From Toilet To John: History of The Porta John or Porta Potty Name
“Once upon a time” back in the late 16th century and early 17th century, a gentlemen named Sir John Harrington lived. Now you might be thinking, “What did Sir John Harrington do to make him the “official” John”? Well, Sir John Harrington’s god mother was no other than Queen Elizabeth I and Harrington was known as the “Saucy Godson” due to his love for writing somewhat risqué poetry and other writings. Being part of the Royal family, he was often banished for his actions and allowed to return sometime in the future. In addition to writing many notable pieces, Harrington also devised Britain’s first flushing toilet, which he called “Ajax”. “Ajax” was derived from the term “Jakes”, which in the day was slang for what we now call a toilet.
In one of Harrington’s more popular pieces called “A New Discourse upon a Stale Subject: The Metamorphosis of Ajax”, he discussed his new invention. But, once again the book got him banished from the court for a time, for bashing the British and their excrement that was poisoning the State. On the surface, the piece was about his new invention but underneath, he was accusing the State through excrement of poisoning the system. Now although Harrington wasn’t actually the inventor of flushable toilets, his invention in Britain at that time lead the public to believe Sir John Harrington was the inventor of the flushing toilet. Hence, the naming of our current flushing toilets as “John”. Also, it was heard but un-confirmed that Sir John Harrington installed a flushing toilet for Queen Elizabeth I and thereafter the Queen referred to it as her “John”.
Find Porta Potty (or Porta John) Rentals in Texas
So whatever part of Texas you are in (Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Prosper, Ceina, McKinney, Allen, Denton, Highland Village, Lewisville or Little Elm) and need a “Porta John”, who do you call? Texas Johns of course at 940-343-9229. We have all sorts of “Johns”. Need a basic portable toilet for an event or construction or maybe an upgraded portable toilet that flushes, kind of like Sir John Harrington’s toilet? Texas Johns has them. What about a full executive trailer? – Call us – we can get you one of those also. Or go to our quick contact form and send us a message. One of our porta potty rental folks will get back to you shortly.
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