On this date in 1912, the Young Men’s Booster Club of Wahpeton called attention to some special rooms over the Hausken Clothing Store. People often traveled long distances to shop and conduct business in Wahpeton, and the club’s rooms offered a quiet place where visitors to the city could refresh themselves.
To this day, folks who take to the road find themselves looking for a restroom. But the term seems a bit confusing. Why would anyone want to “rest” in a public lavatory?
The earliest use of the term “restroom” goes back to 1856, and its origins are perhaps obvious. In the case of the rooms above the clothing store, farmers frequently traveled for several hours to get to town. They were often accompanied by wives who might have several children in tow. Once the women finished shopping, they had to wait while their husbands completed their business transactions. Towns discovered that women appreciated a comfortable place where they and their children could rest, hence the term “restroom.”
The Wahpeton’s Young Men’s Booster Club described the rooms as “a convenient place to rest.” They were furnished with comfortable chairs. There were reading materials, a card table, and even a piano. A toilet room was connected to the ladies’ rest room. Every Saturday, a female attendant was on duty to watch the children while mothers shopped.
Free public restrooms were sometimes a luxury back then. A letter to the editor of a Chicago newspaper lamented that shoppers had to “run the gauntlet” past the bar in a saloon just to get to a public toilet. But many rural areas understood that a comfortable public restroom was much appreciated. When a new building was erected at the South Dakota State Fairgrounds, it boasted comfortable restrooms. Plans for Utah’s exhibit in the Panama Pacific Exposition similarly noted its welcoming facilities.
The Wahpeton Booster Club assured the public that their rooms were “as comfortable and homelike as possible.” The rooms were always unlocked, with visitors invited to stop in and take advantage of the accommodations whenever they needed to.
Dakota Datebook written by Carole Butcher
Sources:
The Day Book. “The Public Forum.” 15 November 1915. Chicago IL. Page 22.
Forest City Press. 7 September 1911. Forest City SD. Page 1
Ogden Standard. “Backing a Mule to Win.” 11 July 1914. Ogden City UT. Page 11.
Wordnik. “A Brief History of Lavatory Language.” https://blog.wordnik.com/a-brief-history-of-lavatory-language Accessed 12/16/2018.
