What's the origin of the phrase 'spend a penny.'
This refers to the use of coin operated locks on public toilets. The expression was used mostly in the UK mostly by women (men's urinals were free of charge).
Such locks were first introduced, at a public toilet outside the Royal Exchange, London, in the 1850s. The term itself was coined in order not to offend anyone by mentioning the words “washroom or toilet.” That phase is now out of fashion, because no public washroom can be entered for such a small amount, for example in Harrod’s a prestigious and well-known department store in London, spending a penny now costs £1, nor are we as prudish.
Canada and the United States do not charge for use of public washrooms. Many routes have regular rest stops, coffee shops, Tim Horton’s and McDonalds, all are plentiful. We take it for granted and travel is not a problem, at least was not prior to the pandemic.
Last summer my husband David and I were traveling Arowhon Resort in Algonquin Park. Due to the necessity of frequent washroom stops for me, David kindly mapped a route by seeking washrooms open on route as many were locked down, but we never needed small coins as one would in many countries.
My most famous call was many years ago in Paris. Walking around the city centre I was delighted to find newly installed washrooms on the street. They were easily identified as the sun shone on the conspicuous aluminum roofs, shaped like small silos they were very modern.
Without the required coinage, as someone came out, I quickly reached and grabbed the door. As I entered the door automatically locked behind me. What happened next was totally unexpected. Jets of water began to stream out, spouting from the roof, from the sides and hitting me with stinging force. Next came the disinfectant, blue goo oozed from all directions, sticking to my hair, running down my neck. I was soaking wet and now being coated in disinfectant with the goop all over me. I was trapped. It became apparent that between each use the washroom unit was totally sanitized. If I had waited, then paid the fee, had read the numerous messages on the outside, I might have been warned! Finally the unit, now totally sanitized, as indeed was I, eased up and stopped.
The lock was released and I stepped out, shoes squelching, clothing clinging to me as I dripped water mixed with blue goop. Now surprised as I had been, can you imagine the look on my late husband Stuart’s face as I emerged bedraggled and soaking wet, looking more like a Smurf than his wife. We laughed all the way back to the hotel.
This story has over the years often been shared, but it should make you appreciate how lucky we are that we do not have spend a penny, or a pound in order, to relieve ourselves in a public facility.