Pay toilet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A pay toilet is a public toilet that demands money payment of any individual to use. It may be street furniture or be inside a building, e.g. a mall, department store, railway station, restaurant, etc. The reason of charging money for using toilets usually is for the maintenance of the equipment.
The practice of charging for use of public toilets is the origin of the British euphemism for urination, "to spend a penny."
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[edit] Modern times
Pay toilets are not uncommon in Europe. Paris, in particular, makes heavy use of them; the streets of the city are forested with self-cleaning, coin-op booths (landmarks like Sacre-Coeur generally have several). Riders on the Metro may encounter coin-op bathrooms in the underground stations; and even non-mechanized bathrooms occasionally have attendants who expect tips. Some service stations offer a coupon equal in value to the amount paid for use of a toilet, redeemable for other goods at that station or others in the same chain.
The use of pay toilets has been made illegal by some municipalities. A campaign by the Committee to End Pay Toilets In America (CEPTIA) resulted in laws against pay toilets being enacted in a number of cities and states in the mid-1970s.[citation needed], making pay toilets almost unknown in America. Around that time, most restroom owners found they were losing more money due to stolen pay boxes than they made. In other locations, public restrooms must have one free toilet for every 4 to 5 pay toilets.
In the past, some businesses used the payment system to limit access to toilets, and this is still accomplished by use of a key system for patrons only and outright denial of access to the wider public. In most areas, this is illegal for public (stadiums, for example) and government buildings.
In the United Kingdom it is technically permitted to charge for use of toilets, but not for the use of urinals.
Pay toilets on the streets may provide urinals free of charge to prevent public urination.
[edit] History
[edit] Ancient times
The earliest public toilets were set up in Knossos of the Minoan civilization in the Crete island, now part of Greece[citation needed]. However, the earliest pay toilets were erected in Ancient Rome in 74 AD during the rule of Vespasian, after a civil war in Rome affected Roman finance. The Emperor's initiative was derided by his adversaries; his son Titus even criticised him, to which Vespasian replied by holding up a coin from the first collection to his son's nose and asking him whether its smell offended him. Titus responded negatively, to which Vespasian replied "e lotio est" ("And yet it comes from urine").
[edit] Middle Ages
In some cities during the Middle Ages, there were sellers of public toilets who were equipped with a large cloak and a bucket. For a fee, one could use the bucket while hidden by the cloak.
[edit] References
- Suetonius - The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, VIII, Vespasian XXIII
