It’s Thursday Thingie day again. That makes it time to show off one of your vintage things. If you are interested in joining in this way fun show and tell event check out Lisa The Apron Queen’s blog “An Apron A Day” for the details.
Reminder: While you are there be sure to look into the apron giveaway hosted by The Apronista. It’s easy to enter, and if you win, you even get to choose which apron you want to win from The Rick Rack Attack!
Now moving on to my thingie of the day…
I’m sharing my beautiful chamber pot. For those who don’t know what a chamber pot is (bless your bottom), it is the equivalent of a “Johnny on the spot”. When houses were not furnished with all the amenities an indoor bathroom offers, a chamber pot saved many a lady a trip to the outhouse in the middle of the night or during inclement weather. I remember being fascinated by my grandmother’s. It was beyond my comprehension why she kept a pot tucked discreetly under the edge of her bed.
This particular pot is made of ironstone. The rim of the pot and the lid are embellished with a wide border of gold. It looks to have been sprayed on. There is no identifying mark on the bottom (much to my disappointment), so my efforts to run down information about it was not productive. I’m sure it is circa 1930’s or 40’s at latest, but that’s as close as I can get.
I found this beauty while on a mental health excursion to a local antique/flea market in the weeks following Katrina. Katrina claimed our house. We replaced it with a “double wide modular” (Lisa, that makes me a Queen, too! LOL), and it was over two weeks before we were able to get the power hooked up to it. We lived in it anyway, so my beautiful chamber pot has been tested for quality. Who ever owned this pot required no pity. She was setting pretty. LOL. It’s no wonder some called a chamber pot “a honey pot”, because this is surely a honey of a pot! Thanks for looking.
Until next time…
give this some thought…
A great life lesson: Failure is an event ~ never a person.
apron strings 
You made my day! I use my vintage things often. But a chamber pot… never have used that!! Been camping in the woods many a time & used a few bushes though! 🙂
Thanks for sharing. And making me laugh.
BTW, where do you live that Katrina hit you? We live in Lumberton, just outside Beaumont. But we have only lived here for 1+ yrs.
It’s nice when collectible are actually useful!!! I remember using one when I was little, at my grandmother’s country cottage. The outhouse and shower were down a trail at the edge of the woods, and for a child to walk in the dark with a flashlight, and hear bobcats screaming in the distance, using the indoor chamber pot became the preferred method!!!Or, just holding it in til daylight!! LOL
A lovely pot indeed! I think that they were called “honey pots” because honey was a euphemism for – you know! For example, my old slang dictionary says that about 1915 people called a manure wagon a “honey wagon.” The things they came up with, huh?
Love your chamber pot… My mom used a chamber pot… or as she called it a johnny on the spot when we stayed with relatives who placed her and my father in an upstairs bedroom and the bathroom was downstairs. She had difficulty climbing up and downstairs so that was carried along so she wouldn’t have to in the middle of the night.
Apron Queen, are you ready for this? I live in Hattiesburg. I never imagined you were my neighbor! Our house was taken out by three trees and deemed condemned. They say 5 tornadoes came through our little corridor.
This truly is a small world…and no wonder I rarely find an apron in a thrift/antique/flea establishment! LOL!
I’m sure most people wouldn’t think so, but I think it’s neat that you had the opportunity to try out your chamber pot! As my mom would tell us, some people didn’t even have THAT after Katrina, so be thankful! I have a pot that has a matching pitcher & bowl, that my great aunt used because the only BR was on the 1st floor.
WOW!! Somehow I missed the whole outhouse experience…what a shame! I cant even imagine using one of those. (giggle) What if you spilled it carrying it back down the stairs?
Did they use toilet paper too? What did they do with it when they emptied it? (I’m am totally clueless so please explain)
It looks small. Did you sit on them or squat? I’m trying to picture all this, sorry!
Thanks for sharing! You totally have my interest piqued!
ooglebloops, I understand! I either used a chamber pot (which for grandkids was a Community Coffee can…or I hung my hiney over the porch while hanging on to the rail above my head. I wasn’t about to go squat in the dark yard or head down that long dark path to the outhouse. There were bound to be boogers out there laying wait…
Hi Lidian,
Yes indeed, they were called honey pots by many…but they couldn’t fool me. My granddaddy raised honey bees and the honey we ate sure didn’t smell like that! LOL!
Hey Molly! What a novel idea…that really was a johnny on the spot when your mom took it with her when she went away. I wonder if she concealed it in a tall hat box. LOL!
Elizabeth,
I sure thought it was neat to try out my antique store find, but there were a few people aware of what I was doing that were considerably grossed out by it.
For years we’ve camped…the roughing it way….and I took a large black enamel pot used for canning along and tie sheets around a few well placed trees to form a privacy curtain. There’s nothing gross about a chamber pot to me. When you have to go, you have to go. LOL.
Hi Beth Ann,
I never spilled mine…but if I did I would have had a mess to clean up. 🙂
As for toilet paper…after Katrina I sure did use toilet paper.
In my grandmother’s day Sear’s catalogues were the paper of choice. They also used dried corn cobs…sounds painful and thankfully I was spared the experience.
On a coffee can (which is what I used at my grandmother’s house)…I squated. With the fancy, smancy model I shared as my Thursday Thingie…I sat on that pretty pot. It was perfect…and comfy, too.
If I’ve not satisfied your interest….
This is one old custom that could easily be tested…just get you a big pot and go for it. LOL!
If I were to sit on any chamber pot it would have to be edged in gold. That’s all I’m saying.
This might be my all-time favorite Thursday thingie.
My grandmother had one of these in every bedroom in her old farmhouse down in southwestern Missouri. It was the 1960’s and they still used an outhouse and a pump in the kitchen! I was from the city (Chicago) and had to stay there in the summer–What culture shock! I hated it at first, but as the years went by I grew to love and appreciate the country, small towns, and antiques! I have the fondest memories of my dear grandmother and the precious values she instilled me.
Your Honey pot is a wonderful treasure and connection to the past!
Blessings to You!
Claudia O.
Three undertwo…
You made me laugh! That’s a good thing. Having tried this pot…you’ve got the right idea.
I’m glad you like my pot. 🙂
Claudia, my memories of my grandmother are what make this pot a precious collectible to me…in spite of the fact it was never hers. God knew what He was doing when He gave little girls grandmothers. 🙂
Gosh obviously someone well do to had that gem – it certainly doesn’t look like a chamber pot but it’s pretty very pretty 🙂
Amy, it’s doubtbul I would have owned it a hundred years ago…or fifty for that matter. It is a pretty one, no doubt.
We have a chamber pot for toddlers – yes, a mini chamber pot. Apparently it was used to help with potty training. It was originally owned by my husband’s great grandmother.
Here one to make you smile. When I was younger (a l-o-n-g time ago!), my grandmother was making pickles. If you have done that, you know that you have to cook the cucumbers, vinegar and spices in a non-reactive pot. She has used a porcelain-coated dishpan for years – it was big enough and non-reactive. But it developed a hole in it and she had to find something else to use. She could not find a new dishpan – they had stopped being produced. But she did find a nice new porcelain-coated chamber pot. It was big enough and it was never used for anything but making pickles.
Hi Needlesandpens,
That’s a great story! It did make me smile…out loud even. I’ve been dragging porcelain chamber pots home for decades to grow stuff in…and they had been used…but I’m sure they long ago lost the tale tale signs.
I can see where a mini pot would be needed for a tot. I’d love to see a picture of the one you have.
Good to see you!
That is beautiful! –which sounds like an odd adjective to use on a chamber pot–but still!
Blessings!
It’s not such an odd adjective to use to me, Octamom. 🙂
afterall…I bought it.
Good to see you!
Not to many people remember those days of using
these. My friend in the country had this and no running
water, had to get water from a pump house. It was a
step back in time when we visited her in the 1970’s!
Hey Jewelgirl, You are right. Not many people in the USA remember chamber pots. I know my kids don’t … except they know I used it after Katrina. 😀
Lots of these vintage things we share would be unknown to most of us…if there weren’t collectors of vintage thingies among us. Aren’t you glad there are?