The three shells.
When I was young we only used two shells, and we were happy with it.
We used to dream of having two shells.
Two shells?
Luxury.
I remember being so poor that we had to make do with just an image of a shell printed on three-ply quilted cotton fiber tissue, because we couldn’t even afford paper!
You all probably already know this but on a related note, royalty used to move from castle to castle because they relieved themselves through a small window and the waste ran down an inner wall. When it built up the stench would prod them to move on.
Bringing the outhouse in was a radical choice for some because what went on in the privy was considered nasty. When we moved to the country country (2nd move was even more rural) we had a grand two-storey farmhouse—with one bathroom. And it was on the porch.
But that was better than the solution chosen by relatives who still lived in the city; not having a wrap-around porch they put their new bathroom in the livingroom, the only room large enough to accommodate it. Imagine decorating around that. lol
And using water to cleanse yourself—haven’t we come full circle with bidets? (Which usually only wealthy people have.)
Cite, please?
In days of old,
When knights were bold,
And toilets weren’t invented.
They’d drop their load
Beside the road
And ride away contented.
In days of old when knights were bold
And toilet paper hadn’t been invented
They’d wipe their arse with a clump of grass
And went away quite contented.
So, in left-hand-is-reserved-for-personal-hygiene countries:
Do cooks have special techniques for handling food one-handed?
Or is this just one of those things that restaurant patrons try not to think about?