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Uh This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories. If you brought up installing a bidet toilet to Americans before COVID-19, they might have likely flushed the idea straight away. During the pandemic, every single bidet sold out at bidetking.com and the business grew exponentially. Here to tell the story is Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel and its sister, the Brain Food Show podcast. Let's take a listen.
I've got some hazelnut spread here. Oh, I got it on my face. No worries, I've got some toilet paper here. Let me just clean that right off. All right, it is totally cleaned off, so there's not going to be any distraction with hazelnut spread on my face because I wiped it off with toilet paper.
I'm good to go. Oh, hang on. Wouldn't you believe it? I actually had to go to the sink and wash my face off with water. I don't get it because this should have worked.
I mean, it's toilet paper. A mini shower for your nether region, B-Days are a popular way worldwide to keep said regions tidy, and there are plenty of extremely inexpensive options for easily outfitting any standard toilet with one.
So why has this popular bathroom fixture not caught on in the United States? Believed to have originated in France, the first B-days were simply a bowl of water over which, after relieving herself, a person would squat and then use a hand to splash and wipe away any messes that remained. Eventually, a short narrow stool with a bowl inset was developed that could be sat astride for easier cleaning. As a person who is mounted on this contraption resembles one sitting on a small stout pony, a B-Day in French, the name was soon adopted for the bathroom fixture. Christophe de Rosier is credited with inventing the B-Day, although the first written record of one appears in a 1710 account of the Marquis de Argenson, who noted that he had an audience with one Mademoiselle de Prix as she sat astride her B-Day.
In 1750, an upward sprayer powered by a hand pump was added, and thus B-Day Sarong, B-Day with syringe, was born. The modern B-Day that resembles a toilet was developed in the 19th century, and the very popular B-Day seat came about in the 1960s, with one of the most popular invented by an American, Arnold Cohen. In the 1980s, the modern seat was improved with the creation of the washlet. Using remote-controlled wands that spout water jets and finish with a warm air dryer, the washlet is hugely popular, particularly in Japan.
So why don't Americans use them? After all, if fecal matter got on just about anywhere else on your body, you wouldn't just wipe it off with toilet paper and cool it good. Why should your dairy air be any different? To begin with, there is the historical disdain that 18th-century Britons had for the French aristocracy and its decadent and hedonistic lifestyle. As the early American colonists were heavily influenced by their British heritage, it is thought that this sentiment came with them to America too.
Another theory notes that during World War II, the first and often only experience many Americans had with a B-Day was when soldiers saw them in French brothels, which perpetuated the idea that B-Days were somehow associated with immorality. A third theory, perhaps most plausible, looks to the classical process of B-Daying. Unlike the use of a paper shield between hands and butt traditionally with the B-Day, though not so much anymore, the bare hand was used to splash, wipe, and generally clean both the junk and the trunk. As Americans traditionally have been extremely conservative about such things, the first toilet flushing didn't even show up in cinema until 1960 in the film Psycho, partially because of this. thought this may have influenced the rejection of the B-Day as indoor plumbing became more and more common.
The continued rejection today is then perhaps more about habit and tradition rather than based on any rational idea, the classic, that's how we've always done it line of thinking. Even for those that use them in America, the general notion of it being slightly uncouth to talk about one's bathroom hygienic practices also lends itself to not spreading the word about the drastically superior cleaning experience with B-Days over toilet paper alone.
So even for those who aren't nearly so prudish today, they simply stick with what they know, namely toilet paper. Of course, today there are a lot of compelling arguments as to why the switch should be made. For starters, it's dirt cheap, starting at around $25 for a basic model and ridiculously easy to install toilet seat variety B-Days, with the cost quickly being offset by the savings on toilet paper. You see, unsurprisingly, B-Day use drastically reduces the need for toilet paper, of which, in North America alone, over 36 billion rolls are used each year. In addition, B-Days, particularly those with heated seats, offer comfort and greater hygiene as the jets ensure your tush is thoroughly cleaned, as opposed to the dingleberries and skid marks that can result from using only toilet paper.
Third, using too much paper, or even just the thicker, high-end kinds can lead to clogged toilets and sometimes clogged septic systems or clogged public sewer systems that require a lot of money to be spent to fix them. This is particularly the case when people use so-called flushable wipes for cleaning, which help create something known in the sewage industry as fat bergs that clog the pipes. They may say flushable or septic safe, but Consumer Reports warns any type of Of wipe can wreak havoc because they don't break down like toilet paper does. JEA calls them fat birds. That's where wipes bind with other materials like grease, which can lead to disasters like sanitary sewer overflows.
Fourth, older people, among others, often benefit from the V-Day as the sprayer reduces or eliminates the need for hand wiping, something that can become difficult to do for those with arthritis or who, just due to advanced age, disability or injury, are less mobile. Fifth, women who suffer from frequent urinary tract infections may benefit from washing with V-Days as opposed to only cleaning the area during the once-a-day shower. By washing away the specific pesky microbes responsible, there is less chance that some will enter the urethra and cause problems. There are also significant cleaning benefits during menestration via relatively inexpensive dual sprayer units that have a feminine hygiene setting. The bidet is like a reverse toilet, right?
Instead of the water going down, the water goes up. It's coming up. Is it an acquired taste? The first time it's like, oh, oh, oh, that's pretty nice. And a terrific job on the production and storytelling by our own Greg Pangler.
And a special thanks to Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel and its sister, The Brain Food Show, and we've been collaborating with Simon for some time. Visit his YouTube channel again. Today, I Found Out. And boy, did we find out today, all right. And this has been a Greg Hengler passion since way back in the day.
The story of America and the bidet here on Our American Stories. Yeah. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories. And all of our history stories are brought to us by our generous sponsors, including Hillsdale College, where students go to learn all the things that are beautiful in life. and all the things that matter in life.
If you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to hillsdale.edu. That's hillsdale.edu. At CVS, it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night.
And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and, yeah, healthy snack. At CVS, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters.
So visit us at cvs.com or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location. This is Julie Nettleman from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules. Sunday mornings, I've got my game day ritual.
Coffee. Lucky socks. And now, new morning uncrustable sandwiches. It's all about that 12-gram protein boost with the new uncrustables, bright-eyed berry, or up and apple flavors. Bright-eyed berries got a feisty.
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We host the podcast, Mind the Business: Small Business Success Stories, produced by Ruby Studio in partnership with Intuit QuickBooks. We're back for season four to talk to some incredible small business owners. The big thing about working at tech is that it's ever-evolving, ever-changing. Everyone's a rookie. That's how fast the industry is changing.
So, what I'm really excited about is to be part of that change.
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