Outside john's or toilets were common when I was a kid growing up in the 1950's and in the mill village of Tuxedo, most familys had one. Some were the object of yearly trick or treat pranks and were flipped over on its side on Halloween night The following is a story that I wrote about the humble little house that was just up the hill..

The outhouses in Tuxedo were quality built structures and were usually painted white and had tin roofs. They were well vented and normally only had one seat although I have seen a few two seaters. There was never the proverbial Brick----house. They were placed over an open pit that had been dug in the ground and limed to keep down odor and disease. Home owners were responsible for keeping a sanitary toilet and on occasion it became necessary to dig a new pit and move the toilet over onto it.

Toilet tissue was a luxury and I doubt if the “Charmin” man had any issues with the good people of Tuxedo. Why spend money when quarterly, a new Sears’-Roebuck catalogue arrived in the mail? The discarded catalogues were placed in the john for use as (striking paper) toilet tissue. I do not believe the tales that I have heard told by others about corn cob kits. After all, I was a “city slicker” and we had better. The story goes there would be three cobs in the kit, two white ones and a red one. A white cob was to be used first in cleaning and then a red one. The extra white one was for quality control purposes to insure that a good clean-up had been accomplished.

My folks also stocked their privy with discarded new papers. I can’t speak for all, but those Sears catalogues provided a world of entertainment to the inquisitive mind. I never knew what women wore underneath their dresses until the news was so proudly exposed in that wonderful old catalogue.You've heard the old Jimmy Dickens song, I Got My Education Out Behind the  Barn, there maybe a lot of truth in the words of that tune.

The worst part about having an outhouse in the mill village was that everyone knew when you were going and how long you stayed. Toilets were generally close to the house, but late night trips and those on cold frosty mornings, especially if you were the first to use the facility, had its disadvantages. On snowy days and extreme weather, slop jars or thunder buckets were used. These were placed discreetly under the bed and at first light were carried and emptied in the toilet.

I used to see some of the older folks make their early morning trips to the little building up the trail. They would be carrying their thunder buckets to empty into the toilet. The thunder buckets were a great convenience and probably saved a lot from falling down in the darkness of the night.

There might be frost on the seat and it would have to have a few strips of the local news applied before being able to comfortably sit. You had to watch out for spiders that would make their webs in precarious places and sometimes a snake would make its way inside the john, especially a black snake that might be trying to have itself a fat mouse for a meal.

My wife's grandparents had an outhouse but in the earlier years just went to the woods for their daily business and "making a branch." Reminds me of when I went for my pre-induction physical into the Air Force. There must have been 50 in our group and the doctors examining us had us in two lines and had given instructions for us to bend over and spread our cheeks. Some of the men that day were from the hills just like me and one of the doctors commented about seeing a squirrels nest as he checked him for hemorrhoids. It was a little humorous and I could relate remembering the times when I would be out in the woods and the urge hit me, finding some good broad Poplar leaves to take care of the clean-up. I heard about one poor fellow who used poison oak and got a horrible rash. 

I love the modern toilets.