@nzkites Hi John - just reading between the lines on their plaque I fear the lack of a roof may have been a practical thing - everything just got washed into the nearby creek! :)
@bintal LOL - it is all a bit weird ! It reminded me of street urinals we've seen somewhere overseas - just a curve of metal that the men walked behind- no roof, no floor, no door - you could see their heads and their feet! :)
Rob this is so interesting! and the comments are fun. As you say in Europe open air public toilets for men were quite common. I haven't seen any in a long time. They are called Vespasiani, from the name of the roman emperor Vespasiano who put a tax on the urine collected in public toilet from which ammonium was extracted to tan skin. The history goes that his son Tito was upset for this tax (that generated a large amount of money), but Vespasiano answersed that money doesn't smell. The sent4ence is now commonly used (at least in Italy) to criticise people who don't worry about the ethics of gaining money. Fav
Hi Caterina - thank you so much for all of this info. It's absolutely fascinating! I love the phrase "Money doesn't smell" and how it's used. What a colourful history goes with it! Cheers Rob.
April 24th, 2018
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