By Wesley Harris
Claiborne Parish Library Historian
A news article a few years back reporting a bear attack of an Alaskan woman in her outhouse brought back memories of visiting those forerunners of indoor plumbing. Apparently, the bear was napping “down below” and nipped the woman as she sat down. While the occasional bear wanders through our region, the outhouse is all but extinct here, so the chance any of us will have a similar encounter is unlikely.
My grandparents relied on an outhouse and chamber pots at their White Lightning Road home. While visiting them was an adventure, venturing to their “two holer” provided an unpleasant and unforgettable experience for a sensitive youth.
Prehistoric peoples had little need for privacy in a sparsely populated world, so bodily functions were simply relieved behind a tree or shrub. Otherwise, a hole would be dug in the ground and then mounded over.
The formation of communities brought about the need for greater privacy. In the Neolithic Scottish settlement of Skara Brae, some Stone Age huts included stone seats with a hole to allow drainage to the outside. Ancient Egypt used similar fixtures though the seats were limestone for the well-to-do and wooden for the less fortunate. Ancient Chinese probably deserve credit for providing the first outhouses—their private enclosures outside homes or businesses offered privacy, kept unpleasant odors away from living areas, and improved sanitation. In later times, the outhouse was sometimes called a “privy”—an abbreviated form of the word “privacy.”
Around 800 to 700 B.C., the Romans constructed the first collection system for human excrement and were among the first to build sewers to collect both rainwater and sewage. Conditions remained primitive, however, with poor hygiene practices.
Centuries before Christ, Deuteronomy 23:12-13 directed the Israelites to “designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your encampment, have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover your excrement.”
Medieval castle builders installed “garderobes” into exterior castle walls. These primitive toilets discharged directly into the moat below. Warning cries of “gardez l’eau” (“Watch out for the water!”) would be shouted by those using these facilities. “L’eau” eventually became the source of today’s reference to a toilet as “the loo.” The word “wardrobe” comes from garderobe since they were sometimes used to store clothing because the stench kept moths away.
Medieval town dwellers not privileged to live in castles relied on chamber pots to hold human waste. These pots were dumped into the streets, with the resulting lack of sanitation contributing to the spread of diseases like cholera and typhoid fever.
The first indoor bathrooms appeared during the Renaissance. Although the flush toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harrington, it would not replace the chamber pot for a long time.
In early America, wealthy colonists built “necessaries”—another name for an outhouse. Some were quite elaborate in design and included a door into the lower level of the structure to allow the pit contents to be removed as necessary. Those whose profession entailed disposal of outhouse contents were called “gong farmers.”
Well into the 20th century, outhouses remained in use in cities as well as rural areas. City outhouses were typically multi-doored facilities located in alleys behind the apartment buildings they served. Their heavy usage by large numbers of people made the city facilities far less sanitary than their country counterparts. Public health concerns led to the demise of urban outhouses ahead of their country neighbors.
In the country, the outhouse was usually located out of sight of the home and away from water sources to avoid contamination. On farms, a privy was sometimes attached to the barn to save steps during the working day. My grandparents positioned their outhouse midway between the house and the barn. During my visits, I didn’t worry about angry bears, but I feared what creature might lurk “down below.”
Most outhouses were constructed of wood, mostly weathertight but well-ventilated, and painted for durability. Wealthier families used brick and added fancy features like a cupola or gingerbread trim. Thomas Jefferson’s country retreat, Poplar Forest, still boasts a cupola-capped octagonal brick “necessary” a few steps from the house.
The typical privy featured an open pit three to six feet deep. The outhouse itself was usually a 3- to 4-foot rectangle about 7 feet tall. Generally, the seat bench contained one to three holes of varying sizes depending on the number and ages of family members. You did not want a child to fall through a large hole. Hinged covers usually covered holes when not in use.
During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, teams from the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration, replaced over two million old outhouses. A three-man team could build one in 20 hours at a cost of $5 to $20 that included a concrete floor and screened ventilation. Eleanor Roosevelt’s support of the WPA outhouse reconstruction program coined two more nicknames for outhouses—the Eleanor and the White House. The 1930s construction spawned outhouse humor in the
form of comic postcards, now sold as collectibles on online auction sites.
Although available in the late 1800s, toilet paper was not commonly used until the 1920s. “Medicated” or “therapeutic” papers were first sold in packs of sheets, rather than on rolls. It was a welcome replacement for its predecessors, such as old rags or pulp paper, corn cobs, leaves, and pages torn from the Sears & Roebuck catalog.
As indoor plumbing replaced outhouses, the old privies became treasure troves for those willing to explore their dark depths. Antique bottle hunters dig into abandoned pits for old bottles left behind by devious husbands who visited the outhouse to take a swig of alcohol.
Only a handful of outhouses remain in Claiborne Parish. While indoor plumbing has replaced most outhouses, outdoor events and rustic campsites are often equipped with modern-day versions of this venerable facility. The plastic portable johns for temporary events and vault toilets in remote areas serve the same essential function as their privy predecessors.