Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Pissiors of Europe

Americans in Europe are often shocked by the relative publicness of eliminative activities in France and other places. I remember telling a friend about this; and she replied by referring to the night soils of bovines of the male persuasion. 

Anyway, here's an old pissior from the old days in Paris. It looks like a roadside shrine, to some degree. If one must void in public, do it in an elegant setting. So French!



Modern day sanisettes are more private yet claustrophobic:


In Amsterdam urination can be a very public affair:



And urinals can even be sort of an art form or vehicle for creativity:



Can you imagine what would happen if a U.S. city decided to erect pissoirs? There would be a groundswell of moral outrage at the very hint that humans are a urine-generating creature, much less that cities would condone this! And, of course, there would be the male-female vs. unisex argument that would come up.  Still, some of the less well-lit streets in the French Quarter can have those smelly spots, not to mention lawns around a college campus fraternity or sorority row!

At least banks, no matter how sordid they can be, are not usual places for free-lancing peeing. Unless some bankers are like boys!

9 comments:

John A Hill said...

"Still, some of the less well-lit streets in the French Quarter can have those smelly spots..."
As well as some of the streetcar stops along St Charles!

Angel, you are gem! Another informative and humorous post!
Have a wonderful day!

Jeffrey Scott said...

I have a shy bladder, so utilizing one of those in such a public venue would be rather challenging for me.
But over all, I suppose it's a better option than having people let loose where ever they please. I work at a company and every once in a while, a homeless or hoodlum can be seen relieving themselves against our building. Very annoying.

Cloudia said...

Most interesting; and I comment you to our friend Duchamp;

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573

Big Sky Heidi said...

The first one is kind of baroque. Alas, I cant use it.

allenwoodhaven said...

My sister often goes to China. There they just let loose on the side of the road, field, or wherever.
The French are certainly more civilized!

Mike said...

The art forms would be good for an art museum.

Dixie@dcrelief said...

I'm not THERE yet!

Bilbo said...

Having lived in Europe for many years, I can attest to the widespread use of pissoirs. They take some getting used to, but they're better than the longstanding tradition of just urinating on the nearest convenient unmoving object.

Grand Crapaud said...

Trees are America's pissoir!