the Mr. Toilet House in South Korea, now a potty theme park
I haven’t posted an edition of Friday Fun Links in a while, but I stumbled across an article which has gotten me back in the saddle (at least for this week). Those who’ve read Fat White Vampire Blues know that I’m not adverse to potty humor; in fact, I’m rather fond of it (having three boys between the ages of six and nine in the house helps). So, when I came across this article announcing that Hitler’s toilet (actually, the toilet from his mega-yacht) has spent every year since 1945 in a suburban town in New Jersey, and it recently went on tour in England, well… I just had to share.
Just one link an edition of Friday Fun Links does not make. So I had to check if there had been any other interesting toilet-related stories in the news. Turns out, yes, there have been. Suwon, South Korea is now home to the world’s only potty-centered theme park. And I’m sure you’ll be happy (and maybe even relieved) to learn the following: “the proceeds from the museum will go towards cleaner toilets around the world…”
Here’s a video link for those potty fans unable to make a trip to South Korea, plus a little background on the Mr. Toilet House and its builder, Sim Jae-Duck.
Needless to say, I was stunned to learn that the Mr. Toilet House was not the world’s first toilet museum; an institution in India can lay claim to that honor.
All this potty news got me thinking about the original Mr. Toilet, the reputed inventor of the flush commode, Thomas Crapper. Unfortunately, just a wee bit of internet research debunked my favorite story about the man, how his products had led to the origin of the words “crap” and “crapper.” As it turns out, the Gladstone Pottery Museum, “the only complete Victorian pottery factory from the days when coal-burning ovens made the world’s finest bone china,” was more than happy to dispel all the myths circulating around the illustrious Mr. Crapper. Disappointingly, he didn’t invent the flush toilet. All my illusions are shattered, shattered, I tell you!
If, however, now that I have pissed all over the legend of Thomas Crapper, you still insist on deifying the man and outfitting your home with genuine crapper equipment, rest assured that you are not out of luck; Thomas Crapper and Co. Ltd., Producers of the World’s Most Authentic Period Style Sanitaryware, are more than happy to supply you with the bathroom of your Steampunkiest dreams.
Update: So sorry! Links were not properly flushing before, but they are fixed now.
