Hot and cold faucets

[Mike Salovesh]

Barry Popik pointed out that faucets marked H and C in Mexico are hard
to figure out.  "C" clearly means "caliente", hot, and the "H" therefore
must mean something else.

Bruce Dykes wrote:

> Unless there's a valid linguistic reason for the H, I'll wager that the
> hotel got a deal on an overrun of fixtures made for El Norte.
>
> I'd like to believe that the fixtures market in Mexico is large enough to
> support products labeled in the native tongue.
>
> Then again, it could be just the guest-hostile school of hotel management...

There is no common Spanish word that would justify the "H" label on a
cold water faucet.  Those who insist on explaining the anomaly usually
fall back on "hielo", for "ice".  Ice, however, is not something you
want in a water pipe.

Nonetheless, Bruce, you lose your bet.

What makes the difference is not the size of the fixtures market in
Mexico: it's the size of that market in comparison to the U.S. market.
The fixtures market in the U.S. is large enough to make it worthwhile
for Mexican manufacturers to label their faucets "H" and "C" in hopes of
selling their products up north.  The same is true for plumbing
manufacturers in Guatemala, whose standard models also say "H" and "C".

The real problem for visiting gringos is that we're used to the
left-hand faucet being the source of hot water, and many Mexican
plumbers pipe hot water to the right.  Then there's the added
complication that some hotels, trying to be guest-friendly, adopt the
U.S. convention for the convenience of U.S. tourists.  So you never know
which side you can expect to be hot . . .

I first noticed the "C" for caliente on Mexican faucets in 1944.  (I was
in ninth grade, taking a vacation with my parents.)  Given Barry's
talent for finding antedates and the fact that he is in Mexico right
now, I make no claims about when the practice started.

-- mike salovesh        <salovesh at niu.edu>         PEACE!!!