Jun 6, 2023 04:24 PM
https://sciencenorway.no/history/this-is...st/2206406
EXCERPT: “They didn't have toilets in the countryside, so instead they had a designated spot. You would go there to pee and poo,” Hutchison says. “Preferably near the water or by a stream. And ideally, the current should flow downward, so they could collect drinking water higher up in the stream.”
It was important to defecate and urinate in the right place near the stream, where the water would flow downward. If people fetched water from an area that had been contaminated with urine and feces, they could get sick. “People didn't drink water in the old days in Norway because it made them sick. They drank whey. It contained so much alcohol that the bacteria died,” she says.
Whey is what remains after making cheese from milk.
Outdoor toilets did not exist on Norwegian farms until the 19th century. Only wealthy people had outdoor toilets before that. “Previously, they didn't need it; they could simply go outside and pee. They would just go outdoors or behind the barn to relieve themselves,” Hutchison says.
Some farms had a pole against the house wall that they could sit on to go to the toilet. “They could sit there, dangling their legs with their bottoms in the air,” Hutchison says.
An outdoor toilet with two holes, so multiple people can use the toilet at the same time.
“Outdoor toilets with multiple seats that could accommodate several people existed. Did they go to the toilet at the same time?”
“Yes! I’m sure you’ve heard that girls go to the bathroom together? Here, we have both girls and boys who went to the bathroom together. And they would sit there and have a pleasant chat with each other,” she says.
Hutchison adds that it was probably more practical to have multiple seats. “There were many people, children, and servants, and everyone needed to use the toilet. It was more convenient to empty if all the waste ended up in one place rather than in several separate outdoor toilets,” she says... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: “They didn't have toilets in the countryside, so instead they had a designated spot. You would go there to pee and poo,” Hutchison says. “Preferably near the water or by a stream. And ideally, the current should flow downward, so they could collect drinking water higher up in the stream.”
It was important to defecate and urinate in the right place near the stream, where the water would flow downward. If people fetched water from an area that had been contaminated with urine and feces, they could get sick. “People didn't drink water in the old days in Norway because it made them sick. They drank whey. It contained so much alcohol that the bacteria died,” she says.
Whey is what remains after making cheese from milk.
Outdoor toilets did not exist on Norwegian farms until the 19th century. Only wealthy people had outdoor toilets before that. “Previously, they didn't need it; they could simply go outside and pee. They would just go outdoors or behind the barn to relieve themselves,” Hutchison says.
Some farms had a pole against the house wall that they could sit on to go to the toilet. “They could sit there, dangling their legs with their bottoms in the air,” Hutchison says.
An outdoor toilet with two holes, so multiple people can use the toilet at the same time.
“Outdoor toilets with multiple seats that could accommodate several people existed. Did they go to the toilet at the same time?”
“Yes! I’m sure you’ve heard that girls go to the bathroom together? Here, we have both girls and boys who went to the bathroom together. And they would sit there and have a pleasant chat with each other,” she says.
Hutchison adds that it was probably more practical to have multiple seats. “There were many people, children, and servants, and everyone needed to use the toilet. It was more convenient to empty if all the waste ended up in one place rather than in several separate outdoor toilets,” she says... (MORE - missing details)