In 1982, my old roommate, Ed, suggested that we collect pictures of toilets and hang them in our bathroom. The purpose: to add character to an otherwise dull water closet. Now, Ed has left for a bathroom in the suburbs, but I'm still here, keeping the dream alive.

Starting in 1998 and continuing in 2005, I'm proud to present The Toilet Museum online, in spite of what my family thinks.

Here, you can click your way through every exhibit in the "real" Toilet Museum, and then some, without actually having to use my bathroom. You can even send an electronic toilet postcard to a friend using Post-A-Toilet. If toilet knowledge is what you're after, then check out our FAQ page.

Like many "real" museums, admission to this online museum is free. Keeping it on the Internet, however, is not. Please help to support the museum by vistinging our sponsors or by purchasing a souvenir from our Giftshop, where you can choose one of the museum's recommendations, or anything that Amazon.com has to offer. My testimonial: In my experience, Amazon.com is, by far, the best place to shop on the Internet.

The Toilet Museum Bathroom Sounds page features streaming audio by Clipstream. No special player or plug-in required! All you need is Java. I could go for a cuppa Java right about now, but I digress. Check out the Bathroom Sounds by clicking here.

By the way, the "real" Toilet Museum remains closed to the public, unless, of course, my application for a grant from the National Foundation for the Arts goes through.

Wherever possible, I've given the original artists their credit. As for those artists whose names don't appear on their art: who can blame them?

The Toilet Museum is more than a museum: it's a multimedia experience. In order to get the best out of your visit to the museum, you should have your sound on, your browser should be Javascript and Java enabled, you should have Real One (version 10 or greater) and the latest Flash Player plug-in installed, and you should wash your hands frequently (even if you don't have an obsessive-compulsive disorder).

My wish is to offer a fun-filled web-site for anyone who has ever gone to the bathroom. If this site has educated anybody in anyway, I truly apologize. That was never the intention.

Burt Stark
The Toilet Museum, curator