{"product_id":"for-customers-only-public-bathrooms-and-the-making-of-american-inequality-hardcover","title":"For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms and the Making of American Inequality - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBryant Simon\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublic toilets determine who gets everyday dignity, freedom of movement, and civic belonging--and who doesn't.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmericans have nowhere to go. Nationwide, countless public spaces lack one crucial thing: bathrooms, never mind ones that are safe and functional. Yet in the past, political leaders celebrated the opening of public bathrooms with boisterous press conferences and showy ribbon-cutting ceremonies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFor Customers Only\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book to tell the larger history of public bathrooms in the United States, a fascinating story characterized by persistent discrimination, squeamishness about unknown bodies, and disinvestment in public amenities. Acclaimed writer and historian Bryant Simon argues that restrooms aren't only an architectural feature, but an emblem of control and inequality. In the late nineteenth century, cities vied for the newest and biggest comfort stations to meet the demands of their bustling economies and accommodate a broad and growing public. They built restrooms with gold-domed entrances and ornamented stall doors to inspire cleanliness and order.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut officials soon grew anxious about who might take advantage of this privacy: gay men, the unhoused, and eventually drug users. And as the civil rights movement challenged segregation, officials in the north and south closed public toilets rather than integrate them. By the end of the twentieth century, only people with means could use private bathrooms while out and about--provided they made a purchase at a business. Today, as the fights over trans rights reveal, bathroom access remains a flash point across the country. Meanwhile, some municipalities are again calling for widely available public toilets, but as a tool for economic revitalization, not a public necessity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe political and cultural history of a squirm-inducing subject, \u003ci\u003eFor Customers Only\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the real and symbolic power of the most ordinary of things. Bathrooms, Simon shows, have always reflected our fragmented national values. Whether these spaces will ever become more accessible and inclusive is ultimately up to us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBryant Simon\u003c\/b\u003e is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of History and the academic chair of the honors program at Temple University. He is the author most recently of \u003ci\u003eThe Hamlet Fire: The Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as \u003ci\u003eEverything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a regular guest on the History Channel and a contributor to outlets like the \u003ci\u003eNew York Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e. Simon splits his time between Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore. \u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 376\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.3 x 9.1 x 6.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 21, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46238562910252,"sku":"9780226835181","price":32.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/6260\/8940\/files\/NZgNkKFDlz9780226835181.webp?v=1790171429","url":"https:\/\/littleredgeneralstore.com\/products\/for-customers-only-public-bathrooms-and-the-making-of-american-inequality-hardcover","provider":"Little Red General Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}