Gud-Sol

1865 Public Urinals in Paris by Charles Marville

In the early 1850s, Napoleon III commissioned the urban planner Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, the task of making Paris the most modern city in the world. At that time, the city was just like in the Middle Ages. Charles-François Bossu says Marville (1818 – 1879) was a French photographer known for his photographs of Paris before the great works of Haussmann that transformed the capital.

Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Urinal sextuplace, theater Ambigu, c. 1875

He began his career as a painter and engraver in 1836 and then launched into architectural photography since 1851, including works for the Louvre and works on restoration projects of the time.

In 1862 he became photographer of the City of Paris and begins to document photographically onto glass plates streets and new development of the city of Paris among which figured prominently the urinal that allow men to satisfy a natural need in full middle of the city. Public toilets in the streets of Paris — 1865-1875 years.

Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Cabinets odorless, Saint-Sulpice, c. 1875
Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Need Chalet, City Market, c. 1875
Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Column Rambuteau, Bridge of Arcola, c. 1865
Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Urinal seater, Ground Maine, c. 1875
Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Urinal seater, Ground Maine, c. 1875
Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Urinal seater, Ground Maine, c. 1875
Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865
Urinal seater, Ground Maine, c. 1875

Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865 Public urinals on the street of Paris in 1865Source — www.vergue.com

19 comments

  5. We saw one of these in Granville. I like the new “space-age” self cleaning sidewalk ones in Paris, but they’re definitely not as interesting as these. Such an interesting post!

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  6. Thanks. I love Paris (I know I’m the only who does) and one of the first fascinating thing I came across was the oval public toilets that one drops a coin and a door opens, one does one’s business, and then after one leaves, the sound of the automatic water spray cleaning the entire insides. Kind of a variation of the one in the sixth photo.

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