Today’s youth do not remember having to use an “outhouse,” a “privy,” or “necessaries” as bathroom toilets. Today’s bathroom facilities are of course all indoors and designed for warmth, comfort and style. Today’s bathrooms have stools with self-closing lids and water saving devices installed. There are walk- in showers designed with colored tile back drops, pulsing shower heads and sometimes the floors are even heated for that warmth comfort.
My memories go back to having no choice of what toilet facilities to use but the small wooden building called the “outhouse.” Even though some farm houses of the past had water lines placed in the kitchen of the house, in the 50s and even the early 60s there were still “outhouses” in use. In my childhood years when my family moved back to a Jewell County family farm, we were thankful the farm house had an inside bathroom, as our previous house was in town so we had the latest in plumbing there. It was a shock when my sister and I attended a one room country school and we had to use an“outhouse.” I had not been a complete stranger to using an “outhouse” because my grandparents lived in a Jewell County farmhouse did not have indoor bathroom until the 1960s. When we visited Grandad and Grandma, their outhouse was right out the back porch door. With a short walk on boarded planks, the outhouse was reached.
The history of outdoor bathroom facilities goes back in time. In the American colonies, the wealthy termed their outdoor facilities as “necessaries.” The usual term by most others was “privy” coming from the word “private.” Of course through the years, towns had water and sewer pipes installed and indoor plumbing was available, but in the rural areas, those times didn’t arrive until the late 1940s, the 50s and for some farmsteads into the early 1960s.
The “outhouses” were made of wood for making the relocating of the pit and “outhouse” easy and the wood was good for the much needed ventilation. The usual measurements were 3 to 4 feet and about 7 feet tall. It was usually painted making the wood more durable. There was a hinged wooden door on the front that could be latched. Some had a cut out design at the top of the door. The cut out design sometimes was in the shape of a crescent moon and as history states, this was for the Roman moon goddess, Luna, and it showed that this “outhouse” was only to be used by ladies. If the “outhouse” had the cut out shape of a circle or star, it was for men only as the circle represented the Greek’s male sun god, Apollo. Of course on the farmstead, there was usually only one “outhouse” to use, and it was made for the whole family’s convenience.
The number of holes cut to sit upon, inside the “outhouse,” depended on the family’s size, from larger adult size holes to smaller ones for the children. History tells of how some children would fall inside the pit if the holes were too large. I remember the story a family told of how one of the younger children had gotten up in the middle of the night and was missing the next morning. The story had a happy ending as thankfully the child was somehow found safe in the “outhouse” pit. Though it was said no one could stand to be around the little one until she had take several baths after that experience.
Some of the holes in the “outhouse” had wooden lids on hinges so the holes could be covered when not in use. The “outhouses” were usually placed fairly close to the house, but away from the water source. There is an old saying, that the “outhouse” was “too close to the house in the summer but too far away in the winter.” In the early years, toilet paper was not available and expensive when it first came out, so other sources were used such as fresh corn cobs, rags and pages from the Sears & Roebuck or Montgomery Ward catalogs. It was probably a joyful time when the toilet paper became more available.
At the country school where my sister and I attended from 1957 until 1960, there were only “outhouses” to use. One for the girls and another one for the boys. The students tried to make use of the outdoor bathroom facilities during recess times as there were other girls taking turns and you didn’t feel alone. If during class time, a journey had to be made to the “outhouse” it became kind of challenging and for me a little spooky. Sometimes there would be spider webs, spiders, wasps and bees. All could be found inside but my biggest fear was finding a snake, so I’d open the door wide and look all around before I’d walk inside. Winter time was the most challenging though, as if a trip to the “outhouse” was called for, a person had to get into a coat, hat, boots, gloves and make the way to what seemed to be a long hike, down a slope and into the cold “outhouse.” Today’s youngsters have no idea just how lucky they are in their nice warm school and home bathrooms.
There are a few of the older generation still around who remember those days using a “privy or outhouse,” either at their country school, at the grandparent’s farmstead, or even at their family farmstead. They are thankful for what they have to use now.
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