Hers and His: A photoessay

Well, this post has been a long time coming.

One of the first times I remember noticing a sign was almost twenty years ago, as I was waiting for someone outside a washroom. I saw the standard signs






















and wondered why, internationally, it's totally acceptable that these figures' heads are disconnected from their bodies. Isn't that peculiar? And yet, I had never even noticed.

Now, most bathroom signs are pretty much standard, with a few subtle twists here and there. Some are older than others, and show it. Old or not, the heads are still off here:






















Some have gotten a bit carried away with the whole mutilation thing, and have started disconnecting other body parts:






















Some have gotten really fancy, and started building golden statuettes, ala the Oscars. At least now the heads are firmly connected: progress!

















Now here's where it starts getting weird.



What are we meant to learn from this? Men are hollow? Hmm... okay, fair enough.

Here's one I found in a mall; apparently someone decided to fill it in by hand. Lovely!



Here's a nice equal opportunity sign. It's the first time I've seen a skirt on a disabled figure. Way to go, someone!



Now, to get back to the bizarre: I promise, but really promise that these are real. We went to a popular chain hardware store, and these were on the main bathroom doors:






















I'm not even going to attempt a guess at the inspiration behind this one. That's definitely Donald Duck, right?




Now, some places are daring enough to break away from the standard decapitated mold. (No, I do not consider the previous sign daring.) Here's an example of a more abstract, yet fairly clear set of signs. The cigarettes I could do without, but these are pretty unique, you have to admit:






















Before my grande finale, I'd like to remind everyone of another bathroom sign post that I once wrote. It was one of my very first, and I think one of the funniest.

Anyway, here's the last entry, for now. I don't know what's going on in this bathroom, but it sure looks entertaining!

Really, it's the things we see every day that can be the silliest.