Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh was just voted America’s most livable city. No, I’m not talking about the glamorous city dubbed the “Monte Carlo of the Delta” in California, I am talking about the other Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Just like the fat kid teaching the other kids how to make a smore in the 1993 hit film “The Sandlot,” Pittsburgh is a city of underdogs.
Pittsburgh is home to the “2 up 2 down” style of house. The layout of these houses makes them incredibly unique. The staircases are located in the middle of the house and there are two chimneys, one in the front and one in the back. These features allow additions to be built on these houses. Most were built at the turn of the century when people were flooding into the city to work in steel mills. During this period two or more families would live in one house. As time passed people would add an extra kitchen in the back to turn the house into a duplex, or add a porch, or rumpus room or whatever was wanted.
The other unique thing about these houses is the Pittsburgh Potties. These are toilets located in the basement. They don’t have any walls around them; they are just toilets in the corner of the basement. Legend has it that steel workers would come home and go down there and take off their gear, which would be covered in carcinogenic steel soot, and then take a poop out in the open apparently, which would be their one moment of freedom in their bleak lives as members of the industrial prolitariate .
This brings up a new blog I have been tossing around in my head called Vernacular Valentine: After Dark. Just like Red Shoe Diaries this blog would be strictly for adults and feature unique toilets from around the world. I am kindof understaffed right now, but if anyone is interested in being a Vernacular Valentine: After Dark intern you can e mail me and I will send you an application.