In Use: An Introduction to the Plumbing of the Working Class in 1935
In order to examine the transition that the Joads were forced to make as a result of their migration, and how this transition is manifested via plumbing facilities, it’s important to investigate what bathroom life was like in the area they were leaving. In her article, "Introducing the Bathroom: Space and Change in Working-Class Houses" Alison K. Hoagland states that, “Before the introduction of the toilet into working-class houses, the privy was the most common receptacle of body waste. These wood-sided small buildings usually stood at the back of the yard.” This was true of the Joads and was the norm for almost all working class families in the Midwest and really all over the United States.
"Winfield was embarassed. His hand twisted the flushing lever. There was a roar of water. Ruthie leaped into the air and jumoed away. She and Winfield stood in the middle of the room and looked at the toilet. The hiss of water continued in it. 'You done it,' Ruthie said. 'You went and broke it. I seen you'" (409) John Steinbeck spends a considerable time discussing the use of toilets and the way his Okie family, the Joads, experience them and other plumbing facilities. It is fascinating to examine the way Steinbeck uses toilets, showers, and community laundry facilities as just one instance of the transition that the Joads go through as they migrate across the country. Steinbeck shows the characters using the outhouse on Uncle John's farm at the beginning of the novel, grandma's toilet use at a road stop on the road, and of course a thorough investigation of sanitary unit #4 once the Joads arrive in California. These experiences with plumbing, toilets, and sanitation in general signal something significant about the Joads and their experience.
Sanitary Unit #4 and the rest of the Weedpatch labor camp symbolizes a significant transition in the life of the Joads. They are moving from a place where outhouses and privies were the norm and into a place where a whole community shares plumbing and running water. In Oklahoma, the Joads were isolated in a way; they were part of a community, but at the same time, were separated by the large amounts of land that were owned by members of the community. The images here show the isolation of the types of homes that may be occupied by the Joads. With such great distances separating one neighbor from another it is natural for people and families to become more self-reliant and self-sufficient. The people who lived in rural areas such as Muskogee or other Midwest towns had relied for generations on the land and their own utilization of it. There was no need for sophisticated plumbing systems that linked homes, towns, and communities. People lived so distant from one another that there was no need for sanitation practices; the health of a home was dependent on those who lived there and there was really no such thing as public health. Therefore, the privy or outhouse was a practical solution. It was a pragmatic and individualistic method of waste disposal that allowed farmers and agricultural laborers like the Joads to maintain their independence. At the same time, with the conditions of the typical privies that are pictured here (right, below) it is also plain to see why there was a move away from these conditions with the advent of new technology and different public circumstances. These buildings are dilapidated and constructed from whatever materials were available. Imagine trekking out to one of these to answer the call of nature in the middle of the night. Revealing toilet conditions such as these it is not difficult to understand the Joads fascination and amazement at the facilities upon their arrival to California.
