THE YUCK FACTOR What a difference a century makes!

The Bathroom  People still had to use the bathroom  No plumbing  What did they do?

Chamber Pots  Porcelain pots in wealthy homes  Matched china set  Kept in your chambers  Under your bed

Fancy folks hid them too…

But… you can’t flush a pot…

The Gallier Bathroom  Looked like furniture  Still a beautiful pot  Flushed out into courtyard with gravity dropping it down into a ditch.  Cesspool collected waste  Honeydippers cleaned it out.

What did enslaved / poor people use?  Privies / outhouses  Located outside  Like a port-o-potty

You can’t flush an outhouse…  Honey Dippers or Night Soil Men visited homes  Came with wagons at about 4 in the morning  Through carriageway  Removed waste  Brought it to a pier  Dumped it in river

Bathing  Once a week  Maybe more in summer  Father in water first  Then mother  Then oldest… down to the youngest

Sitz Bathtub  Thought it would help digestion  Sit in tub  Let belly etc soak in water

The streets…  Bath water  Chamber pots  Animal bones  Trash from household meals  And…  Horse poop!

Trash!  Trash was everywhere!  Rain made it wet but didn’t wash it away.  Swampy, smelly  Ditches along street were full- could fall into them!  Corners had bridges between sidewalks

The Worst Stench  The levees that keep the water out also kept the waste in.  Because the city is so low, the waste can’t drain away like in other places.  New Orleans is also a very wet city.  There were deep puddles of pee and pooh on the streets at all times!

Dealing with the Smell  People did not know how to get rid of the bad smell back then.  So, instead of removing the bad smell, they covered it up with a good smell.  Courtyards were filled with citrus fruits and roses.  Flavored bath salts and flower bouquets helped!