Outhouses....yes, Outhouses!

[sawthemlogs]

this is how my projects start ..in this case it was the seat with the middle rusted away...i look at things and wonder what i can make of it...a lot of work just to utilize rusted out pan seat :D

[WDH]

You have to start somewhere  :D.

[clww]

How much xtra $ for the electricals and lytes?  :D

[Hilltop366]

Came across this one on a canoe trip a few years ago, it's kind of ruff, no one bothered to use it.



 

[purple otter]

  Just came back from camp and finally got some pictures of the outhouse I built last summer.It had to be nice enough for my wife and daughter to use or else they wouldn't come to camp with me. l know you guys like pictures ...so here are a few.


 


 


 
plate glass skylite lets the daylight in

[Ironwood]

 

  


This is from a demo guy I know, he sold it to me for $20,....we keep our garden tools in it. I put hte sign and painted "out of order" in red.

Ironwood

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Out of order?  :D :D :D That's funny....just dig a new hole and scoot it over.  :D :D :D :D

Nice house Ironwood!

[thecfarm]

sawthemlogs,how did you do the curved roof? I need one down by the garden. We have a shed across the driveway just for the garden stuff,but would like a small building at the edge of the garden.

[shelbycharger400]

thecfarm...
use 1/4 inch thick plywood    or use strips of wood

ever wonder how they did quansit hut barns?   thin plywood and roll roofin!

[Ironwood]

Shelby,

Also, one of the other tricks is not to stress the perlins too much by going "with" the curve of the roof but 45 degrees to it. That cuts the bending down SIGNIFICANTLY.

Ironwood

[Phorester]

Okay..., a question.

Why the traditional half-moon cutout on an outhouse door?  Anybody know?

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Okay..., a question.

Why the traditional half-moon cutout on an outhouse door?  Anybody know?

Outhouse Crescent Moons

Probably the most recognizable symbol associated symbol with the traditional outhouse building is the familiar crescent moon carved into the privy door. Actually, the symbol is an ancient one, and was a sign for womanhood in colonial days and on the frontier. It's male counterpart, Sol, was either a star or a sun burst design also on the door. Since most male outhouses fell into disrepair rather quickly they seldom survived; while the female ones were better maintained, and were eventually used by both sexes. Although you can find outhouses still standing with the crescent moon, the original meaning for gender identification was lost by the later nineteenth century in most areas of the country.

[Tree Feller]

I thought that crescent moon was there so wasps could get in and build a nest just under the edge of the seat.   8) 8) 8)

[WDH]

 :D :D

[Phorester]

Well now, that's interesting. Wonder why they just didn't paint a "W" and an "M" on the doors..... ;D

Yep, I reckon if my outhouse fell down I'd be inclined to use the ladies too. After they cleaned out the wasps of course. 

[Ironwood]

I have been a "FAN" of outhouse architecture (NOT the odor) for many years. My Mom bought me this book for my B-day many years ago.

Ironwood

 

[Jim_Rogers]

Well now, that's interesting. Wonder why they just didn't paint a "W" and an "M" on the doors..... ;D

People couldn't read. The W or M would mean nothing to them.... the understood a moon or a star.....

[Magicman]

Do I understand the Hillbilly on the roof waving Maggie's Drawers  ???   

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Do I understand the Hillbilly on the roof waving Maggie's Drawers  ???   

Is this where airing out your laundry came from?  :D

[Al_Smith]

Well moons on the door ,vents etc. are nice .The big question remains just were does one acquire a stack of Sears and Roebuck catalogs in this day and age ?

There's only so much you can do with a corn cob and with the advent of picker shellers even those are in short supply .Rougher than a cob or so they say . :D

[Magicman]

I wonder how you would Google up a wipe without a catalog  ???

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I wonder how you would Google up a wipe without a catalog  ???

say_what

Hummmmmmmmmm.........

[Al_Smith]

Well indeed Google is your friend but I don't think they can help in this situation .They may however have a suggestion in leau of a Sears catalog .Perhaps a stack of Lowes ads that come in the Sunday news paper .

Oh Lawdy the longer it goes the worse it gets . :D

[Misfit]

Since I can't offer anything in the way of intelligent milling advice, the least I can do to help repay some of the knowledge I've picked up on the FF is to offer up an extract of this article I googled:  ;D

"Thank your lucky stars you live in the twentieth century, bucko. Let me tell you about ... corncobs. You may not believe this, but it was once common practice in rural America to leave a corncob hanging from a string in the outhouse for purposes of personal hygiene. The string, I gather, was to permit the cob to be reused. For those who were punctilious in these matters, or else blessed with an abundance of corncobs, a box of disposable cobs might be provided instead. In coastal regions, the cob might be replaced by a mussel shell." (Ouch!  )

"For those who had access to it, paper from discarded books or newspapers was often preferred to either of the foregoing. The meteoric growth of the Sears Roebuck company, for instance, is thought to be partly attributable to the protean nature of its catalogs, which, historians tells us, might serve a family of regular habits for an entire season. As with the cob, the catalog would be hung in the outhouse on a string and pages torn off as needed. It's said the use of coated stock, which was nonabsorbent, was a source of great consternation to farm families when Sears began printing color pictures in the catalog earlier in this century." (Slippery!  smiley_heh_heh )

"English lords, in attempting to teach their sons to be cultivated gentlemen, often advised purchasing an inexpensive volume of verse for use in the loo. The idea, of course, was that while you were sitting there in a contemplative state you'd be able to read a few stanzas, following which the paper could be put to other ends, so to speak." (The words moved them!  )