The Outhouse

The Outhouse. . The little wooden outhouse as we know it has been an architectural fixture of America since the 1700s, when it began to replace chamber pots., In the 1800s, outhouses were built discreetly behind homes, as the old joke goes: "too close in the summer, too far in the winter." Outhouses were placed a distance away from the cabin, yet close enough for easy access. They were also situated away from wells to minimize risk of ground water pollution, contamination, and diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever., Outhouses were built over a pit, which was usually three to six feet deep. When the pits became full, most outhouses were moved to another open pit, and the filled pit was covered with soil. Most outhouses were cleaned periodically. On certain wash days, leftover soapy water was carried to the out- house and used to scrub everything down. In addition, most outhouse owners kept a bag of lime with a wooden spoon in the outhouse, and occasionally dumped some down the holes to control the odor., Corncobs made great frontier toilet paper, to be latter succeeded by Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogs which served double duty in the outhouse, as both reading material and toilet paper.