Six Children One Bathroom

January 10th, 2018 by Proprietor

Mentioned in the previous post that a blog about the Brady Bunch only having one bathroom for six children might be an interesting post. So, here it is.

The house used as the Brady House was a beautiful house in Los Angeles, California. The real house is good sized house with five beds and three baths. Which leads many people to puzzle as to why Mike would build a house with only one bathroom shared by six children. Without a toilet.

Immediately the bathroom is a point of contention, later the attic would be fought over, amongst the children. The boys complain about how the girls are taking over the whole space, and the girls claim the boys are being unsympathetic to a woman’s needs. They need a toilet. There were times when the children want to be alone, mainly Jan when she has a neurotic episode, and lock themselves into the bathroom. The other children would bang on the door wanting to use the bathroom, why, no toilet, what is the urgency? Mike & Carol, as well as Alice, have a bathroom in there rooms. Were the children so brainwashed or terrified of the adults that they cannot use the other bathrooms?

There are episodes where the bathtub is shown in use. One is Bobby taking a bath, and Carol tells him that dinner or something is soon so he needs to finish up. Another is when Tiger causes Jan to have allergic reactions, and is in danger of being sent to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Better than the mythical farm all dogs go to, though Tiger at first was physically not present, then only his house remained as a reminder. So Cindy and Marcia try and wash the dog. There are also episodes where people are seen exiting the bathroom after taking a shower or washing their hair. In the last episode, when Greg bought hair tonic from Bobby and Cousin Oliver, he tried to wash it out after it turned his hair orange.

The bathroom is between the two children’s rooms, and thus tends to be a focal point for various stories. Cindy borrows her mother’s earrings, then hides them under a towel. This becomes a big story as Mike and Carol are going to a costume ball. Cindy hopes to find the missing earrings before the event, and enlist Peter, who takes apart the plumbing. After searching, Cindy confesses. Everyone retraces their steps in various flashbacks. Alice says she went into the bathroom, picked up the towel, but put it back, because Mrs. Brady had told her the children need to put laundry in the hamper. The earrings were not Safe in the laundry, and ended up being destroyed. At least Bobby didn’t do the laundry, he had a tendency to use too much soap.

During the Brady sequels, the bathroom was seen in passing, still without a toilet. In the movies, the bathroom was used in several gags. Like many of the rooms in the Brady House, the bathroom would become something of a joke.

Thanks for stopping by.