American Revolutionary Toilets
American Revolutionary Toilets
You can visit Benjamin Franklin's home in
Philadelphia
and see his brick-lined toilet pit.
A nearby sign explains:
This brick-lined, circular "necessary" (privy)
pit was probably built when
Franklin expanded his house in 1786-1787.
A stone drain connecting to a vertical brick
pipe conveyed waste into the pit either from
Franklin's "water closet", "bathing room",
or "run-off" from the sunken areaway outside
the cellar kitchen.
This is a remnant of areaway foundation
retaining wall. Vertical brick pipe.
[all those calling out areas on a floor plan]
And also:
"... [Dr. Franklin] is obliged to use the warm bath
every day to ease the pain of the gallstone.
His bathing vessel is said to be a curiosity;
it is copper, in the form of a slipper;
he sits in the heel and his legs go under
the vamp, on the instep he has a place to
fix his book, and here he sits and
enjoys himself ..."
Rev. Belknap to Rev. Manasseh Cutler,
Nov 18, 1785
Elsewhere on the same property you find another privy pit and a nearby water well.
While Benjamin Franklin was clearly a genius in some areas, the very close spacing of a drinking water well and privy pit on his property makes you wonder what he was thinking...