COLUMN: It's Just a Country State of Mind: The little house outback

I recently attended an auction. It was out in the country at someone's house. They had restrooms set up for people, but I couldn't help but notice something out of the corner of my eye that was more historical than any of the antiques that the auctioneer was offering up. It was an outhouse.

Now some of you might not be old enough to remember what they are, but they were usually an old, wooden, small, outside building no bigger than a closet. It had a bench to sit on that had a hole in it. A hole was dug out underneath, so that a person could sit to relieve themselves. In other words, it was the equivalent of a modern bathroom. This was before running water and electricity. And I thought since it's the 250th anniversary of our country, what better thing to write about than a piece of history. It just shows you what modern progress has brought us.

I became so fascinated by the subject that I went to the local library to do research on outhouses. I also used the Internet. Now before you start thinking that this writer is one outhouse short of a door, this is something that was historical before modern technology. Even my parents talked about how they had one when they were children. I couldn't fathom the idea when I was six-years-old when they were talking about it, but that's a story for another time.

From colonial times through the early 20th century, these simple wooden structures were placed 50 to 100 yards from homes to manage waste, while the iconic crescent moon on the door was used to provide light and ventilation. Back in the day, it sparked widespread historical debate. Crescent moons supposedly represented the women's facility while a circle or sun shape represented the men's facilities. This way there could be no confusion. Sometimes the outhouse was called the privy.

Today, outhouses are mainly built for decoration, even though I suspect some people use them for the real purpose. Actual outhouse legality is decided by the states and county health departments. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates human waste disposal to prevent groundwater contamination and disease transmission. The EPA does provide guidance to the states.

The transition to indoor plumbing swept through wealthy urban areas in the mid-19th century, but rural parts of the United States continued to rely on outhouses well into the mid-20th century. Today, these historical structures survive only on historic farm steads, in parks and at outdoor events.

Our country has come so far in the last couple hundred years, but we still have so far to go. You have to hand it to the inventors and innovators of our times. Where would we be without them?

In any case, this was a little bit of humor thrown into a great big birthday that's coming up. Happy 250th birthday to the United States of America!

Happy Fourth of July!

Susan