See a set of the Daintette vaginal
douche, with pamphlets, etc., 1928-29?, U.S.A.
"Faultless
Feminine Syringe," No. 240, made by the Faultless Rubber Company,
Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A., perhaps from the 1960s or 1970s.
 
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Portable bidet, in the ready-to-use position (Paris, France, 1928)
A bidet has allowed men and women since possibly the Crusades (11th
to the 13th centuries) to wash feet, hair, beards, genitals and perineum.
The bather usually rides it like a pony; pony is what the word meant in the French of 400
or so years ago. Bidets today often fit onto toilets.
The beautiful bidet featured here, below,
seems to be made of oak, heavy enough to withstand water and usage, and
metal painted a gold color. There are no fancy jets of water; the user poured
water over her genitals - the old-fashioned way.
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The user probably sat like the stick figure, riding the bidet
like a pony - bidet means pony in the French of 400-500 years ago - and
probably could lie back on the section at left. Although this bidet belonged
to a woman, men used, and use, them too.
I may have the bidet's basin in backwards; rather than under her buttocks
and vulva, the shelf - see below - may have been facing her, making a support
for a sponge, soap, etc. A site visitor commented that the shelf away from
the body would prevent water from splashing over the far side of the basin.
Sounds right to me.
The section at right seems designed to support a container of water; the
wood shows water damage.
The bidet is heavy, about 31 pounds (about 14 kilos), reflecting the weight
of the wood, probably oak, and metal.
Decades of practice, and I still make crummy stick figures (above)? I paint, too.
All photos are by MUM director Harry Finley
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A cork plugs the drainage spout in the center of the basin
of the bidet, which is removable. The color is actually silver gray, not
gold.
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© 1999 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or
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medium without written permission of the author.
Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org
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