Outhouse

The two seat outhouse is built over a hole dug in the ground. The second seat is for potty training children. Before toilet paper, families used corn cobs or the Sears and Roebuck catalogue. Before indoor plumbing, the outhouse was also the garbage disposal. People would not only use their outhouse to go to the bathroom, they would throw trash into the hole. Out house excavating has become a very popular activity. The “natural material” has biodegraded away and often people have found old coins and glass bottles. Cut-outs are commonly found on outhouse doors, allegedly dating back to colonial times when literacy levels were low. They symbolized what that little building was and were used for lighting and ventilation. It is not currently a functioning outhouse.