Adriaansen talks on privies

Recently, Marion Town Historian Carolyn Adriaansen gave a presentation at Armstrong Living in Newark. The following will give you a glimpse of that presentation:

By Carolyn Adriaansen Following are excerpts from informational books and pamphlets that I have collected in an 'Outhouse' file.

The old outhouse served many purposes other than those for which it was intended. It was a place to escape regular household chores like filling the woodbox or fetching a bucket of water from the well or spring. It was a place to hide while eating a stolen cookie. It was a place to retreat when threatened by the neighborhood bully. It was a place of solace and a place to shed tears unnoticed. It was a place of rest, a place to plan and a place to dream. It was a place for a whole lot of things.

Privies could and did vary. In early America, some privies had gun ports in case of attack. Could this be where the expression 'caught with your pants down' came from? And if you had enough money, it was not uncommon to have a large privy matching the architecture of the main house with various seat sizes to correspond to the ages or shape of the residents. We never did understand the one with the square hole.

The typical American privy was a two-seater of simple wooden construction, completely equipped with flies, hornets, mosquitoes and corncobs or catalogs. Normally, it was located at a 'safe' but convenient distance from the main house at the end of a cinder path and behind a lilac bush; hence the expression, 'I am going out to smell the lilacs.'

American privies have to be considered almost current history when compared with European ones. Our images of the old, wooden rural two-seater that always leaned in some direction (why, we do not know, unless from being kicked over every Halloween) was due to the economics of the time. American privies were the only ones with a moon or star above the door. The moon meant it was for ladies and a star would be for the gents.

Someone once wrote to Sears saying he wanted to buy some toilet tissue. Sears wrote back instructing him to order it from the catalog. The neighbor replied that he couldn't, as his catalog was all gone.

Rules of the privy Parking Limit: 2 minutes on holidays, 7 minutes in summer, 12 minutes in winter.

Men: raise seat if not sitting.

Smokers and left handers sit to the left.

Refill catalog and corn cob box when empty.

Do not comment on other occupants' eating habits.

Use only one seat at a time (except on New Years' Eve).

Do not walk on seats.

Not responsible for any newspapers or books left here.

Keep your shoes on.

No drinking or gambling.

Don't shoot animals in privy.

Please observe your four-page limit.

Don't discuss your condition with other occupants.

No fighting.

Waiting must be done outside if full.

Taco, refried beans, sauerkraut and herring eaters, use neighbor's privy.

Knock once to determine if occupied.

Knock twice for emergency, and, if you hear someone running on the path, get out quickly.

(Note: Carolyn's file contains The Classic Outhouse Book, a complete guide to privy designs and construction plans. She also has a series of photos of historic Marion outhouses. )