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Smithsonian Magazine ·Small delights

The Humble History of the Bedpan

Published 2026-09-24 19:04:30+00:00

Why is the most humiliating object in the hospital the one thing that never changes?

0:00 / 15:17 · Narrator Rasalgethi

Context

Deep inside modern hospitals equipped with artificial intelligence and molecular biology, nurses still rely on an object universally despised and entirely undefeated by time: the bedpan. Published on 24 September 2026 in Smithsonian Magazine, the history of this awkward device offers a surprising lesson in medical innovation. The failure to invent a better alternative has nothing to do with a lack of engineering. It comes down to the messy, humbling reality of human bodies, and the basic, ancient act of caring for the sick.

Show notes

A history of the bedpan, tracing the medical device from 16th-century earthenware vessels to George Washington's pewter pan and modern hospital designs. The timeline covers 19th-century patent records and Florence Nightingale's sanitation reforms to show how the object has resisted technological change. It also profiles an Ohio man who has collected more than 250 variations of the device.

Read on Smithsonian Magazine →