CORNWALL, Pa. —; Whether it was called a privy, a latrine, a john, a loo or just an outhouse, bathroom facilities predating the advent of indoor plumbing have been around for a long time. The history of outhouses was the subject of a presentation in early October by Linda Manwiller as part of the Cornwall Iron Furnace’s series of historical programs in Cornwall, Pa.

Manwiller, a resident of Stouchsburg, Berks County, Pa., said she became interested in outhouses by way of her grandparents, who relied on a privy and chamber pots throughout their lives. And, with a college degree in history and a master’s degree in library science, Manwiller had the perfect skill set to research and compile her informal history of the outhouse.

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She said prehistoric man 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.

As early as 15 centuries before Christ, the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 23:12-13) offered this practical advice: “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.”

Eventually, Manwiller said, mankind’s formation into communities brought about the need for greater privacy. In the Neolithic Scottish settlement of Skara Brae, some Stone Age huts had stone seats with a hole in them and drainage to the outside. Ancient Egypt had similar “furnishings,” though the seats were limestone for the well-to-do and wooden for the less fortunate. Ancient China probably deserves credit for providing the first outhouses —; private enclosures removed from homes or businesses to provide privacy, keep unpleasant odors away from living areas and improve sanitation. In later times, the outhouse was sometimes called a “privy” —; an abbreviated form of the word “privacy.”

Around 4500 B.C., the first collection system for human excrement was constructed by the Romans, who were among the first to build sewers underneath street level to collect both rain water and sewage. Nevertheless, conditions remained quite primitive overall, with a communal sponge on a stick being used in lieu of toilet paper.

Many centuries passed without significant improvements in methods for dealing with human excrement. In Medieval times, “garderobes” were often incorporated into castle walls; these were toilet rooms which discharged directly into the moat below, creating a cesspool. 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.” Ironically, garderobe is the French word for “wardrobe,” since clothing was sometimes stored in the garderobe because the stench kept moths away, according to Manwiller.

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Medieval town dwellers who weren’t privileged to live in a castle relied on chamber pots inside their dwellings to hold human waste for their household. These pots would then be dumped into the streets, with the resulting lack of sanitation contributing to the spread of diseases like cholera and typhoid fever.

The first “bathrooms” came about during the Renaissance. Although the flush toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harrington, it turned out to be an idea before its time and didn’t catch on.

In the American Colonies, wealthy colonists had their “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 periodically. Those whose profession was disposing of outhouse contents were known as “gong farmers,” Manwiller said.

Gong farmers generally operated in pairs, with one using a shovel to transfer the contents of the cesspool underneath an outhouse into a tub and the other hoisting the tub to ground level and emptying the contents into a cart. Rotting vegetables were subsequently added to the human waste, and the resulting mixture was sold as fertilizer. Not surprisingly, the gong farmer profession was an undesirable one fraught with the danger of illness, suffocation and the possibility of temporary blindness; a large percentage of its practitioners turned to the bottle, making alcoholism an additional occupational hazard.

American outhouse doors through the years were commonly marked with either a crescent moon or a circle-star design. These shapes denoted the intended users. The crescent moon, symbol for the Roman moon goddess, Luna, indicated a ladies’ outhouse. The circle or star was symbolic of the sun and the Greeks’ male sun god, Apollo. Historians have noted that many more female than male outhouses seem to have survived to the present day.

Well into the 20th century, outhouses remained in use in cities, as well as the country. City outhouses were typically multi-doored facilities located in alleys behind the apartment buildings they served. Their heavy usage by a large number of neighbors made the city facilities typically far less sanitary than their country counterparts. Public health concerns led to the demise of urban outhouses ahead of their country neighbors.

In more rural areas, the outhouse was typically located out of sight of the dwelling it served and away from water sources that might become contaminated. On farms, there was sometimes an additional privy attached to the barn to save steps during the working day. The majority of outhouses were constructed of wood, which was light enough for easy relocation as necessary. They were weathertight, but well-ventilated, and painted for durability. Wealthier families might build their outdoor facilities from brick and add fancy touches like a cupola or gingerbread trim, according to Manwiller.

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Regardless of its exterior materials, the standard privy featured an open pit 3 to 6 feet deep. The outhouse itself was usually a 3- to 4-foot rectangle about 7 feet tall. The number of holes in the seat bench inside the privy depended on the number of family members, as well as their ages. Generally there were one to three holes of varying sizes. It was important to take children into consideration, as there were cases of youngsters losing their lives by falling through a privy hole. There was usually a hinged cover over the hole when not in use.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt played an important role in improving sanitation in the countryside. Under the Work Projects Administration, during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, three-man WPA work teams replaced old outhouses in rural areas. They could build one in 20 hours at a cost of $5 that included concrete floors and screened ventilation. Over 2 million such outhouses were built by the WPA. Eleanor Roosevelt’s championing of the WPA outhouse reconstruction program coined two more nicknames for outhouses —; the Eleanor and the White House. This same 1930s time period also spawned outhouse humor in the form of comic postcards, Manwiller said.

Toilet paper was not commonly used until the 1920s, and was first sold in packs of sheets, rather than on rolls. It was a welcome replacement for its predecessors, such as plant material, old rags or pulp paper, like pages torn from the Sears and Roebuck catalogue. One outhouse sign of old advised users to limit themselves to no more than four pages per visit. Corn cobs also were substituted for toilet paper; however, only fresh, soft cobs were used, as dried-out cobs were abrasive.

As outhouses were eventually replaced with indoor plumbing and fell into disuse, they became treasure troves for those willing to explore the old privy pits. Outhouses were also domestic disposal sites for old bottles, crockery and dishes, so they still yield historic pieces of value.

Manwiller said that the alleys of her hometown of Stouchsburg still hold many of the town’s original outhouses behind the houses they served. They are in various stages of repair, with many now serving other functions, such as garden sheds.

Even though most outhouses have long been replaced by indoor plumbing, they still hold an important place in both the history of civilization and in the current world. Manwiller pointed out that one has only to go to outdoor events or campsites to find modern day versions of this age old amenity —; “job johnnies” made of materials like plastics serve the same necessary function as their privy predecessors of old.

Sue Bowman is a freelance writer in southeastern Pennsylvania.

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