime to manufacture, transport 314 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:26,400 Speaker 1: sell ingest alcoholic beverages. A lot of unforeseen side effects, right. 315 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, don't tell me what I can't do. And by 316 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,959 Speaker 4: the way, really quickly been I was wrong. Water closet 317 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 4: just didn't come from the military. I think I was 318 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 4: thinking of the head. That might be more of a 319 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 4: military term or a term for a naval restroom. Water 320 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 4: closet was sort of an upgrade from the old English privies, 321 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 4: which were just dry places for be and pooping. You know, 322 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 4: that would just be you'd go down into a hole, 323 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 4: whereas the water closets contained a running water. To your point, Ben, 324 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,959 Speaker 4: but Boyle boy was prohibition a bad idea that had 325 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 4: a lot of unforeseen constant on to your point. 326 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, man, we're talking uh birthing straight up dynasties 327 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: of organized crime, the creation of NASCAR, which is cool. 328 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,920 Speaker 1: And then of course the government sponsored fatal poisoning of 329 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: people who still wanted to uh they get drunk despite 330 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:20,880 Speaker 1: the fact that it was illegal at the time. 331 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 3: We know there was a safe alternative would be death. 332 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: Government And what was that old joke? People will vote 333 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: for prohibition as long as they can stumble to the 334 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: polls and check out our Oh gosh, I was thinking 335 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: about this when I was researching this series. No, what 336 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: was the what's the word for that practice? American political missions. 337 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 4: People hammered, forcing them to get intoxicated and them going. 338 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:01,879 Speaker 1: Cooper Yeah, so America deathly He did have like so 339 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,640 Speaker 1: much of the world a drinking problem for a while. 340 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,719 Speaker 1: One of the knock on consequences that we don't often 341 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: talk about with prohibition legislation is that prohibition meant thousands 342 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: of those saloons with those restrooms closed, which means that 343 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: their restrooms also disappear. There was a massive increase in 344 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: the demand for more public facilities, and. 345 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 4: Probably people using going back to using the restroom in 346 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 4: the streets can contributing perhaps to, you know, a worsening 347 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 4: of public sanitation. 348 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: Everything smelled pee and poop. You think New York and 349 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: Chicago have a distinct scent now high the back to. 350 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 4: The early nineteen hundred, especially in the summer months, no 351 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:51,920 Speaker 4: doubt about it. 352 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, man, and our professor we mentioned earlier. Baldwin 353 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: notes that it did not take long before quote, concerns 354 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: about inadequate privacy, safety, and cleanliness discouraged many people, particularly women, 355 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:10,640 Speaker 1: from using public comfort stations. 356 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 3: Oh gosh, reminded about how fun that that is. 357 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: Comfort stations. It's like almost like a level above restrooms. Yeah, 358 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: it's another euphemism. And though it was a culture war, guys, 359 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: there was a series of campaigns about comfort station crimes. 360 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: Very Fox sorry, I thought it was similar to some 361 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: of the more recent claims about trans people being in 362 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: the wrong restroom. These accounts didn't have a lot of 363 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: hard evidence. They were more like disturbing gossip, moral panic. 364 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 4: Just so so, only about a fifth of the folks 365 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 4: using these comfort stations were women, and members of the 366 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 4: women's groups who had advocated for these in the first 367 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 4: place were generally not among their numbers. Is that because 368 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,480 Speaker 4: they were kind of more high class or what was 369 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 4: the issue? 370 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: Kind of because they were more high class. Honest, they 371 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: had their own washrooms and water closets. And another thing 372 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: that a lot of people hated behind closed stall doors 373 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:30,159 Speaker 1: of politics was that these comfort stations cost money. You 374 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:32,360 Speaker 1: had to run them, you had to maintain them. It's 375 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 1: the tragedy of the commons all over again. Everybody loves 376 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: a public service, but historically, at least in the US, 377 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: everybody also does anything they can to avoid personally paying 378 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: for it. Right, so, these comfort stations were expensive to municipalities. 379 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: Nobody was winning an election based on building more, and 380 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: even when the overpowering stench of urine was wafting from 381 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: the alleyways and it was clear something had to be done, 382 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 1: the local government time and time again was like, well, 383 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: we only have so much money, so they didn't build 384 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: these They didn't build this public good, these public facilities 385 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: as quickly as they should, especially in big, big cities 386 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:27,880 Speaker 1: like Boston, Chicago, New York City. 387 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:33,120 Speaker 4: Well, right, historically, there is an estimate from that era 388 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 4: and out of Manhattan that more than eighty thousand people 389 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 4: were using the public facilities every single day. So then 390 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 4: on the heels of the Prohibition crisis came another nationwide 391 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 4: crisis you might have heard of, the Great Depression. During 392 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 4: that time, New Deal policies led to federal public works 393 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,959 Speaker 4: projects that constructed bathrooms in public parks as well as 394 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 4: alongside highways interstates. This was crucial for some rural residents 395 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 4: and visitors and travelers, you know, migrant workers for example, 396 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 4: who did not have access to running water themselves. However, 397 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 4: wasn't a whole heck of a lot of help for 398 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 4: the teeming masses and as you put it, ben asses 399 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 4: in these more metropolitan areas, right, So widespread public toilets 400 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 4: that were owned by municipalities would however, not survive the 401 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 4: Great Depression. 402 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: And since we're an audio show for now, folks, please 403 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: Note that as Noll nailed the masses and asses pun 404 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: Max and I just nodded somberly. We're like, yep, tem masses, 405 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: tem asses, as we're saying. 406 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 3: Teaming with filth. Oh very much so. 407 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: At least part of this decline was due to a 408 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: massive increase in usage. I tenerant workers shout out to 409 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. They were flocking two 410 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 1: population centers for work or for government assistance, and that 411 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: means that more people were trying to use free restrooms. 412 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,720 Speaker 1: Another factor was that these same local governments were already 413 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 1: strapped for cash, and they did not really prioritize helping 414 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: the needy in this way. Like, if you have x 415 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: amount of money, right, let's say, for the sake of argument, 416 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: you have ten thousand dollars, you can spend that on 417 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 1: a breadline to feed people, or you can spend that 418 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 1: building a place for them to poop. It's one end 419 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,960 Speaker 1: or the other. And most people chose the breadlines, which 420 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: meant that again, your local city smelled of trash and 421 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:52,680 Speaker 1: excrement and aspiration. 422 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, I mean it's not to say that some 423 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,479 Speaker 3: of them don't still smell that way. At least here 424 00:25:58,520 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 3: in the United States. 425 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: Now ole was not lost. The public toilet did not 426 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: totally flush down the drain of history during the depression. 427 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 4: Now, the last of the progressive era comfort stations did 428 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 4: sally forth for a bit longer until around the late 429 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 4: sixties early seventies before they two were shut down. During 430 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 4: that same period, we started to see closure of the 431 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 4: majority of bathroom associated with public transit as well. It 432 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 4: was really entering into a pretty gnarly era where you know, 433 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 4: there was a growing gap of inequality between the haves 434 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 4: and the have nots in terms of where you had 435 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 4: access to, you know, a clean restroom. 436 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 1: Yeah, a gap as wide as the gap between the 437 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,360 Speaker 1: stall door in a US public restroom. 438 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 3: I was glad you mentioned that, Ben. 439 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 4: I wanted to shout out to friend of the show 440 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 4: Peter Tilden and Jason Alexander on their podcast Really No, Really, 441 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 4: they explore the origins of the gap underneath the public 442 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 4: bathroom stalls specifically or mostly I think, known here in 443 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 4: the United States. And I'll just give one possible reason 444 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 4: that I think a lot of people will miss is 445 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 4: that it was so that they could just, you know, 446 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 4: much more easily just dump buckets of water underneath them 447 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 4: and have the filth drain into the floor, and also 448 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 4: to be able to identify if people have befouled them 449 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 4: without having to open every single stall. 450 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: And also to prevent people from creating their own sovereign 451 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:48,159 Speaker 1: stall kingdoms. No campers, says the United States, And you 452 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 1: nailed this awesome point. Well, this is a return to 453 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 1: the old squatting and equality of the past. The less 454 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: money you have, the tougher it is for you to 455 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: find a decent place to poop. This is what leads 456 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:08,640 Speaker 1: Professor Baldwin to say, bodily privacy becomes a purchasable commodity 457 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 1: instead of a right conferred by government on all citizens. 458 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: And you know, let's think about it this way, where 459 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: Max weinl we're yours truly, We're owning a business. And 460 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: now in the nineteen sixties and seventies, we are getting 461 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 1: a lot of people coming to our store and they're saying, hey, 462 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: can I use the restroom? Can I use the facilities? 463 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: And now there's no real law for against it. It 464 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: becomes a matter of quick ad hoc judgment. So Max 465 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 1: Noll and yours truly are asking ourselves, does this person 466 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: look poor. Are they going to buy something? Do I 467 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: feel like helping them out? 468 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 4: Well, And that's why I mentioned the whole like, you know, 469 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 4: a bathroom code situation at the bottom of the receipt. 470 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 3: At least it. 471 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 4: Removes the ambiguity and the ability to judge. Right, if 472 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 4: you get a receipt, you get to use the bathroom. 473 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 4: I don't personally have a huge problem with that, especially 474 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 4: as we get into the concept of pay toilets. 475 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm with you there, bro, because it is 476 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:19,720 Speaker 1: technically private property here in the US, we have this 477 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: unspoken negotiation occurring in full force every day legality or 478 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: illegality aside. Modern laws technically require a business to have 479 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: a certain number of restrooms based on occupancy use and 480 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:40,560 Speaker 1: applicable building codes, which means that in a lot of places, 481 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: in a lot of cities, if someone tells you you 482 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: have to buy something to use the restroom, you can 483 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: tell them they're breaking the law. But who wants to 484 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: be that person. 485 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 3: That's a really good point. 486 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 4: But I never really thought about that and the idea 487 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 4: that a place absolutely has no public restroom whatsoever, or 488 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 4: that they're only reserve for employees. I bet you there's 489 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,000 Speaker 4: some legal gray areas there too. 490 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: One hundred percent. Man, and I know all three of 491 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: us and probably all four of us. You listening along 492 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,720 Speaker 1: at home, you probably run into a place that has 493 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,800 Speaker 1: a no public restroom sign or the slightly less daunting 494 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 1: restrooms for customers only. That is alluding to pay toilets. 495 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: So we have this huge poop problem in the States, 496 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 1: and like you tease so well, nol. Up until about 497 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, the society of the United States arrived 498 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: at a band aid solution. They said, everybody's got a pee, 499 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: everybody's got a poop. Population is growing more people need 500 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: somewhere to pee and poop. No one wants to pay 501 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: for it. It's a lot of work. It's thoroughly underappreciated. 502 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: Nobody acknowledges that we're cleaning up their poop. Till something 503 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: gets wrong they get mad. Our solution, pay toilets. 504 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 4: Yes, indeed, there where tens of thousands of these in 505 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 4: the United States, overwhelmingly in urban areas. 506 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:05,479 Speaker 3: It was a pretty simple concept. 507 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 4: You pay a nominal fee with a coin and you 508 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 4: get access to a private stall to do your business. 509 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 3: Race Color and Creed didn't theoretically matter. As long as 510 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 3: you had that coin, you were free to go. 511 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 4: There was, of course, you know, like the idea of 512 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 4: poll taxes and things like that, there is an inherent 513 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 4: exclusion anytime you have to pay. 514 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 3: For something that had previously been free. 515 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 1: Well said, yeah, it's a dime, right, Typically, if you 516 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: have a dime, you theoretically can go. But as you 517 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: noted NOL, there was still discrimination, not just discrimination against 518 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: the halves via the half notts feminists in particular. We're 519 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: pissed off about this. Oh, unintentional, got unintentional. 520 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 3: We'll keep it. We'll keep it. 521 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 1: But the thing is you could just go to a 522 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 1: standing urinal and pee there for free. You had to 523 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,400 Speaker 1: pay for access to a stall, which means that if 524 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: you were a dude, you don't have to pony up 525 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: a dime to get some relief. But if you are 526 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 1: a woman, female identifying, it is going to cost you 527 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: to just just to vacate your bowels. And you know, 528 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 1: trust me, right right, bladder better, yes, bladder is better 529 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,960 Speaker 1: than that one. But trust us, folks, the three of 530 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,280 Speaker 1: us making this show, our dudes, and we can tell 531 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: you from regrettable personal experience all around the world. Most 532 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 1: dudes will pee pretty much anywhere if we have to. 533 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 4: Well, if you need to rock a sneaky p it's 534 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 4: certainly easier to do it in a low key fashion. 535 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 3: As a dude than it is as a lady. 536 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 4: I think we can all acknowledge the truth of that, 537 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 4: and that that is one of the perks of being 538 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 4: a dude, of which there are no other. 539 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:01,880 Speaker 3: There's no other privileges. 540 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: No, no, this show is over, No more questions. No, 541 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: we're saying, we're saying, the beautiful girl. We're saying that 542 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:13,800 Speaker 1: you can make a strong argument on the side of 543 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: those municipalities that free use standing urinals or key public 544 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: front line in the battle against making your against your 545 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: city smelling like rank piss. 546 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 3: It's from key is keep dudes from just marking their territory. 547 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 4: Basically, you know, I say public service, a public service 548 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,280 Speaker 4: should be something that benefits everybody. But technically, in the 549 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 4: situation it is it is solving a problem, or it 550 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 4: is addressing a problem that isn't necessarily intended to be sexist. 551 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, but it is. But it also inherently kind of 552 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:50,959 Speaker 3: is right. 553 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, inherently it's leaving a roughly fifty one percent of 554 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,440 Speaker 1: the population behind right, the it's no surprise the public 555 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 1: hated pay toilets because at this point a lot of 556 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,680 Speaker 1: people we have to remember we're still old enough to 557 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 1: recall the days when toilets were free, or they be 558 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,920 Speaker 1: irritated because imagine this. You have a dollar, you have 559 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,840 Speaker 1: like a dollar bill, or you have a quarter, but 560 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: you don't have a dime, and you need exact change, 561 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 1: and you're like, I'm not poor, I need to poop. 562 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,879 Speaker 1: Why do I have to specifically have a dime? 563 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,240 Speaker 4: Well, and as I was mentioning Ben, I've only specifically 564 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,359 Speaker 4: seen this in Germany, but pay toilets are still really 565 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:33,800 Speaker 4: popular over there, and you can even like swipe your phone, 566 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,879 Speaker 4: you know, tap pay, and you do find that those 567 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 4: public restrooms are much more well maintained because you know, 568 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 4: part of that cost goes into paying staff. 569 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 3: To keep them, you know, more pristine. 570 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, and as you can tell folks, this is 571 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:58,840 Speaker 1: an unsustainable, untenable situation in the United States. This is 572 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 1: part one of the ridiculously inspiring story of free toilets 573 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: in our country. We cannot wait to well, we'll have 574 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: to wait, but we cannot wait for you to join 575 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 1: us for the second part of this two part series. 576 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 1: We've given you the background, We've taken you right to 577 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: the edge of the stall. We'll tell a story that 578 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 1: the flush Jedi won't tell you in part two. Big 579 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: big thanks to our super producer, mister Max Williams. 580 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:31,840 Speaker 4: Oh big big thanks to you Ben for doing the 581 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 4: research on this series. And also thanks to Jonathan's Trickland 582 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,640 Speaker 4: the Quiztor. Yeah there you go, Ay to Bahama. That's 583 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:41,840 Speaker 4: the sound it makes when you blow raspberry on his 584 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 4: bald head. And aj Bahamas Jacob's the Puzzler. 585 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 1: Also Doctor Rachel big Spinach, Lance, world's foremost authority on 586 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:53,800 Speaker 1: underwater explosions, the rude Dudes of ridiculous crime. If you 587 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 1: dig us, you will dig them. No, big, big thanks 588 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,880 Speaker 1: to you. I'm really excited for the second part of 589 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,279 Speaker 1: this series because you and I will be able to 590 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,280 Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about pooping around the world. 591 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: I can't believe that's true, but that's what we're gonna do. 592 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:11,200 Speaker 4: Do. 593 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: That's what we're gonna do do. 594 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, this is our job. It's weird. Hey, We'll see 595 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:16,680 Speaker 3: you next time, folks. 596 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:27,360 Speaker 4: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, 597 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:29,560 Speaker 4: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.