Toilets of the World

Welcome to the Toilets of the World

Are you wondering why people hoard toilet paper? Wondering how to use a bidet, or even what a bidet is? Curious about what the toilets are like in other countries? Toilets from ancient history? Do you wonder who invented the flush toilet? (It wasn't Thomas Crapper!) You've come to the right place!

Toilets around the world:
Belgium Bulgaria China France Greek Islands Japan Morocco Trinidad Russia and many others
Toilets from throughout history:
The Stone Age Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Bible era King Arthur's England Invention of the flush toilet To the toilets of the future

150 days until Thomas Crapper's birthday

209 days until World Toilet Day

Answers for your important questions: Why do people hoard toilet paper? Did Thomas Crapper invent the flush toilet? Should I squat or sit? Should I wipe or wash? Where do I put used paper, in the bowl or in the bin? When did public toilets become segregated by sex? What is a bidet? What is a toilet snorkel? Should I incinerate my sewage in the basement?

Toilets of world leaders, artists, and authors: The Ottoman Sultan Woodrow Wilson Leon Trotsky Winston Churchill Adolf Hitler Dwight Eisenhower Robert Kennedy William Shakespeare Edgar Allan Poe Vincent Van Gogh Jim Morrison Lady Gaga

How to Buy and Install Your Own Squat Toilet in Your Home

Chinese plumbing shop, Yangshuo, Guangxi Province, People's Republic of China.

People ask me from time to time, "How can I install a squat toilet in my home?" These might be people who have recently moved to the U.S. Once in a while it's someone like a U.S. Air Force veteran who was stationed at Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey and came to prefer squatting. Sometimes it's someone squatting for health reasons. You can purchase squat toilets in the U.S. The difficult part is getting them installed and, in some places, getting the installation approved through health or building safety inspections. A few alternatives or workarounds are available. Here is everything I have been able to find on the topic.

If you want to have a squat toilet in your home or office, there are three possible solutions:

Buy and install a squat toilet.
Buy and use a portable squat toilet.
Buy or build an elevated squatting platform contraption. Try not to fall off of it and hurt yourself.

Toilette au couloir in the Hotel du Palais, Rouen, France.

Lower-cost French hotels, the far more interesting ones where you meet and talk with the owners, sometimes have en suite rooms (with their own toilets) but they frequently feature a toilette au couloir, a toilet down the hall as seen above.

The shower may be down the hall, or even on a different floor. Go to the front desk and get the shower key, and make sure to return it when you're finished!

I have an extensive collection of French toilets, including pissior publics, brasserie toilets, the Paris sewers, on board the high-speed French trains, and the automated public toilets invented in France years ago and only recently appearing in the U.S.,

Check back tomorrow for another featured toilet!

Who is the Toilet Guru?