# What is this antique (c. 1900) device that I believe is almost certainly toilet-related **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187 "2026-09-18T19:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/1 "2026-09-18T19:10:14Z")
[Look at the wall behind the left shoulder of the girl in the middle](https://youtu.be/oCR4tfQBd6w?si=XXUgieEvGchs3VRI&t=17). The entire contraption, I think, is for, shall we say, personal business. The big bowl for washing one’s hands, and the big circular gizmo above it I think is the predecesser to the modern toilet seat. Allows the user to sit [more or less] comfortably while above the chamber pot. Is the entire device all one contraption? Like is the user’s head beneath the washbowl while she sits and poops? And it seems to be in an attic - did they keep these things handy in every room in the Edwardian Era (before bathrooms)? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/2 "2026-09-18T19:21:44Z")
It looks like there’s a smaller version behind the other girl and a high chair behind the third girl. I might be off a few decades, but I thought they had a “water closet” for ablutions and “the loo” was another term for it, derived from “visiting Lady Louisa.” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/3 "2026-09-18T19:24:24Z")
To me, it looks like a standard washstand where the “toilet seat gizmo” is supposed to have a mirror in it. Compare with this: > **[File:WLM14ES - Barcelona Piso 1497 07 de julio de 2011 - .jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WLM14ES_-_Barcelona_Piso_1497_07_de_julio_de_2011_-_.jpg)** ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/4 "2026-09-18T19:25:01Z")
Looks like a mirror above a washing bowl to me. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/5 "2026-09-18T19:33:50Z")
OH, that makes sense!!! And what I thought was just shadow in the lower right hand corner is the reflection of the timber holding up the roof! ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/6 "2026-09-18T19:36:09Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > a high chair behind the third girl It does look like a high chair - a dangerous and precarious one. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/7 "2026-09-18T20:50:41Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > and “the loo” was another term for it, derived from “visiting Lady Louisa.” If “visiting Lady Louisa” is an actual expression, it derives from “loo”, not the other way around. “Loo” derives from French “le lieu”, “the place”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/8 "2026-09-18T21:53:04Z")
Now you’ve done it! Unca Cecil sez: > **[Why do we call it the “john”?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341733/why-do-we-call-it-the-john)** ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/9 "2026-09-18T22:12:31Z")
If it helps [here is a video](https://youtu.be/oCR4tfQBd6w) from the movie the picture in the OP is from: ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/10 "2026-09-19T07:59:09Z")
The “picture” in the OP.is that video. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-antique-c-1900-device-that-i-believe-is-almost-certainly-toilet-related/1033187/11 "2026-09-19T20:41:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Loo” derives from French “le lieu”, “the place”. The version I know is that it derives from _l’eau_ - (the) water. But google AI says there’s no consensus. j