History of the Flushing Toilet: The John Traditional Cache
PhatBldGuy: Gone...it was fun while it lasted
History of the Flushing Toilet: The John
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
One of a series of six caches placed to spread knowledge of toilets and the history of some slang!
John Harington was a courtier, author and master of art. He became a prominent member of Queen Elizabeth I's court, and was known as her 'saucy Godson'. But because of his poetry and other writings, he fell in and out of favor with the Queen, as well as with her successor, James I. Britain's first flushing toilet, called the Ajax, installed at his manor in Kelston, and which was reputed to have been current with the queen herself. In 1596, Harington wrote a book called "A New Discourse upon a Stale Subject: The Metamorphosis of Ajax" about his invention. He published it under the pseudonym of Misacmos. The book made political allusions to the Earl of Leicester that angered the Queen, and he was again banished from the court. The Queen's mixed feelings for him may be the only thing that saved Harington from being tried at Star Chamber. It is believed that Queen Victoria referred to Harington's invention as her 'John'; a name still used today when referring to a toilet, or bathroom, most commonly in the USA. Although a precursor to the modern flush toilet system was designed in 1596 by John Harington, such systems did not come into widespread use until the late nineteenth century.
Thomas Crapper was a plumber who founded Thomas Crapper & Co. in London. Contrary to widespread misconceptions, Crapper did not invent the flush toilet. He did, however, do much to increase the popularity of the toilet, and developed some important related inventions, such as the ballcock. He was noted for the quality of his products and received several Royal Warrants.
The manhole covers with Crapper's company's name on them in Westminster Abbey are now a minor tourist attraction.
It has often been claimed in popular culture that the slang term for human bodily waste, "crap", originated with Thomas Crapper because of his association with lavatories. The most common version of this story is that American servicemen stationed in England during World War I saw his name on cisterns and used it as army slang, i.e., "I'm going to the crapper".
The word crap is actually of Middle English origin; and hence predates its application to bodily waste. Its first application to bodily waste, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, appeared in 1846 under a reference to a crapping ken, or a privy, where ken means a house.
Its most likely etymological origin is a combination of two older words, the Dutch krappen: to pluck off, cut off, or separate; and the Old French crappe: siftings, waste or rejected matter (from the medieval Latin crappa, chaff).
(All information pulled from Wikipedia.)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybgf bs Zncyr
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures