This amazing artifact does not, strictly speaking, pertain to Boulder, except that it is one of the prized possessions of a Boulder crank.This admission ticket was purchased in the 70s from a uniformed attendant guarding the entrance to the men's restroom (or, more accurately, the public convenience) at the train station in Inverness, Scotland. The purchaser found it hilarious, but the dour attendant seemed to have heard the joke before.
The pay toilet has a long tradition in the UK, the first public convenience to charge one penny having opened in 1855. Hence, to "spend a penny" is a Brit euphemism for urination, particularly for using the "w.c." at a public convenience. However, as one British authority observes,
Freud told us that defecation and love are both forms of spending and giving money. The many monetary metaphors for going to the bathroom seem to confirm his theory as we speak of "going to the bank" and "cashing a check."
Partridge notes a 1977 headline in the Daily Telegraph, "2p to spend a penny."
