did they have public out houses in San Francisco back in 1890 - 1900?

[green papaya]

I wonder where the people back in 1890's - early 1900's in San Francisco went to the rest room? did they have public out houses for people to use? or did they simply go in the alley or behind a bush or something?

when I look at old photos sometimes the streets were packed with people, they had to go somewhere?

 

[Lean'n'mean]

They all wore diapers back then

 

[Stanley Doble]

Indoor plumbing was available but not everywhere. Cities like San Francisco would have it. In small towns and villages you would have the old fashioned outhouse in back of the buildings.

Scientists and medical men proved a link between outhouses, contaminated water and diseases like cholera and dysentery in the mid 19th century. This led to keeping the outhouse far away from the well to avoid contamination. But in cities this was impractical, leading to a drive for modern sewerage systems and water systems.

The big problem was urine and droppings from horses. They contributed 98% of the dust and dirt in the streets and bred flies and disease. If you think auto pollution is bad, imagine replacing them with an equal number of horses, each producing 20 pounds of solid and liquid waste per day.

 

[Stanley Doble]

To answer your question, there were public rest rooms in all cities built and maintained by the city government. There were also public bath houses and Turkish baths because a lot of older tenements did not have adequate bathing facilities. In some cases none at all.

Hotels built before the middle of the 19th century might have no plumbing at all. When they were built they had a row of outhouses out back, beside the stables. If you wanted a bath bellboys would bring a tin bath to your room, and buckets of hot water. Or you could go to a public bath house.

 

[Haversack]

Well, a number of the bars, (of which San Francisco had a not a few), had urinal troughs running along under the bar for the convenience of drinking men. The Comstock Saloon, built in 1907 still has theirs.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I happen to know San Francisco had municipal water service in the 1860s because Mark Twain wrote about it. While he was a reporter on the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City Nevada, a San Francisco paper printed an article critical of Virginia City mining stocks and recommending San Francisco water company stock as a safer investment.

This made Mark sore as hell because the water company was notorious for manipulating the dividends and stock price to "skin" the shareholders. He wrote a sarcastic article about it but most readers missed the point he was driving at.

The story was "A Bloody Massacre Near Carson"

http://www.twainquotes.com/18631028t.html

The next day, he 'took it back'

http://www.twainquotes.com/18631029t.html

Later. A web search revealed he was talking about the Spring Valley Water Company that supplied municipal water service to the city from 1862 until it was taken over by the city in 1930.

 

[green papaya]

Comstock Saloon built 1907

Well, a number of the bars, (of which San Francisco had a not a few), had urinal troughs running along under the bar for the convenience of drinking men. The Comstock Saloon, built in 1907 still has theirs.

I never heard of a urinal built under the bar? interesting

http://www.comstocksaloon.com/about.php

 

[Stearmen]

Well, a number of the bars, (of which San Francisco had a not a few), had urinal troughs running along under the bar for the convenience of drinking men. The Comstock Saloon, built in 1907 still has theirs.

Good thing they are not functional any more! Would sure cut into Depend undergarments sales!

 

[Stearmen]

Well, a number of the bars, (of which San Francisco had a not a few), had urinal troughs running along under the bar for the convenience of drinking men. The Comstock Saloon, built in 1907 still has theirs.

Just realized, that is a lot more civilized then the new UK urinals. What were they thinking? [video=youtube;LCsACWi3rSE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCsACWi3rSE[/video]

 

[Stanley Doble]

Only place I heard of a urinal in a bar was one very remote pub in Australia.I don't know enough about San Francisco to prove different but it sounds unlikely.

 

[Stearmen]

Only place I heard of a urinal in a bar was one very remote pub in Australia.I don't know enough about San Francisco to prove different but it sounds unlikely.

You may be onto something! Seems, they were originally a sanitary version of the spittoon. https://www.kegworks.com/blog/a-lesson-in-tavern-history-the-fresh-flow-trough-spittoon/ Now, I am sure there were more then one overly lubricated patron that used it as a urinal!

 

[Stanley Doble]

If he did he got thrown out on his ear.

 

[HudsonHawk]

This is why I'd never sit at a swim-up bar. People sit there for hours drinking, and no one leaves their seat. You're basically sitting a pool of other peoples' urine.