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{{Short description|Small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet}}{{Redirect|Shithouse|the American film|Shithouse (film)|underhand sporting tactics|Gamesmanship|other uses}}{{Redirect|Dunny|other uses|Dunny (disambiguation)}}{{Distinguish|Chemical toilet}}File:WPA Outhouse.jpg|thumb|upright| Historical community sanitationsanitationFile:Outhouse in narvik.jpg|thumb|upright|Outhouse in the mountains in northern NorwayNorwayFile:WC exterieur, couverture en d’ardoises Le Palais.jpg|thumb|upright| An outhouse in Le Palais, Brittany ]]An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used to denote the toilet itself, not just the structure.Outhouses were in use in cities of developed countries (e.g. Australia) well into the second half of the twentieth century. They are still common in rural areas and also in cities of developing countries. Outhouses that are covering pit latrines in densely populated areas can cause groundwater pollution.

Design aspects

Common features

File:Outhouse, Lake Providence, LA IMG 7386.JPG|thumb|upright|Outhouse used by sharecroppers on display, Louisiana State Cotton Museum, Lake Providence ]]Outhouses vary in design and construction. They are by definition outside the dwelling, and are not connected to plumbing, sewer, or septic system. The World Health Organization recommends they be built a reasonable distance from the house balancing issues of easy access versus that of smell.WEB, Simple pit latrines,helid.digicollection.org/en/d/Js13461e/3.4.html, WHO, 2 August 2016, 1996, 19 December 2012,helid.digicollection.org/en/d/Js13461e/3.4.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20121219220918helid.digicollection.org/en/d/Js13461e/3.4.html,">web.archive.org/web/20121219220918helid.digicollection.org/en/d/Js13461e/3.4.html, dead, The superstructure exists to shelter the user, and also to protect the toilet itself. The primary purpose of the building is for privacy and human comfort, and the walls and roof provide a visual screen and some protection from the elements. The outhouse also has the secondary role of protecting the toilet hole from sudden influxes of rainwater, which would flood the hole and flush untreated wastes into the underlying soils before they can decompose.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}Outhouses are commonly humble and utilitarian, made of lumber or plywood. This is especially so they can easily be moved when the earthen pit fills up. Depending on the size of the pit and the amount of use, this can be fairly frequent, sometimes yearly. As pundit “Jackpine” Bob Cary wrote: “Anyone can build an outhouse, but not everyone can build a good outhouse.“BOOK, The All-American Outhouse{{ndash, Stories, Design & Construction|publisher=Adventure Publications|year=2003|isbn=978-1-59193-011-2|type=print|first1=“Jackpine” Bob|last1=Cary|place=Cambridge, MN}} Floor plans typically are rectangular or square, but hexagonal outhouses have been built.WEB,www.sewerhistory.org/grfx/privbath/outhse1.htm, Sewer History: Photos and Graphics, The arrangements inside the outhouse vary by culture. In Western societies, many, though not all, have at least one seat with a hole in it, above a small pit. Others, often in more rural, older areas in European countries, simply have a hole with two indents on either side for the user’s feet. In Eastern societies, there is a hole in the floor, over which the user crouches. A roll of toilet paper is usually available. Old corn cob, leaves, or other types of paper may instead be used.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}The decoration on the outhouse door has no standard. The well-known crescent moon on American outhouses was popularized by cartoonists and had a questionable basis in fact. There are authors who claim the practice began during the colonial period as an early “mens“/“ladies” designation for an illiterate populace (the sun and moon being popular symbols for the sexes during those times).WEB,www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_382.html, January 9, 1987, Cecil, Adams, The Straight Dope: Why do outhouse doors have half-moons on them?, July 19, 2004, January 6, 2009,www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_382.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20090106015954www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_382.html,">web.archive.org/web/20090106015954www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_382.html, dead, Others dismiss the claim as an urban legend.{{efn-ua|Discussion of outhouses as vernacular architecture (including crescent moon folklore), from the Missouri Folklore Society.WEB,missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu/outhouses.html, Missouri Outhouses, Missouri Folklore Society, November 27, 2014, February 28, 2015,missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu/outhouses.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20150228160650missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu/outhouses.html,">web.archive.org/web/20150228160650missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu/outhouses.html, dead, }} What is certain is that the purpose of the hole is for venting and light and there were a wide variety of shapes and placements employed.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Toilet types covered by outhouse shelters

The shelter may cover very different sorts of toilets.

Pit latrines

File:Squat outhouse cm01.jpg|thumb|upright|Outhouse with squat toiletsquat toiletAn outhouse often provides the shelter for a pit latrine, which collects human feces in a hole in the ground. When properly built and maintained they can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the amount of human feces in the environment from open defecation.WEB, Call to action on sanitation,sanitationdrive2015.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DSG_Sanitation_Fast-Facts_final.pdf, United Nations, 15 August 2014,sanitationdrive2015.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DSG_Sanitation_Fast-Facts_final.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20140819084624sanitationdrive2015.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DSG_Sanitation_Fast-Facts_final.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20140819084624sanitationdrive2015.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DSG_Sanitation_Fast-Facts_final.pdf, 19 August 2014, dead, When the pit fills to the top, it should be either emptied or a new pit constructed and the shelter moved or re-built at the new location.BOOK, François Brikké, Linking technology choice with operation and maintenance in the context of community water supply and sanitation, 2003, World Health Organization, 978-9241562157, 108,whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2003/9241562153.pdf, The management of the fecal sludge removed from the pit is complicated. There are both environment and health risks if not done properly. As of 2013 pit latrines are used by an estimated 1.77 billion people.JOURNAL, Graham, JP, Polizzotto, ML, Pit latrines and their impacts on groundwater quality: a systematic review., Environmental Health Perspectives, May 2013, 121, 5, 521–30, 23518813, 10.1289/ehp.1206028, 3673197, This is mostly in the developing world as well as in rural and wilderness areas.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Bucket toilet

Another system is the bucket toilet, consisting of a seat and a portable receptacle (bucket or pail). These may be emptied by their owners into composting piles in the garden (a low-tech composting toilet), or collected by contractors for larger-scale disposal. Historically, this was known as the pail closet; the municipality employed workers, often known as “nightmen” (from night soil), to empty and replace the buckets. This system was associated in particular with the English town of Rochdale, to the extent that it was described as the “Rochdale System” of sanitation.BOOK, Prescott Falwell, A, The designing, Construction, and Maintenance of Sewerage Systems, 1901, John Wiley & Sons,archive.org/stream/cu31924004980862, BOOK, Dr Leslie Rosenthal, The River Pollution Dilemma in Victorian England: Nuisance Law versus Economic Efficiency,books.google.com/books?id=ZzY9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25, 28 April 2014, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 978-1-4724-0420-6, 25–26, 20th century books report that similar systems were in operation in parts of France and elsewhere in continental Europe.The system of municipal collection was widespread in Australia; “dunny cans” persisted well into the second half of the twentieth century, see below. In Scandinavia and some other countries, outhouses are built over removable containers that enable easy removal of the waste and enable much more rapid composting in separate piles.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} A similar system operates in India, where hundreds of thousands of workers engage in manual scavenging, i.e. emptying pit latrines and bucket toilets without any personal protective equipment.WEB,www.nhrc.nic.in/Documents/Publications/KYR%20Scavenging%20English.pdf, Human rights and manual scavenging, September 16, 2013, National Human Rights Commission, Know Your Rights Series, WEB,www.hindustantimes.com/comment/the-humiliation-continues/article1-1368562.aspx,www.hindustantimes.com/comment/the-humiliation-continues/article1-1368562.aspx," title="web.archive.org/web/20150713100801www.hindustantimes.com/comment/the-humiliation-continues/article1-1368562.aspx,">web.archive.org/web/20150713100801www.hindustantimes.com/comment/the-humiliation-continues/article1-1368562.aspx, dead, July 13, 2015, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should aim to stamp out manual scavenging, 2015-07-12, WEB, Umesh IsalkarUmesh Isalkar, TNN, Census raises stink over manual scavenging, The Times of India, 30 April 2013,timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Census-raises-stink-over-manual-scavenging/articleshow/19794299.cms, 6 September 2015,

Drums and barrels in national parks

File:North Fork Outhouse.jpg|thumb|right|Log outhouse at a public-use cabin, Chena River State Recreation AreaChena River State Recreation AreaA variety of systems are used in some national parks and popular wilderness areas, to cope with the increased volume of people engaged in activities such as mountaineering and kayaking. The growing popularity of paddling, hiking, and climbing has created special waste disposal issues throughout the world. It is a dominant topic for outdoor organizations and their members.NEWS,findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_n2_v9/ai_20492815, Flushed with success: new waste-reducing design in modern toiletry, Motavalli, Jim, E: The Environmental Magazine, 1998, 2007-11-04, 2008-08-30,findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_n2_v9/ai_20492815," title="web.archive.org/web/20080830060550findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_n2_v9/ai_20492815,">web.archive.org/web/20080830060550findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_n2_v9/ai_20492815, dead, For example, in some places the human waste is collected in drums which need to be helicoptered in and out at considerable expense.Alternatively, some parks mandate a “pack it in, pack it out” rule. Many reports document the use of containers for the removal of excrement, which must be packed in and packed out on Mount Everest. Also known as “expedition barrels“WEB,classic.mountainzone.com/everest/98/climb4-28cleanup.html, MountainZone.com, or “bog barrels”,WEB,www.everestnews.com/everestupdatesnorth2005/britisheverest2005u05332005.htm, Mt. Everest 2005: The British Everest expedition reports 7 Summits from the North!, the cans are weighed to make sure that groups do not dump them along the way.WEB,www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/everest/2007/04/, BBC | Horizon on Everest, “Toilet tents” are erected.WEB,www.adlers.com.au/aboutclimbing.php, Paul & Fi’s Mount Everest Climb, dead,www.adlers.com.au/aboutclimbing.php," title="web.archive.org/web/20071113131840www.adlers.com.au/aboutclimbing.php,">web.archive.org/web/20071113131840www.adlers.com.au/aboutclimbing.php, 2007-11-13, WEB,www.everestnews2004.com/everestnews2/adventurepeaks2004up8.htm, Adventure Peaks Mt Everest 2004 Expedition, There has been an increasing awareness that the mountain needs to be kept clean, for the health of the climbers at least.

Composting toilets

Worm hold privies, another variant of the composting toilet, are being used by Vermont’s Green Mountain Club. These simple outhouses are stocked with red worms (a staple used by home composters). Composting toilets are also subject to regulations.’See Composting toilets bring the outhouse indoors — JSCMS {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817014139jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-04-05/mccandlish-composttoilet/ |date=August 17, 2007 }}The “Clivus Multrum” is another type of composting toilet which can be inside of an outhouse.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Others

There are other types of toilet that may be covered by an outhouse superstructure, or a toilet tent (e.g. in humanitarian relief operations), or even be installed inside a house that is beyond the reach of sewers. The Swedish Pacto toilet uses a continuous roll of plastic to collect and dispose of waste.WEB,www.arctictracks.com/pacto-toilet, Pacto Toilet, 14 July 2010, Incinerating toilets are installed in several thousand cabins in Norway.WEB,www.ecotech.no/index.php/produkter/cinderella-gas/170-cinderella-gas-erstatter-utedoen, Cinderella Gas, dead,www.ecotech.no/index.php/produkter/cinderella-gas/170-cinderella-gas-erstatter-utedoen," title="web.archive.org/web/20130810214545www.ecotech.no/index.php/produkter/cinderella-gas/170-cinderella-gas-erstatter-utedoen,">web.archive.org/web/20130810214545www.ecotech.no/index.php/produkter/cinderella-gas/170-cinderella-gas-erstatter-utedoen, 2013-08-10, These toilets incinerate waste into ashes, using only propane and 12 volt battery electricity.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Public health issues

Outhouse design, placement, and maintenance has long been recognized as being important to the public health. See posters created by the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s and early 1940s.WEB,www.sewerhistory.org/grfx/privbath/outhse2.htm, Library of Congress, American Memory Historical Collections for the National Digital Library, Reproduction Number LC-USZC2-1592 DLC.,

Insect control

Some types of flying insects such as the housefly are attracted to the odor of decaying material, and will use it for food for their offspring, laying eggs in the decaying material. Other insects such as mosquitoes seek out standing water that may be present in the pit for the breeding of their offspring.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}Both of these are undesirable pests to humans, but can be easily controlled without chemicals by enclosing the top of the pit with tight-fitting boards or concrete, using a sufficiently sealed toilet hole cover that is closed after every use, and by using fine-grid insect screen to cover the inlet and outlet vent holes. This prevents flying insect entry by all potential routes.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}It is common (at least in the United States) for outhouses to have a bucket or a bag of powdered lime with a scoop of some kind in it. Either before or after using the outhouse (usually after but sometimes both) a scoop or two of lime is sprinkled into the lid holes to cover the waste as to suppress the odor which also can help with the insect issues. This method of using powdered lime is also used (and for the same reasons) in common/mass graves.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Parasites

One of the purposes of outhouses is to avoid spreading parasites such as intestinal worms, notably hookworms, which might otherwise be spread via open defecation.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Uses

Outhouses on mountain peaks

• On August 29, 2007, the highest outhouse (actually, not a building at all, but a pit toilet surrounded by a low rock wall) in the continental United States, which sat atop Mount Whitney at about {{convert|14494|ft}} above sea level, offering a magnificent panorama to the user, was removed. Two other outhouses, in the Inyo National Forest, were closed due to the expense and danger involved in transporting out large sewage drums via helicopter. The annual 19,000 or so hikers of the Mount Whitney Trail, who must pick up National Forest Service permits, are now given Wagbags (a double-sealed sanitation kit) to facilitate the practice of “pack it in; pack it out.“NEWS,www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/us/05whitney.html?_r=1&oref=slogin, No More Privies, So Hikers Add a Carry-Along, The New York Times, Felicity, Barringer, September 5, 2007, May 20, 2010, Solar-powered toilets did not sufficiently compact the excrement, and the systems were judged failures at that location. Additionally, by relieving park rangers of latrine duty, they were better able to concentrate on primary ranger duties such as talking to hikers.NEWS,www.fresnobee.com/sports/outdoors/story/136356.html, Fresno Bee, FresnoBee.com: Outdoors: A new approach to Whitney’s waste, {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The use of Wagbags and the removal of outhouses is part of a larger trend in US parks. The US National Park Service once built an outhouse that cost above $333,000.NEWS,www.theplumber.com/outhouse.html, The Opulent Outhouse, Frank, Greve, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, The Seattle Times, October 8, 1997, Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, November 27, 2014,
• In 2007, France’s two highest outhouses were helicoptered to the top of Mont Blanc at a height of {{convert|4260|m}}. The containers from these outhouses are emptied by helicopter. The facilities will serve 30,000 skiers and hikers annually, thus helping to alleviate the deposit of urine and feces that spread down the mountain face with the spring thaw, and turned it into ‘Mont Noir’.WEB,www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2429287.html, Europe’s highest toilet, Ananova, 1989-04-15, 2012-04-16, dead,www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2429287.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20081208143034www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2429287.html,">web.archive.org/web/20081208143034www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2429287.html, 2008-12-08, More technically, the 2002 book Le versant noir du mont Blanc (“The black hillside of Mont Blanc“) exposes problems in conserving the site.proMONT-BLANC Le versant noir du Mont-Blanc. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208075619www.pro-mont-blanc.org/fr_art_aff.php?id_article=21 |date=December 8, 2008 }}
• Upon the {{convert|5642|m|adj=on}} Mount Elbrus—Russia’s highest peak, the highest mountain in all of Europe and topographically dividing Europe from Asia—sits the world’s “nastiest outhouse” at {{convert|4206|m}}. It is in the Caucasus Mountains, near the frontier between Georgia and Russia. As one writer opined, “...it does not much feel like Europe when you’re there. It feels more like Central Asia or the Middle East.”Outside Magazine 1993 search and article)NEWS,www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/09/TRGU3I3MIM1.DTL, The pinnacle of success – and disgust – for climbers, The San Francisco Chronicle, John, Flinn, August 28, 2010, The outhouse is surrounded by and covered in ice, perched off the end of a rock, and with a pipe pouring effluvia onto the mountain. It consistently receives low marks for sanitation and convenience, but is considered to be a unique experience.See “Getting to the Top in the Caucasus” – The New York Times
• Australia’s highest outhouse — located at Rawson’s Pass in the Main Range in Kosciuszko National Park, which each year receives more than 100,000 walkers outside of winter and has a serious human waste management issue, was completed in 2008.WEB,www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/08596_0607.pdf, Kosciuszko National Park Plan of Management: 2006-2007 Implementation Report, National Parks and Wildlife Service (New South Wales), National Parks and Wildlife Service, 2006, November 27, 2014,
• A stone outhouse in Colca Canyon, Peru, has been claimed to be “the world’s highest”.WEB,ideotrope.org/index.pl?node_id=69224&photo_id=69140&displaytype=slideshow, ideotrope &124; Peru07: Colca Canyon, dead,web.archive.org/web/20110726170619/https://ideotrope.org/index.pl?node_id=69224&photo_id=69140&displaytype=slideshow, 2011-07-26,

History

{{See also|History of water supply and sanitation}}Old outhouse pits are seen as excellent places for archeological and anthropological excavations, offering up a trove of common objects from the past{{mdash}}a veritable inadvertent time capsule{{mdash}}which yields historical insight into the lives of the bygone occupants. This is also called privy digging. It is especially common to find old bottles, which seemingly were secretly stashed or trashed, so their content could be privately imbibed.NEWS,query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE7D91E39F93AA1575BC0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print, An Outhouse in SoHo Yields Artifacts of 19th century Life, Martin, Douglas, August 29, 1996, The New York Times, NEWS,www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/philadelphia-excavation-finds-artifacts_us_5777d0d3e4b0416464103834, Science: Teams Excavating Toilets Flush Out Thousands of 18th Century Artifacts, July 2, 2016, The remarkable collection spans nearly 300 years of people at the site near Independence Hall., Nina, Golgowski, The Huffington Post, July 2, 2016, Compare WEB,www.jldr.com/ohdigger.html, What are Outhouse Diggers?, January 18, 1998, Outhouse Tour of America Tour, November 27, 2014, Fossilised feces (coprolites) yield much information about diet and health.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Australia

File:BrisbaneSuburbanOuthouses1950.jpg|thumb|Norman Park, Queensland, around 1950; like many areas of date=November 2020}}, with each house having an outhouse or “dunny” in the back yard. The little sheds in each back yard are outhouses.“Dunny” or “dunny can” are Australian words for a toilet, particularly an outhouse. For other uses of the word, see Dunny (disambiguation).{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}In suburban areas not connected to the sewerage, outhouses were not always built over pits. Instead, these areas utilized a pail closet, where waste was collected into large cans positioned under the toilet seat, to be collected by contractors (or night soil collectors) hired by property owners or the local council. The used cans were replaced with empty, cleaned cans. Brisbane relied on “dunny carts” until the 1950s; because the population was so dispersed, it was difficult to install sewerage.“MEMBERWIDE">TITLE=ESSAYS IN THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AUSTRALIAN CAPITALISM DATE=1978PAGE=115ISBN=9780855520564, Tar, creosote, and disinfectant kept the smell down.HTTP://BOOLARONGPRESS.COM.AU/CONTENT/BOOKSTORE/BOOKDETAILS.ASP?BOOKID=571>LAST1=SMITHTITLE=SHADOWS OF WAR ON THE BRISBANE LINEPUBLISHER=BOOLARONG PRESSACCESS-DATE=5 JULY 2017ARCHIVE-DATE=2017-03-11George Seddon (academic)>George Seddon claimed that “the typical Australian back yard in the cities and country towns” had, throughout the first half of the twentieth century, “a dunny against the back fence, so that the pan could be collected from the dunny lane through a trap-door”.CRAVEN, IAN>AUTHOR2=GEORGE SEDDONTITLE=AUSTRALIAN POPULAR CULTUREgong farmer.{{Citation needed>date=November 2022}}The “dunny lanes” provided access to collectors. These access lanes can now be worth considerable sumsNEWS, Minus, Jodie, The judge turning a $1 ‘dunny lane’ into a $1m-plus property windfall,www.theaustralian.com.au/news/the-judge-turning-a-1-dunny-lane-into-a-1m-plus-property-windfall/story-e6frg6n6-1226009731361, 8 June 2016, The Australian, see Ransom strip.The Great Australian Dunny Race has become an icon during the Weerama Festival at Werribee.The Great Australian Dunny Race {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408121014www.dunnyrace.com.au/index.htm |date=April 8, 2009 }} Retrieved on 14 March 2009

Denmark

The remains of a thousand year old Viking outhouse were discovered in 2017. This is the oldest known outhouse in the country, even though evidence cannot establish it to be “the first”. This discovery was considered to be culturally significant.{{efn-ua|“Toilets were important enough to the Vikings that there are references to them in Viking literature. Medieval scholar Sarah Künzler, of Trinity College, Dublin, notes that Old Norse has several words for outhouse, including garðhús (yard house), náð-/náða-hús (house of rest), and annat hús (the other house). Künzler writes that these words ‘[confirm] the notion that a separate house was built as a privy.’“WEB,arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/unexpected-viking-toilet-discovery-leads-to-controversy/, Science: Unexpected Viking toilet discovery leads to controversy, Ars Technica, June 23, 2017, June 23, 2017, Museum of Southeastern Denmark archaeology researcher Anna Beck was digging up what she thought was a semi-subterranean workshop, only to find that she was knee-deep in... yeah, you guessed it. She’d found a layer of medieval poop. Carbon dating pegs the toilet at more than 1,000 years old, making it possibly the oldest crapper in Denmark., }}

United States

File:Thomas Leiper Estate 8 seater.jpg|thumb|upright|Eight-seat stone outhouse at the Thomas Leiper Estate near Wallingford, PennsylvaniaWallingford, PennsylvaniaFile:Poplar Forest6.jpg|thumb|upright|A brick outhouse at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest estate near Lynchburg, VirginiaLynchburg, VirginiaOuthouses are typically built on one level, but two-story models are to be found in unusual circumstances. One double-decker was built to serve a two-story building in Cedar Lake, Michigan. The outhouse was connected by walkways. It still stands (but not the building).{{efn-ua|Cedar Lake, Michigan.WEB,www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php?tip_AttractionNo==657, Cedar Lake, MI – Two-Story Outhouse, }} The waste from “upstairs” is directed down a chute separate from the “downstairs” facility in these instances, so contrary to various jokes about two-story outhouses, the user of the lower level has nothing to fear if the upper level is in use at the same time. The Boston Exchange Coffee House (1809–1818) was equipped with a four-story outhouseBOOK, Chronicles of Old Boston: Exploring New England’s Historic Capital, Museyon, Signature Book Services distributor, 2012, 978-0-9846334-0-1, New York, 74, print, Bahne, Charles, with windows on each floor.BOOK, The Exchange Artist: A Tale of High-Flying Speculation and America’s First Banking Collapse, Viking Press/Penguin Books, 2008, 978-0670018413, New York, 184, print, Jane, Kamensky, Some outhouses were built surprisingly ornately, considering the time and the place.WEB,www.sewerhistory.org/grfx/privbath/outhse2.htm, Sewer History: Photos and Graphics, For example, an opulent 19th century antebellum example (a three-holer) is at the plantation area at the state park in Stone Mountain, Georgia.WEB,www.jldr.com/ohstonmt.html, Georgia’s Stone Mountain Brick Outhouse, February 28, 1998, A., Nichols, November 27, 2014, The outhouses of Colonial Williamsburg varied widely, from simple expendable temporary wood structures to high-style brick.JOURNAL,www.history.org/foundation/journal/Autumn02/necessary.cfm, Necessary and Sufficient, Michael, Olmert, Colonial Williamsburg Journal, November 27, 2014, Thomas Jefferson designed and had built two brick octagons at his vacation home. Such outhouses are sometimes considered to be overbuilt, impractical and ostentatious, giving rise to the simile “(wikt:built like a brick shithouse|built like a brick shithouse).” That phrase’s meaning and application is subject to some debate; but (depending upon the country) it has been applied to men, women, or inanimate objects.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}With regards to anal cleansing, old newspapers and mail order catalogs, such as those from Montgomery Ward or Sears Roebuck, were common before toilet paper was widely available. The Old Farmer’s Almanac, manufactured with a hole drilled through it to allow easy hanging on a nail, was popular. Paper was often kept in a can or other container to protect it from mice, etc. The catalogs served a dual purpose, also giving one something to read.WEB,www.portalwisconsin.org/resources_chat_archives2.cfm?chatid=4257, PortalWisconsin.org – Chat, dead,www.portalwisconsin.org/resources_chat_archives2.cfm?chatid=4257," title="web.archive.org/web/20090212150225www.portalwisconsin.org/resources_chat_archives2.cfm?chatid=4257,">web.archive.org/web/20090212150225www.portalwisconsin.org/resources_chat_archives2.cfm?chatid=4257, 2009-02-12,

Society and culture

Names

Outdoor toilets are referred to by many terms throughout the English-speaking world.{{efn-ua|For a full list of synonyms, see “(wikt:Wikisaurus:bathroom|bathroom)” at (wikt:Wikisaurus|Wikisaurus).}} The term “outhouse” is used in North American English for the structure over a toilet, usually a pit latrine (“long drop“). However, in British English “outhouse” means any outbuilding, such as a shed or barn.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}In Australia and parts of Canada an outdoor toilet is known as a “dunny”. “Privy”, an archaic variant of “private”, is used in North America, Scotland, and northern England. “Bog” is common throughout Britain (used to coin the neologism “tree bog“) and is also used informally in Britain, as well as Canada and Australia to refer to any toilet. The name “little house“Ward Bucher (1996) Dictionary of Building Preservation, {{ISBN|0-471-14413-4}} (as ) continues as a euphemism for any toilet in both the Welsh language and the Welsh English dialect. Other terms include “back house”, “house of ease”, and “house of office”. The last was common in 17th-century England and appeared in Samuel Pepys’s Diary on numerous occasions.{{refn|As “October 23, 1660: ...going down into my cellar..., I put my foot into a great heap of turds, by which I find Mr Turner’s house of office is full and comes into my cellar.“{{citation |title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys |first=Samuel |last=Pepys |display-authors=0 |editor-first=Mynors |editor-last=Bright |editor2-first=Richard |editor2-last=Griffin |display-editors=1 |date=1892 |page=245 |ref={{harvid|Bright & al.|1892}} }}.}}A regional name for an outhouse in North America used especially in Virginia is “johnnyhouse” or “johnny house”.Lee Pederson. “Language Regions.” The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 2: Geography. Richard Pillsbury, ed. University of North Carolina Press, 2014. p. 97. {{ISBN|9780807877210}}Robert Becker, Nancy Lancaster: Her Life, Her World, Her Art. A.A. Knopf, 1996. p. 68. {{ISBN|9780394567914}}J. David McNeil. “”A Part of Americana.” Floyd County Virginia Heritage Book 2000. S. Grose, 2001. In the Scouting Movement in North America, a widespread term for outhouse is “kybo”. This appears to have originated from camps which used Kybo brand coffee cans to hold lye or lime which was sprinkled down the hole to reduce odor. “Keep Your Bowels Open” may be a backronym.WEB, Green, Clarke, 2012-02-15, Lore of the Kybo,scoutmastercg.com/lore-of-the-kybo/, 4 September 2016, Scoutmastercg.com, WEB, KYBO,www.scoutorama.com/dictionary/dictionary_display.cfm?dict_id=15,www.scoutorama.com/dictionary/dictionary_display.cfm?dict_id=15," title="web.archive.org/web/20060318110000www.scoutorama.com/dictionary/dictionary_display.cfm?dict_id=15,">web.archive.org/web/20060318110000www.scoutorama.com/dictionary/dictionary_display.cfm?dict_id=15, dead, March 18, 2006, 2012-04-16, Scoutorama.com, Temporary encampments may use a tent or tarpaulin over a shallow pit; one name for this is a “hudo”.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}It is not easy to determine whether a given term was restricted to an outdoor toilet, or whether the meaning had extended, over time and with the development of indoor plumbing, to any toilet.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Mythology

Tsi-Ku, also known as Tsi Ku Niang, is described as the Chinese goddess of the outhouse and divination. It is said that a woman could uncover the future by going to the outhouse to ask Tsi-Ku.WEB,www.scns.com/earthen/other/seanachaidh/godchina.html, The Gods and Goddesses of China, Gods and Goddesses of the World, FireyOn, November 27, 2014, BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=8zHxlL8my-YC&q=Tsi+Ku+Niang&pg=PA111, Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines, Patricia, Monaghan, Mullane Literary Agency (editor), 978-0-313-34989-8, Heinemann Educational Books, December 2009, Santa Barbara, California, 111, See toilet god.

Regulations

United States

Construction and maintenance of outhouses in the US is subject to state and local governmental restriction, regulation and prohibition.WEB,www.slahs.org/history/government/sanitary/outhouse_privy.htm,www.slahs.org/history/government/sanitary/outhouse_privy.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20060219075655www.slahs.org/history/government/sanitary/outhouse_privy.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20060219075655www.slahs.org/history/government/sanitary/outhouse_privy.htm, dead, February 19, 2006, The World & Milwaukee Early Sanitation History – Outhouses, Privies, Scavengers & Sewers or Privileged Privy Prattle, December 18, 2005, Sussex-Lisbon Historical Society, Inc., Privy Vaults: Early Milwaukee Sanitation History, Mike, Reilly, February 19, 1997, It is potentially both a public health issue, which has been addressed both by law and by education of the public as to good methods and practices (e.g., separation from drinking water sources). This also becomes a more prevalent issue as urban and suburban development encroaches on rural areas,NEWS,query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E3DD1F3AF932A35751C1A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1, Among the Outhouses, the Prospect of Plumbing; Change, Not Sought by All, May Be in the Pipeline for a Rustic Westchester Niche, December 1, 1997, The New York Times, May 20, 2010, and is an external manifestation of a deeper cultural conflict.JOURNAL, January 1, 2003, Kentucky Amish-Mennonite schools accused of violating health regulations,www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcquality/3kenami01.html, U.S. Water & News, dead,www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcquality/3kenami01.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070809020310www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcquality/3kenami01.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070809020310www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcquality/3kenami01.html, August 9, 2007, See also urban sprawl, urban planning, regional planning, suburbanization, urbanization and counterurbanization.

Songs, poems and stories

• The double-decker outhouse has been used as an unflattering metaphor for the “Trickle-down theory” of politics, economics, command, management, labor relations, responsibility, etc.“American Chronicle: A Well Deserved Death for Trickle-Down” {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211124141www.americanchronicle.com/articles/24729 |date=2008-12-11 }}JOURNAL,louisville.edu/ur/ucomm/mags/spring2006/phil.html,www.louisville.edu/ur/ucomm/mags/spring2006/phil.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20060909081423www.louisville.edu/ur/ucomm/mags/spring2006/phil.html,">web.archive.org/web/20060909081423www.louisville.edu/ur/ucomm/mags/spring2006/phil.html, dead, September 9, 2006, Dr. Phil Is Leaving the Building, Kevin, Hyde, U of L Journal, November 27, 2014, Depending on who is depicted on top and below, it is an easy and familiar cartoon.WEB,www.jldr.com/ohorania.htm, The Two Story Outhouse!,
• On November 10, 2003, a drawing of an outhouse was used by B.C. cartoonist Johnny Hart as a motif in a controversial and allegedly religiously themed piece.NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2003/11/21/cartoon-raises-a-stink/8529474a-d801-4624-965c-c322c46f8197/, Cartoon Raises a Stink, Gene, Weingarten, The Washington Post, November 21, 2003, 2007-04-09, The cartoonist denied the allegations and the convoluted analysis of the alleged iconography of the cartoon.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}
• In 1929 comedian Charles “Chic” Sale published a small book, The Specialist,BOOK, 978-0-285-63226-4, The Specialist, Sale, Charles, 1994, Souvenir Press, which was a large “underground” success. Its entire premise centered on sales of outhouses, touting the advantages of one kind or another, and labeling them in “technical” terms such as “one-holers”, “two-holers”, etc. Over a million copies were sold. In 1931 his monologue “I’m a Specialist“BOOK,www.jldr.com/specialist.htm, The Specialist, Charles (Chic), Sale, William (illustrator), Kermode, 1929, London, Ernest Hecht, Souvenir Press, 1994, print, 13 July 2013, 978-0-285-63226-4, was made into a hit record (Victor 22859) by recording artist Frank Crumit (music by Nels Bitterman). As memorialized in the “Outhouse Wall of Fame”, the term “Chic Sale” became a rural slang synonym for privies, an appropriation of Mr. Sale’s name that he personally considered unfortunate.WEB,www.outhousemuseum.com/wall_chic.html, The Specialist, Outhouse Wall of Fame, Outhouse Museum, dead,www.outhousemuseum.com/wall_chic.html," title="archive.today/20030502041623www.outhousemuseum.com/wall_chic.html,">archive.today/20030502041623www.outhousemuseum.com/wall_chic.html, May 2, 2003,
• Folk singer Billy Edd Wheeler wrote and performed a song titled “The Little Brown Shack Out Back”, a sentimental look at the outhouse.WEB,www.jldr.com/shackpoem.html, Billy Edd, Wheeler, Billy Ed Wheeler, That Little Old Shack Out Back, audio, November 27, 2014,
• In Newfoundland, a well-known song entitled “Good Old Newfie Outhouse” sings the praises of using the outhouse when it is -25 degrees out, mentioning pleasures like pants being frozen in position at the knees. A version by singer Bobby Evans is available on an album called Silly Songs on iTunes.WEB,www.dicknolancountry.ca/song%20titles.htm, Dick, Nolan, Dick Nolan, Song Titles by Album, January 10, 2014, September 8, 2013,dicknolancountry.ca/song%20titles.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20130908190640dicknolancountry.ca/song%20titles.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20130908190640dicknolancountry.ca/song%20titles.htm, dead,
• A humorous and nostalgic poem entitled “Passing of the Backhouse”, about the disappearance of outhouses in America. It has been attributed to authors including James Whitcomb Riley, an American poet who denied authorship when he became aware of an attribution in 1910.WEB,www.oldstagecoachstop.org/webgeezer/Gazette08/Backhouse.pdf, James Whitcomb, Riley, James Whitcomb Riley, Passing of the Backhouse, BOOK, Bollinger, Holly, Outhouses,books.google.com/books?id=DQNR3uSBMS8C&pg=PA55, 2005, MBI Publishing Company LLC, 978-0-7603-2134-8, 55,
• The first chapter of John Fitzgerald’s autobiographical children’s book, The Great Brain, talked of how Utah of the 1890s saw such structures as not only necessary, but as a mark of social status, with the poorest families in town having a two-holed structure to the town mayor owning one with ornate woodwork and heating, and the entire town’s befuddlement about the Fitzgeralds being the first family to install a flush toilet in their home. Also, the vernacular of such terms was “backhouse”, as the word “outhouse” was used to describe a tool shed or other small building not connected to the main house.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Races and pranks

• In Michigan, the Upper Peninsula’s Trenary has the largest outhouse race,{{huh|date=August 2023|reason=WTH is this?}}BOOK, Packard, Mary, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, New York, Scholastic, September 2004, hardcover print, 978-0-439-46553-3, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, WEB,www.jldr.com/ohraces.html, The Annual Outhouse Races in Northern Michigan, but Mackinaw City is home to an annual and largest “outhouse race south of the Mackinac Bridge”.WEB,www.mackinawouthouserace.com/, Google Image, Mackinaw Outhouse race, Mackinawouthouserace.com, 2012-01-21, 2012-04-16, Other famous outhouse races are during the Yale Bologna Festival and in Dawson City, Yukon.
• As a college student, Richard Nixon achieved renown by providing a three-hole outhouse to be tossed onto the traditional campus bonfire.People’s Almanac, Wallechinsky & Wallace.
• Outhouse tipping, i.e., turning over outhouses, allegedly on Halloween.CITY BEAT: REMEMBER WHEN OUTHOUSES WERE TARGETS ON HALLOWEEN?, Decatur Tribune, October 27, 2021 There is a popular quote from Loretta Lynn’s memoirs: “We used to go around tipping outhouses over...”Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter, p.31

Gallery

File:Outhouse in an old west scene.jpg|An outhouse display in an Old West setting on a Colorado ranchFile:Glendale-Manistee RanchPit Toilet-1897.JPG|Outhouse used in the 19th century: Manistee Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, USFile:G-Sahuaro Ranch Pit Hole small.jpg|Outhouse used in the 19th century: Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, USFile:Dunny 3.JPG|Triple-seated outhouse, Wauchope, New South Wales, AustraliaFile:Toilet facility made of cement blocks.jpg|Toilet facility made of cement blocksImage:Stringybark Dunny - Walcha NSW.jpg|Outhouse at Walcha, New South Wales, AustraliaOccupied outhouse South of Una lake in Bowron Lake Provincial Park, BC (DSCF3315).jpg|Outhouse in Bowron Lake Provincial Park, BC, Canada

See also

• Chemical toilet
• Passenger train toilet
• Latrine

Notes

{{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}}

References

Citation

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Ronald S., Barlow, The Vanishing American Outhouse: A History of Country Plumbing, El Cajon, CA, print, Windmill Publishing, 1992, 978-0-933846-02-9,archive.org/details/vanishingamerica0000barl,
• BOOK, Dottie, Booth, Nature Calls: The History, Lore, and Charm of Outhouses, Berkeley, California, print, Ten Speed Press, 1998, 978-0-89815-990-5,archive.org/details/naturecallshisto0000boot,
• BOOK, “Jackpine” Bob, Cary, The All-American Outhouse{{ndash, Stories, Design & Construction |place=Cambridge, MN |type=print |publisher=Adventure Publications |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-59193-011-2}}
• BOOK, Peter Joel, Harrison, Garden Houses and Privies, Authentic Details for Design and Restoration, New York, NY, print, John Wiley & Sons, 2002, 978-0-471-20332-2,
• BOOK, Gregory, Morna E., James, Sian, Toilets of the World, London, paperback, Merrell Publishers Ltd, 2006, 1-85894-337-X,
• BOOK, J. Aelwyn, Roberts, Privies of Wales, Llandegai, Bangor, paperback, Tegai Publications, 2002, 978-0-9539494-0-3, Privies of Wales,
• BOOK, Helena, Safron, Memorializing the Backhouse: Sanitizing and Satirizing Outhouses in the American South,gradworks.umi.com/14/72/1472906.html, MA thesis, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, 2009, 219,
• BOOK,www.jldr.com/specialist.htm, The Specialist, Charles (Chic), Sale, William (Illustrator), Kermode, 1929, London, Ernest Hecht, Souvenir Press, 1994, print, 13 July 2013, 978-0-285-63226-4,

External links

• {{Commons category-inline}}

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