SH Archive 1884-1891: Victorian Plumbing and Equipment Supplies

[KD Archive]

Accessories, fixtures, equipment and designs you see below are dated with 1884 through 1891 (as far as I understood). It would probably be reasonable to imagine, that "all this" did not just magically pop up. Meaning that there had to be some development involved. Therefore we do not really know when items like that were first introduced.

Next time when you cook some food, take a shower, soak in your bathtub, wash your hands or take a piss, please compare what you have to what they had abut 130 years ago. What's the difference?

Bathrooms











Heating​

May be this "insignificant" addition to a fireplace could explain how they were able to keep large spaces warm, and what was missing in the multiple fire place images. Would be interesting to figure out what fuel they used for this device. I have hard time imagining coal or firewood being used. What was it, gas, radium?

Ovens​

Is that a pressure tank designed to hold gasses or liquids to the left of the entire setup?

---

KD: Ok, I should probably stop here, for there are too many in there, and I won't be able to add everything. Better go and take a look at what they had back then:

• Victorian Plumbing and Equipment Supplies​
  • There is a little slider in there. It allows you to adjust the time frame.​
  • Please share pictures of the items you liked.​

Additionally you can take a look at this 1891 pub: Sanitary News, Volume 18, Issue 385

P.S. ...and outside, tied to hitching posts, their loyal horses were patiently waiting...

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[Onijunbei]

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Username: Onijunbei
Date: 2020-07-05 16:00:00
Reaction Score: 2

I use to sell plumbing fixtures for a living...so I personally dont see any "gotcha" moments here. The pictures displayed on this post are obviously for the Upper Class, they were the only ones that could afford these expensive, hand made products at the time. Cast Iron and Vitreous China are still in use and because of years of manufacturing development and technology, it is extremely easy and convenient to continue to use those materials for sinks, tubs, and toilets. But of course, with the advent of stainless steel, those kind of sinks continue to be popular. Copper piping, which was mostly exposed, has gone behind the wall. Iron valves got replaced with brass, then ceramic, and now a lot of components are made out of plastic. Once we started "piping" water, it was just a matter of creating pipe bending machines and connectors. Plumbers are extremely slow at utilizing any type of new technology in plumbing. So tech in this field is extremely slow to develop. The cylinder next to the stove looks like an old water heater. I was at the Ford Museum , and I must have been too enthralled with the trains and the cars, I cant find any pictures....but they displayed a few dozen of those old heaters and furnaces. They used wood, the stove in the picture is a wood burning stove. And, according to the OP, these people wouldnt be riding horses...they would be taking the trams and trolleys that were later dismantled by Westinghouse and General Motors...

 

[Archive]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: Hipophoralcu
Date: 2020-07-05 16:29:21
Reaction Score: 0

I use to sell plumbing fixtures for a living...so I personally dont see any "gotcha" moments here. The pictures displayed on this post are obviously for the Upper Class, they were the only ones that could afford these expensive, hand made products at the time. Cast Iron and Vitreous China are still in use and because of years of manufacturing development and technology, it is extremely easy and convenient to continue to use those materials for sinks, tubs, and toilets. But of course, with the advent of stainless steel, those kind of sinks continue to be popular. Copper piping, which was mostly exposed, has gone behind the wall. Iron valves got replaced with brass, then ceramic, and now a lot of components are made out of plastic. Once we started "piping" water, it was just a matter of creating pipe bending machines and connectors. Plumbers are extremely slow at utilizing any type of new technology in plumbing. So tech in this field is extremely slow to develop. The cylinder next to the stove looks like an old water heater. I was at the Ford Museum , and I must have been too enthralled with the trains and the cars, I cant find any pictures....but they displayed a few dozen of those old heaters and furnaces. They used wood, the stove in the picture is a wood burning stove. And, according to the OP, these people wouldnt be riding horses...they would be taking the trams and trolleys that were later dismantled by Westinghouse and General Motors...

Can you tell me what this is?

 

[Onijunbei]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: Onijunbei
Date: 2020-07-05 20:05:08
Reaction Score: 2

children's bath

 

[igneous]

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Username: igneous
Date: 2020-07-05 20:37:42
Reaction Score: 0

I looked at both sites and the pictures didn't catch my eye mostly because they look pretty much the same as they do now. The actual toilet, sink or shower, I mean. The method of heating water for said sink or shower is something I can't really comment on because I don't know much about the current system or any plumbing system at all.

However, there were some paragraphs in the written part that are interesting.

First, this magazine was published every Saturday. That's a lot of paper, time and effort.

The Sanitary News opens with "Dignity of the Plumbing Profession".



They will settle for nothing less than victory!


The first convention was held at the Masonic Temple
because you know, they let anyone use their space.


146 Delegates from all over the country.


These are the types of topics brought up:



Victory was Achieved?


Oh look! A World's Fair Reference:


I'm not sure what this is about but it seemed notable:

 

[Archive]

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Username: Hipophoralcu
Date: 2020-07-05 22:53:20
Reaction Score: 1

children's bath

Man. Separate bath for children. They lived good lives...

 

[Magnetic]

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Username: Magnetic
Date: 2020-07-06 14:16:24
Reaction Score: 1

In the circled area it looks like a handj washing sink for clothes like in the South American continent in poorer areas.

In the circled area it looks like a handj washing sink for clothes like in the South American continent in poorer areas.

A thin stream of water issues along the top of the device and a single clothing item lies on the surface absorbing the water and soap is added and hand kneded. The ones I saw were made of concrete and had no hot water. It isbased on washing clothes in a steam or river which I saw done there.

 

[Archive]

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Username: jd755
Date: 2020-07-07 08:38:14
Reaction Score: 0

Next time when you cook some food, take a shower, soak in your bathtub, wash your hands or take a piss, please compare what you have to what they had abut 130 years ago. What's the difference?

Elegance then blandness today.

What was it,

Coal as the ventilated ash pan grill in the lower front is evidence of.The bar sticking out just above the '1890' is a riddle to remove ash and clinker from the coal bed into the ash pan as evidenced in the lower two pictures.

Is that a pressure tank designed to hold gasses or liquids to the left of the entire setup?

It's a direct hot water cylinder most likely open vented. I have almost the exact same system of hot water production in this house.It works flawlessly has done since I installed it in the eighties without any electricity usage and delivers pressurised (by the header tank in the loft) hot water to kitchen and bathroom from an open fire with a wrap around boiler.The only difference is the indirect hot water cylinder is on the first floor with the fireplace on the ground floor.
Indirect means there is a copper coil inside the hot water cylinder which is connected directly to the boiler and has its own header tank to maintain the rising pressure which helps the hot water rise quicker and ensure it is always full of water.

Can you tell me what this is?

Seat bath see the photo labelled 1002-a's description.
The one in plate 2g is a foot bath.
The usage depends on the depth.

 

[Archive]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: RTP now
Date: 2020-07-07 11:04:13
Reaction Score: 1

Accessories, fixtures, equipment and designs you see below are dated with 1884 through 1891 (as far as I understood). It would probably be reasonable to imagine, that "all this" did not just magically pop up. Meaning that there had to be some development involved. Therefore we do not really know when items like that were first introduced.

View attachment 48988

Next time when you cook some food, take a shower, soak in your bathtub, wash your hands or take a piss, please compare what you have to what they had abut 130 years ago. What's the difference?

Bathrooms
View attachment 49001
View attachment 48998
View attachment 48992
View attachment 48993
View attachment 49002
View attachment 48989
View attachment 48990
View attachment 48991
View attachment 48994
View attachment 48995

Heating

May be this "insignificant" addition to a fireplace could explain how they were able to keep large spaces warm, and what was missing in the multiple fire place images. Would be interesting to figure out what fuel they used for this device. I have hard time imagining coal or firewood being used. What was it, gas, radium?

View attachment 48996
View attachment 48997

Ovens

Is that a pressure tank designed to hold gasses or liquids to the left of the entire setup?

View attachment 48999

---

KD: Ok, I should probably stop here, for there are too many in there, and I won't be able to add everything. Better go and take a look at what they had back then:

• Victorian Plumbing and Equipment Supplies
  • There is a little slider in there. It allows you to adjust the time frame.
  • Please share pictures of the items you liked.

View attachment 49000

Additionally you can take a look at this 1891 pub: Sanitary News, Volume 18, Issue 385

P.S. ...and outside, tied to hitching posts, their loyal horses were patiently waiting...

We have NOT advanced, evolved or made any kind of progress since the 1800s. Whatever the heck was going on back then, it darn sure is NOT in line with what we’ve been taught.

I’ve always felt that the 1800s was the most mysterious and possibly most magical period to live in and each day only affirms it.

 

[AthroposRex]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: AnthroposRex
Date: 2020-07-07 15:12:24
Reaction Score: 0

I looked at both sites and the pictures didn't catch my eye mostly because they look pretty much the same as they do now. The actual toilet, sink or shower, I mean. The method of heating water for said sink or shower is something I can't really comment on because I don't know much about the current system or any plumbing system at all.

However, there were some paragraphs in the written part that are interesting.

First, this magazine was published every Saturday. That's a lot of paper, time and effort.

The Sanitary News opens with "Dignity of the Plumbing Profession".
View attachment 49030
View attachment 49029

They will settle for nothing less than victory!
View attachment 49025

The first convention was held at the Masonic Temple
because you know, they let anyone use their space.
View attachment 49028

146 Delegates from all over the country.
View attachment 49026

These are the types of topics brought up:
View attachment 49023
View attachment 49021

Victory was Achieved?
View attachment 49024

Oh look! A World's Fair Reference:
View attachment 49027

I'm not sure what this is about but it seemed notable:
View attachment 49022

What I'm inferring from the situation in Milwaukee mentioned there, they say one cannot be a Master and a Journeyman simultaneously.
So, likely, a master plumber that was not part of the guild wanted to enter the guild. He did master work not suited to a journeyman, possibly better than his sponsor. Possibly the sponsor wanted him to operate as a master plumber while transiting the guild path from journeyman up. The guild ferociously defended its ability to guard its power block. Same old story.

That's my pure conjecture, though.

 

[Archive]

Note: This post was recovered from the Sh.org archive.
Username: LILIRUS
Date: 2020-07-11 14:23:45
Reaction Score: 0

On this one it says "lenox" is that the same company that exists today? "Lenox is an American company that sells tabletop, giftware and collectible products under the Lenox, Dansk, Reed & Barton, and Gorham brands. For most of the 20th century they were the most prestigious American maker of tablewares, as well as making decorative pieces. "

I bet they know whats going on