When I was growing up, just about everyone I knew still had outdoor toilets. You could kind of judge people by their toilets. The shiftless, don't much care kind usually built theirs on a slope and let the waste pile up and tumble down the hillside.
My mama said that in her day, men came around town in a "Honey Wagon"and shoveled out the waste of the people in town.
The more industrious people dug pits underneath their toilets and from time to time put in lime to keep the odors down. My daddy built us a very fine toilet. He dug a deep pit and poured a cement floor around it. He took a big piece of pipe and embedded one end into the floor and on the other end he fitted a wooden seat just like the ones in the restrooms at the picture show. It even had a lid to let down.
The seat was very comfortable and you could sit and think your thoughts away from the noisy house. There was a bit of newpaper on the floor which had a story about a horse who fell into a cistern. The paper lay there for months and to this day everyone still living in my family can tell you nearly word for word about the horse and the struggle the people had getting him out.
It was very nice when we got a real bathroom, but I kind of missed the little house inside the pasture down across the road. I missed feeling the heat of summer and the occasional sound of gentle rain on the rusty tin roof. I missed the cold of winter and the sound of the blustering wind blowing around the corners and through the boards. I missed the nosing around of the old cow who came to the door as if to say hello. And best of all, we never had to clean it.
8 comments:
Brought a smile and some fond memories. Thanks for telling that story!
Tess:)
Most outhouses I've had the "privledge" of visiting were old, full of spiders and stunk to high heaven. Most of these are in campsites that we stay at. If one is lucky there is a door and toilet paper. Most have a lot of spiders in them. I hate the porta-potties they have these days, most are filthy because people hover over the seats and they stink pretty bad too! Linda
Excellent story of the past. Just thinking about how life was not all that long ago and was the norm for thousands of years. It makes us think. mark
Sorry I'm late about commenting but the allert didn't come in for some reason. I remember those old out houses very well. Glad they are gone. Helen
Hello - outside toilets! this is a wonderful memory for those of us that can remember them, and something that is just about to pass out of living memory. I am a 'heritage guide' i give walks and talks to locals and holiday makers and in particular one of my walks includes a row of houses that still have outside toilets which i am always keen to point out !!
Best wishes
Jayne
http://journals.aol.co.uk/funnyface0s0/SingleGirl
What a cute story of an unusual subject! lol I had an aunt and uncle who had an out door toilet up until the early 1970's!! Uncle Curtis just put the new flushable comode where the old type had been. It was a cute little house with a cement walkway to it. I remember how terrible cold the seat was when we stayed with them in winter time. They finally gave in and brought the restroom inside the house. Would you believe Uncle Curtis was a carpenter/plumber by trade?!!!!! lol - Barbara
Amen on the never having to clean it! I have three bathrooms in this house! Sometimes, we don't know how good we have it, do we? ;-) Thanks for visiting my journal.
Blessings!~
Susan
http://journals.aol.com/rjet33/CountryLivingSouthernStyle/
I love this entry. Did you live in KY? lol!
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