Sorry Folks, I have to do it...... in 1958, when I was 5, my parents up and moved the whole family from a nice 'normal' house, to a farmhouse- with no bathroom. I don't actually remember much about the outhouse that came with that new home, so apparently it was taken in stride by a 5-yr-old. But four years later, I remember just how nice it was to have them put in a real flusher and bathtub! So now I'm 9, and thinking life is great, only to find out that the REAL reason they put in the flusher was to make the house more saleable- and we moved to another house without a Flusher!!!

Now I'm an Impossible Almost Pre-Teen, and really I can't believe that they would do this to me. ME!

But they came to their senses and put in that modern bathroom within a year, and life returned to normal, at last.

Now jump forward to 1986, when I find an interesting job as an interpreter in a small town museum, built around the times of the people in 1856, and which, you can guess- had an outhouse! Well, I was totally equipped to deal with it, and did. But it was so interesting to see the tourists come by and actually take photos of themselves going in and out of it, and it becomes part of the whole experience.

One day a Story-Teller came to one of the museum's events, and enjoyed the real-life adventure of the outhouse. He gave me a great short story book, "The Specialist" by Charles (Chic) Sale (copyright 1929), that totally summed up the artistry and important points of Privy-Buildin'- things you wouldn't ever think of, if you weren't building one, or needing one.....

Things like: do you need a 3-holer, or just a 2? Or if you have workers around, that aren't working all the time, maybe it's to comfortable? A proper outhouse will only be occupied 4 minutes, average....

Location: dont' put it at the bottom of a hill. People be getting hurt sliding down to it, and then Tater's calling.

Furnishings: Gotta have either a nail on the wall for the catalog, or a bin for the corncobs.

Gotta have the door swingin' in so if someone drunk at a music event comes crashing in on ya, you can stop 'em with your foot, and don't forget the most important- put that thing on a good foundation, so none of them Holloween Outhouse Tippers come along and upset everything you worked so hard to do right.

Hope that helps clarify the outhouse thing

I used the two-holer for years in the california desert. Hauled water from the well to the house in a little red wagon 12 gallons at a time......with a broken wheel.
nope, didn't get electricity till late in the 80's. Always felt a little out of place when kids would start talkin about tv shows.......but I could walk a barrel like nobodys buisness.
I did have a transistor radio I was able to tune in vhf/uhf so id always look forward to listening to the flintstones.

Having to use an outhouse at some point in a person's life is a character-building experience.

Susan

Sounds like Linda has a lot of character, then!

I've fortunately only had to use one a few times in my life, and that was when I was a kid.

Hunter

I have a book titled "Home Country", which is a compilation of Ernie Pyle's pre-war columns. On several occaisions he used the term "chic sale" to refer to an outhouse. I wonder what the relation is between Pyle's use of that term and the author mentioned by Lndfay.


"Home Country" is very interesting. Worth checking out by anybody, and particularly by those who have read Ernie Pyle's wartime writings but are unfamiliar with his pre-war work.

Very interesting post, Linda! I've never lived with one, but did experience the magic while on tour in Poland. The free public restrooms at rest areas on the highways there were multi-seater outhouses. Of course, you could also pay to visit a modern facility, and after my first attempt at frugality, I decided to spend a few zloty for the rest of the trip!

Glom, I had to look up Mr. Sales on Wikipedia after your comments- interesting! Links to Soupy Sales and the Marx Bros., among others.

Thanks for the additional info, I love how one starts down a path and never really knows where it'll lead

I haven't been around for many moons, so I was perusing the various posts and this one brought me back to Wisconsin in 1988. I was staying with some close friends and I was asked to go with them to their aunt's place tucked back in the Wisconsin hills. They told me it was quite remote and a commune type situation. I was definitely up for a new experience. No electricity or plumbing. I go to use the outhouse and as I'm sittin' and thinkin', I look up and notice a wasp nest with about 4 of 5 of those little devils looking right down at meet. Moved as fast as I ever have in my entire life, but not quite fast enough. Those little bastards nailed me a couple of times. Fortunately nothing below the waist was damaged.