Loos…Lavatories…toilets…urinals.
Call them what you will, we all need them. The early part
of the nineteenth century witnessed various public ways of
dealing with this issue. By Victorian times the City fathers
encouraged the process to become a much more private affair
through the construction of what they called ‘public
conveniences’. What they were really on about was not
so much public convenience as public order through ensuring
that the activities in question were carried out in private.
Over time provision of loos was made in hotels, in large
stores, at railway and ferry terminals and at other public
places such as the markets. The timing and type of facilities
provided makes good commentary on the social and cultural
history of the city.
