Wallace Reyburn – Flushed With Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper (1969)
Biography – 95 pages – my copy (hardback; 1989) bought for 50p from the Pannier Market in Plymouth, sometime in 2008
- 1 nod out of 5 -
The world of Toilet History: what fascination. The Worm states this with genuine enthusiasm, having amassed a collection of books on the subject, including works such as Sitting Pretty and The Porcelain God. A suggested title for the Worm’s own study on the toilet was given as Bang, Plop, Flush – but as of yet, this masterwork remains in the draft stage.
One of the most influential and illustrious of toilet history’s stars was Thomas Crapper, the Victorian plumber who was applauded from the Cockneys of London to the Queen of England. Wallace Reyburn here recites Crapper’s life, from his arrival in London as a boy to his royal appointment, including a general overview of the toilet and its plumbing abilities in the late nineteenth century.
It is a book loose on fact and, indeed, so minimal on Crapper himself that the cricket legend W.G.Grace finds space in print, even obtaining a page of illustration himself despite having nothing to do with Crapper’s life (only a tenuous link with this death!). Flushed With Pride is a poor biography, with few and modest jokes, this book quickly came out of print only to find itself in a brighter, more confident edition decades later due to it achieving ‘cult status’. How could this happen? Ah, but the dedication of toilet enthusiasts is strong!
Crapper, perhaps, deserves a biographer with greater skills; but what else could we expect from the author of Bust Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto Titzling and the Development of the Bra!
