Thomas Crapper: Difference between revisions
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'''Thomas Crapper''' (baptised 28 September 1836 - 27 January 1910) was a [[plumber]] who founded '''Thomas Crapper & Co. Ltd.''' in [[London]]. Despite the [[urban legend]], Crapper did not invent the [[toilet]] (the myth assisted by his surname).{{Clarifyme|date=November 2008}} However, Crapper did much to increase its popularity and came up with some related inventions, such as the [[ballcock]]. He was noted for the quality of his products and received several [[Royal Warrant]]s. The [[manhole]] covers with Crapper's company's name on them in [[Westminster Abbey]] are now a minor [[Tourism|tourist]] attraction.{{Fact|date=November 2008}} |
'''Thomas Crapper''' (baptised 28 September 1836 - 27 January 1910) was a [[plumber]] who founded '''Thomas Crapper & Co. Ltd.''' in [[London]]. Despite the [[urban legend]], Crapper did not invent the [[toilet]] (the myth assisted by his surname).{{Clarifyme|date=November 2008}} However, Crapper did much to increase its popularity and came up with some related inventions, such as the [[ballcock]]. He was noted for the quality of his products and received several [[Royal Warrant]]s. The [[manhole]] covers with Crapper's company's name on them in [[Westminster Abbey]] are now a minor [[Tourism|tourist]] attraction.{{Fact|date=November 2008}} |
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==Just take a crap you loser== |
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The story of Thomas Crapper and his achievements has been somewhat confused by Wallace Reyburn's 1969 book ''Flushed With Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper'' (ISBN 1-85702-860-0), a heavily fictionalised [[satire|satirical]] biography in the style of scholarship.<ref>http://www.snopes2.com/business/names/crapper.htm</ref> [[Adam Hart-Davis]]'s later writings on Crapper help set the record straight.{{Fact|date=November 2008}} |
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Crapper was born in [[Waterside]], [[Yorkshire]] (near [[Thorne]]), in September 1836 (the exact date is unknown but he was baptised on 28 September 1836). His father Charles was a steamboat captain. At the age of 14, Crapper was apprenticed to a master plumber in [[Chelsea, London]]. After his apprenticeship and three years as a journeyman plumber, in 1861 he founded his own company at Robert Street, Chelsea.{{Fact|date=November 2008}} In 1866, he moved the business to nearby Marlborough Road (now part of Draycott Avenue). |
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Thomas Crapper did not invent all of the flush toilet — some credit for that is usually given to Sir [[John Harington]] in 1596,{{Fact|date=November 2008}} with [[Alexander Cummings]]' 1775 toilet regarded as the first of the modern line{{Fact|date=November 2008}} and [[George Jennings]] installing the first public toilets at [[The Great Exhibition]] in 1851{{Fact|date=November 2008}} — but he did help increase its popularity. He was a shrewd businessman, salesman and self-publicist. In a time when bathroom fixtures were barely spoken of, he heavily promoted [[sanitation|sanitary plumbing]] and pioneered the concept of the bathroom fittings showroom.{{Fact|date=November 2008}} |
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[[Image:Thomas Crapper Toilet Horta Museum Branding.jpg|thumb|Thomas Crapper Branding on one of his company's toilets]] |
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In the 1880s, Prince Edward (later [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]]) purchased his country seat of Sandringham House in [[Norfolk]] and asked Thomas Crapper & Co. to supply the plumbing, including thirty lavatories with cedarwood seats and enclosures, thus giving Crapper his first [[Royal Warrant]]. The firm received further warrants from Edward as King and from [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]] both as [[Prince of Wales]] and as King. Contrary to popular belief, however, Crapper never received a [[knight]]hood and was never styled Sir Thomas Crapper. |
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In 1904, Crapper retired, passing the firm to his nephew George and his business partner Robert Marr Wharam. Crapper lived at 12 Thornsett Road, [[Anerley]] for the last thirteen years of his life and died on 27 January 1910. He was buried in the nearby [[Elmers End]] Cemetery. |
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In 1966, the company was sold by then-owner Robert G. Wharam (son of Robert Marr Wharam) on his retirement, to their rivals John Bolding & Sons. Bolding then went into liquidation in 1969. The company fell out of use until it was acquired by Simon Kirby, a historian and collector of antique bathroom fittings, who relaunched the company in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], producing authentic reproductions of Crapper's original Victorian bathroom fittings.{{Fact|date=November 2008}} |
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==Crapper and the syphonic flush toilet== |
==Crapper and the syphonic flush toilet== |
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Revision as of 19:03, 15 December 2008
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2008) |
Thomas Crapper | |
|---|---|
| Born | baptised 28 September 1836 |
| Died | 27 January 1910 |
| Occupation(s) | industrialist, plumber |
Thomas Crapper (baptised 28 September 1836 - 27 January 1910) was a plumber who founded Thomas Crapper & Co. Ltd. in London. Despite the urban legend, Crapper did not invent the toilet (the myth assisted by his surname).[clarification needed] However, Crapper did much to increase its popularity and came up with some related inventions, such as the ballcock. He was noted for the quality of his products and received several Royal Warrants. The manhole covers with Crapper's company's name on them in Westminster Abbey are now a minor tourist attraction.[citation needed]
Just take a crap you loser
Crapper and the syphonic flush toilet
Crapper held nine patents, three of them for water closet improvements such as the floating ballcock, but none were for the flush toilet itself.[citation needed] Thomas Crapper's advertisements implied the syphonic flush was his invention — one having the text "Crapper's Valveless Water Waste Preventer (Patent #4,990) One moveable part only" — but patent 4990 (for a minor improvement to the water waste preventer) was not his, but that of Albert Giblin in 1898.[citation needed]
His nephew, George Crapper, did improve the siphon mechanism by which the water flow is started. A patent for this development was awarded in 1897.[citation needed]
References
External links
- Thomas Crapper: Myth & Reality (Plumbing & Mechanical, June 1993)
- Thomas Crapper — Fact & Fiction (Adam Hart-Davis)
- Flushed With Pride — The Story of Thomas Crapper (Outhouses of America Tour) — with a letter from Simon Kirby of Thomas Crapper & Co. Ltd.
- Crap (Online Etymology Dictionary)
- Thomas Crapper (Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages)
- Thomas Crapper & Co. Ltd. — - The plumbing company founded by Thomas Crapper