John’s john, the historic city toilet
Historical interpreters at Colborne Lodge believe the toilet that belonged to High Park founders John and Jemima Howard was probably built in the 1860s.

thestar.com
By MEGAN DOLSKI
March 11, 2017

Behind an ornately wallpapered door inside Toronto’s Colborne Lodge can be found . . . John Howard’s john.

The john is one of the city’s oldest flushing toilets.

Staff at the 19th century lodge, once home to High Park founders John and Jemima Howard, have recently taken apart the home’s long out-of-service toilet in an attempt to understand how it worked.

After the wooden rim, bench seat and large white bowl are removed, an aged copper-turned-turquoise pan and pull-flushing lever are revealed.

Historical interpreters at the lodge said they believe water for the toilet came from a rain-water filled tank, and that the waste would be released down into a cess-pit.

No one can say for sure exactly how old the toilet is. Historical interpreters at Colborne Lodge have identified it as a “pan toilet,” in style, and say it was probably built sometime in the 1860s.

The fact that the toilet is located inside the home is a big deal, because, at that time, this was highly unusual, historical interpreter Catherine Raven explained.

“There are people that say the reason people were very apprehensive about having a toilet in their house was because they were concerned about cholera,” she said.

The way the toilet is placed in the lodge is curious; it’s tucked behind a wallpapered door with no handle on either side.

“It’s a big paradigm shift for people . . . . This (form of toilet) was necessary for us to get to what we have now,” said Elizabeth Nelson-Raffaele, curator at Colborne Lodge.

From what staff at the lodge know about John Howard, no one is surprised that the former architect and engineer could have been ahead of the crowd in owning one of Toronto’s first fancy flushing devices.

“He loved new stuff. This was like a really new innovation to have in your home. He seemed to just like to have the latest gear,” said Nelson-Raffaele.

She said Howard subscribed to Scientific American and seemed to always be reading about new ideas. “We call him ‘Toronto’s original maker;’ he did carpentry work. He just liked to try new things . . . ,” she said.

Nelson-Raffaele said staff at the lodge haven’t decided if, now that they’ve figured out how it works, they will reassemble the toilet or leave it in pieces for people to look at.

She said it’s proven to be of great interest to those who’ve recently visited the historic lodge . . . .

. . . if only to look at.

Going forward, the plan is to hire someone who will be able to make a functional model of the toilet that can be taken out to exhibits and events.