Watching show. They laughed at toilet in basement with no walls. They
actually removed it. I didn't really think nothing of it being from
Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh toilet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_toilet

Greg

On Nov 20, 9:57*pm, gregz wrote:
Watching show. They laughed at toilet in basement with no walls. They
actually removed it. I didn't really think nothing of it being from
Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh toilet.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_toilet

Greg

I have seen a few of those over the years, usually a shower curtain or
something around them

On 11/20/2011 9:57 PM, gregz wrote:
Watching show. They laughed at toilet in basement with no walls. They
actually removed it. I didn't really think nothing of it being from
Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh toilet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_toilet

That was a standard thing in our post-WWII Minnesota neighborhood. As
a kid I thought an open toilet (well, usually screened with a shower
curtain) was weird, but then I figured, how often are people using a
basement?

Years later I toured a Frank Lloyd Wright mansion (the Dana-Thomas
House in Illinois). Although it was a mansion, it had only two
bathrooms, one of which was in the master bedroom area. Neither the
bedroom nor the bathroom had doors, but the open, doorless feature was
a characteristic of that home's design. Lots of smallish rooms, few
doors. It was hard to imagine the wealthy woman who'd owned it
throwing such huge parties (she had her own railroad siding for the
convenience of her equally wealthy guests), when the rooms were so
small and the whole place had only two biffies.

On Nov 21, 7:45 am, Hell Toupee wrote:
On 11/20/2011 9:57 PM, gregz wrote:

Watching show. They laughed at toilet in basement with no walls. They
actually removed it. I didn't really think nothing of it being from
Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh toilet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_toilet

That was a standard thing in our post-WWII Minnesota neighborhood. As
a kid I thought an open toilet (well, usually screened with a shower
curtain) was weird, but then I figured, how often are people using a
basement?

The weirdest toilet location I ever saw was on the landing of a stair
to a basement. You'd open the door to the basement and the toilet was
staring at you. You had to squeeze by it to go down the stairs.

Years later I toured a Frank Lloyd Wright mansion (the Dana-Thomas
House in Illinois). Although it was a mansion, it had only two
bathrooms, one of which was in the master bedroom area. Neither the
bedroom nor the bathroom had doors, but the open, doorless feature was
a characteristic of that home's design. Lots of smallish rooms, few
doors. It was hard to imagine the wealthy woman who'd owned it
throwing such huge parties (she had her own railroad siding for the
convenience of her equally wealthy guests), when the rooms were so
small and the whole place had only two biffies.

Thirty years ago I was on a FLLW historic tour, led by Edgar Tafel,
and we hit a whole bunch of Wright's buildings, the Dana house being
one of them. I don't remember all of the details, but I don't
remember there being a dearth of doors or bathrooms.

The basement level has two bathrooms.
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/i...eet/00003a.tif

The first floor has two bathrooms.
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/i...eet/00004a.tif

The second floor has three bathrooms, and all of them have doors, as
does the master bedroom.
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/i...eet/00005a.tif

R

On Nov 21, 1:25*pm, wrote:
On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:57:49 +0000 (UTC), gregz
wrote:

Watching show. They laughed at toilet in basement with no walls. They
actually removed it. I didn't really think nothing of it being from
Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh toilet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_toilet

Greg

The original idea was that in a starter house, Harry homeowner was
going to finish that basement (he dreamed of knotty pine, usually
settled on paneling) .

They set the toilet because that is virtually impossible later.

I think most states required the builder to put up some kind of
partition (it was always a "powder room" in Md) and I guess they
didn't have that law in Pittsburgh.

In most of the older Pittsburgh homes that I've seen, there *was* a
rudimentary partition (sort of like a residential version of a stall,)
although no proper bathroom - I guess you washed your hands in the
laundry sink. For some reason none of the basements ever seemed to
get finished; they just remained utility or workshop/laundry space.

nate

"hr(bob) " wrote:
On Nov 20, 9:57 pm, gregz wrote:
Watching show. They laughed at toilet in basement with no walls. They
actually removed it. I didn't really think nothing of it being from
Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh toilet.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_toilet

Greg

I have seen a few of those over the years, usually a shower curtain or
something around them

When I was young, I remember one time seeing my grandfather coming home
from the mine. Black black black. They had an outhouse. They also would set
up a washtub in middle of kitchen, warm water on the coal stove. Life is
good.

Greg

On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:45:02 -0600, Hell Toupee
wrote:



It was hard to imagine the wealthy woman who'd owned it
throwing such huge parties (she had her own railroad siding for the
convenience of her equally wealthy guests), when the rooms were so
small and the whole place had only two biffies.


Hard to imagine today, but back then, two fixtures was real luxury.
Just a few years earlier, it would have been chamber pots and
outhouses.

We sure have it good today in our part of the world.

On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:27:13 -0800 (PST), N8N
wrote:



In most of the older Pittsburgh homes that I've seen, there *was* a
rudimentary partition (sort of like a residential version of a stall,)
although no proper bathroom - I guess you washed your hands in the
laundry sink. For some reason none of the basements ever seemed to
get finished; they just remained utility or workshop/laundry space.

nate

As a kid, our house in Philadelphia was like that. Just a small
partition and a pull chain light. Basements were not usually finished
in the 40's and 50's and it was utilitarian for laundry, storage,, the
furnace, etc.

We had no clothes dryer so in the winter, mom put up lines and hung
the clothes in the basement. At that point, we did have an automatic
washing machine though, but wringer models were still in regular use.

On Nov 21, 10:30*pm, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:27:13 -0800 (PST), N8N
wrote:



In most of the older Pittsburgh homes that I've seen, there *was* a
rudimentary partition (sort of like a residential version of a stall,)
although no proper bathroom - I guess you washed your hands in the
laundry sink. *For some reason none of the basements ever seemed to
get finished; they just remained utility or workshop/laundry space.

nate

As a kid, our house in Philadelphia was like that. *Just a small
partition and a pull chain light. *Basements were not usually finished
in the 40's and 50's and it was utilitarian for laundry, storage,, the
furnace, etc.

We had no clothes dryer so in the winter, mom put up lines and hung
the clothes in the basement. *At that point, we did have an automatic
washing machine though, but wringer models were still in regular use.

Hah. memories... I think it was only when my grandparents moved to a
new(er) smaller house sometime after I graduated from high school when
my grandmother abandoned her old Maytag washing machine with the
manual wringer for a new(er) automatic one. IIRC there was a mini-
apartment in the old horse barn that hadn't been used in ages save for
storage, and there was another one in there presumably for parts in
case something broke. It wasn't that they didn't have money, she just
claimed that it was what she was used to, and anyway, it did a better
job than those newfangled automatic washers. (don't know if that's
true or not, I've never used one save for helping her...)

I seriously hope that whoever bought the place called in an antiques
dealer to get rid of that stuff, instead of the junk man... I'm sure
that there's people out there that would consider a working 40's
vintage washing machine to be collectible.

nate

On Nov 22, 10:21*am, N8N wrote:
On Nov 21, 10:30*pm, Ed Pawlowski wrote:





On Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:27:13 -0800 (PST), N8N
wrote:

In most of the older Pittsburgh homes that I've seen, there *was* a
rudimentary partition (sort of like a residential version of a stall,)
although no proper bathroom - I guess you washed your hands in the
laundry sink. *For some reason none of the basements ever seemed to
get finished; they just remained utility or workshop/laundry space.

nate

As a kid, our house in Philadelphia was like that. *Just a small
partition and a pull chain light. *Basements were not usually finished
in the 40's and 50's and it was utilitarian for laundry, storage,, the
furnace, etc.

We had no clothes dryer so in the winter, mom put up lines and hung
the clothes in the basement. *At that point, we did have an automatic
washing machine though, but wringer models were still in regular use.

Hah. *memories... I think it was only when my grandparents moved to a
new(er) smaller house sometime after I graduated from high school when
my grandmother abandoned her old Maytag washing machine with the
manual wringer for a new(er) automatic one. *IIRC there was a mini-
apartment in the old horse barn that hadn't been used in ages save for
storage, and there was another one in there presumably for parts in
case something broke. *It wasn't that they didn't have money, she just
claimed that it was what she was used to, and anyway, it did a better
job than those newfangled automatic washers. *(don't know if that's
true or not, I've never used one save for helping her...)

I seriously hope that whoever bought the place called in an antiques
dealer to get rid of that stuff, instead of the junk man... *I'm sure
that there's people out there that would consider a working 40's
vintage washing machine to be collectible.

nate- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

i have a wealthy friend, who still uses a wringer washer. just him and
his 2 sisters