Aunt Gwen passed away last week.

Upon hearing the news, I paused to reflect on the interactions I had with her those many years ago. She was married to Uncle Hal, my mother’s brother. This somehow led me down the path of thinking about my three uncles. Besides being related to me, they had one thing in common: they all fought in World War II.

Signing of the Japanese surrender on board USS Missouri, 2 September 1945. Photo by U.S. Navy (1945). PD-US Government image. Wikimedia Commons.

P-47D-40 Thunderbolt. Photo by Kogo (2006). PD-GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. Wikimedia Commons — Thunderbolt. Photo by Kogo (2006). PD-GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. Wikimedia Commons

My father’s brothers fought in the Pacific: Uncle Pete was in the army fighting in the Pacific (Burma) while his brother Bill commanded a sub chaser (his ship tied up to the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay to protect it during the formal ceremony ending the war). Uncle Hal was a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot stationed in England and his 97 missions were to attack key German targets over Europe.
Read More Quiet Heroes from the Greatest Generation

You may recall reading our blog The Pee Ladies of Paris (November 7, 2015). Well, I’m going to take you on another journey into the history of public urination in Paris. Our discussion could easily take place in London or any major European city (e.g., Berlin, Stockholm, or Lisbon).

During the Middle Ages, there were no toilets (unless you were the king and queen or of high nobility), no sewer systems (other than the river and city streets), and no way to relieve oneself in public unless you were female and had your ladies-in-waiting form a circle around you to shield your actions. For the men, it was much easier. They just urinated in public—seemingly no shame in this other than the smell.

Public Urination

Public urination was banned in Paris by the 1700s. For convenience purposes, “barrels of easement” were placed on the street corners. Unfortunately, the problems—public views and the stench—were not solved. Read More Please, No Pissoirs in Public!