The Old Two Holer Outhouses

[Henry]

Ahhhhhh Yes!!!!  Just a bit more information I thought I ought to pass on.  Now I am sure you have all heard of the Two Holer Outhouses.  Now, contrary to perhaps modern thinking, the Two Holer was not designed so that two people could use it at the same time.  It was designed so that the human waste would be distributed in the wooden box underneath the holes.  In some cases you will even find three holers, particularly where there were large families, as the job of sliding the somewhat heavy box of human waste out from under the holes for cleaning and spreading on the land, was usually done once a year, in the spring of the year.

Now some of these outhouses also had a small chute designed for the male members of the family to use to urinate.  The wet toilet seats, caused by males missing the mark, did not bring many smiles to the female members of the household.  If you happened to be the guilty party, it was difficult to hide your guilt when your mother, sister or other female member of the family came back from the outhouse with a disgusted look on their face.

Now, since the toilet troughs were usually cleaned in the spring of the year, prior to hot weather, smell was not as big a problem, but to insure that there would not be a smell, there was always a bag of lime nearby and lime was thrown over the waste in the summer.

Now we were never privy to an outhouse either at the one room school I attended or at my home with a window for viewing what was going on outside of the private little building.  I did receive a note from Colleen Steen however that mentioned an outhouse in the building behind the Foothills Bakery, which appeared to have the ultimate solution to disposing of the waste from the outhouse.

Colleen wrote me:  "Are you aware that there is a "two-holer outhouse" hanging out over the brook, on the back of the building behind the bakery? I wouldn't want to step out there now because it is pretty rotten, but it IS interesting huh??? There was also a two-holer inside the attached barn of my home. I'm kind of sorry now that we didn't keep it. It was a very nice little private room on the west corner of the barn, with a little window looking out the back."

While there might be a long wait to use the outhouse in the summer, that was never a problem in the winter, as visits to the outhouse were very quick when it was 0 degrees or below.

For the many of you that may have been deprived of the use of the outhouse in your lifetime, you really have no idea what you have missed.

[Mike Raburn]

WOW,

I thought the two holer was there so you could ENCOURAGE each other.

Henry is OUR Myth Buster!!!!!

[special ED]

be like father not like sis lift the lid before you!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stand Alone Defense]

I don't about the Lime theory Henry.  When I was drilling wells in Africa we had an out house and we used a lot of lime after every use.  God the smell would still make you vomit when you got within 10 feet of it!! Of course it being 110 everyday probably didn't help.

[mirjo]

When I was a kid, my family had a camp in central VT. It was a very primitive/rustic hunting camp with gas lights/appliances, running water from the brook below, and an outhouse (two seater). It was one large room with 10 bunks in the sleeping area a gas stove in the middle and a table in the kitchen area that would rival the Walton's. The walls were not finished, it was just the studs and whatever was on the outside. The rafters were showing and nails were sticking out of the studs, deer heads/antlers etc hung all round the perimeter--totally primitive like I said. All of the males in my family went hunting there every year and it was pretty well occupied as they cycled through from October-December (the busiest being the 2 weeks of rifle season in November, of course)

During the off seasons winter, spring, & summer it was a family gathering spot. Sledding/snowmobiling weekends in the winter (those were few and far between--the outhouse a deterrent I suspect AND the water lines were not hooked up) but still a blast. Several times throughout the warm months the entire family--aunts uncles, cousins, and Gram would 'go to camp' for the weekend and it was just the best time. I have the fondest memories.  We all slept in the same room, overflow in my uncle's camper in the front yard. No electricity, no tv, no phones. I have no clue what the adults did all day, I was busy being a kid. At night they played cards around the huge table and the kids went to bed. That's what kids did.

There was only cold water that came in from the brook (I think it was gravity fed or something??) so water had to be heated on the stove to wash up with and wash dishes, there was a huge kettle there all the time. Coffee was made the old fashion way with a pecolator on the stove--no keurig machines then. No one  was obsessing over a shower or doing their hair and make up. It seems unreal now. I'm sure some people think the whole idea is gross, but it wasn't. It's too bad families don't share that kind of time now--everyone is just too busy and wrapped up in their own thing. Progress isn't always a great thing. It was less than 40 years ago, but it was such a simpler time, proof that things have changed rapidly and are changing rapidly still.