Privy
Sometimes web surfing takes you to some odd places, and yesterday I found myself at the "Outhouses of America Tour." As the title suggests, they have pictures of outhouses from all over the country, and I suddenly realized (which is kind of scary) that we have a great outhouse!
Most outhouses are wood; ours is stone. Most seat one; ours has three holes and a divider wall (although we can't tell which side was which). Most have a crescent moon for light and vent; we have two original windows! Of course, ours is in pretty sad condition -- the roof has partially collapsed -- but it's on the list to be restored, and it (along with the other 18th century buildings on the property) are being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Suddenly I'm feeling like we shouldn't be mounting the electric panel on the privy as we planned. I mean, there's lots of 18th century stone houses in the country, but how many 18th century stone outhouses are there?
Dawn will not be amused by my sudden protectiveness of the privy
1 Comments:
Yours is the first stone privy (aka outhouse) that I ever heard of. Living in an old rural community myself, I heard recently about one interpretation of the crescent moon on the door. The moon is a female symbol, and outhouses were built for women. Men just had to fend for themnselves outside. (I'm positive there were many more trees available back then.) One question - just what is the plural of privy, anyway??
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