The Compleat Loo: A Lavatorial Miscellany by Roger Kilroy (1996)

This book came to my attention because it was marked as a duplicate in our system and had been withdrawn. I wondered – why on Earth do we have two copies of a book about toilets? It turned out that the duplicate copy was a mistake, but now the book was on my desk. I just had to take a look at it.

Don’t we all have a sort-of fascination with other people’s bathrooms? It is such a personal, private space and offers you a small glimpse into a different life. Roger Kilroy’s book taps into that latent curiosity and provides a historical review of bathrooms throughout the ages. 

Cover image: Goodreads.com 

This book was the result of Kilroy’s other project, research on graffiti, which resulted in him spending a lot of time in public toilets. He says, “I became fascinated by the range of facilities available – from ancient channel urinals requiring delicacy of aim to massive marbled thrones which always produced a comfortable feeling of relaxation. I began to wonder what life must have been like before there were flush lavatories. What did people do?”

The Compleat Loo is more of a picture book than a scholarly attempt to detail the history and progression of toilets, but Kilroy does provide several interesting facts to consider (albeit uncited). He tells us that as far back as 2,500 BC cities in the Indus valley “had houses with bathrooms and water-flushed lavatories which were connected to a sewerage system.” An interesting turn in the history of bathrooms was the Victorian trend towards more decorative porcelain toilets – no longer merely a functional object, the toilet was also a work of art. 

Twyford’s “Unitas” image: LAL Language Centres StopPress Magazine, http://lalschools.com/

There are also beautifully done mosaics from the floors of the Orient Express bathrooms. 

Chatsworth Mosaic For The Orient Express Northern Belle image: Mosaic Mad Romans, http://www.mosaicmadromans.com

In all, this is a cute book, a nice coffee table book. It helps to satisfy some curiosity and piques other interests.