Toilet Paper

[Gunny]

Or just give up a sock

Or cut off the bottom of a T shirt. (don't ask how I know)

 

[JamesHW]

Up at the old family farmhouse we had two flush toilets that had been added to the mid-1800's structure sometime in the 30's, one in an addition off the back and the other by flooring in the hallway above the stairwell in the main house. But we still had the old dis-used privy out back which in fact had an old moldering Sears catalogues sitting inside it. The privy which was actually a mortise and tenon timber framed structure is just a few remnants now. Neighbors up the road still used a privy while they lived in the finished basement while they built their house. I remember the big celebration when they got their toilet and septic installed in the early 60's. Went to camp a couple of summers and the facilities were an old outhouse back behind the tents we slept in.

For TP we use only the Scott brand.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Up at the old family farmhouse we had two flush toilets that had been added to the mid-1800's structure sometime in the 30's, one in an addition off the back and the other by flooring in the hallway above the stairwell in the main house. But we still had the old dis-used privy out back which in fact had an old moldering Sears catalogues sitting inside it. The privy which was actually a mortise and tenon timber framed structure is just a few remnants now. Neighbors up the road still used a privy while they lived in the finished basement while they built their house. I remember the big celebration when they got their toilet and septic installed in the early 60's. Went to camp a couple of summers and the facilities were an old outhouse back behind the tents we slept in.

For TP we use only the Scott brand.

My old Granddad was quite a character...born in 1880, he passed away in 1978 at age 98. He and Grandma lived in a house built in the 1920's and the only bathroom was added in the early 50's right after WWII. He never used the inside bathroom; he always used the old outhouse, even in the winter. He said the world was going to he77 in a handbasket when folks had to s**t in the house and eat outside.

 

[k0ua]

When I first got established here (N.E. GA Mtns.) in the early 70's (far removed from the time you recalled)...some of the first jobs I did for neighbors was adding indoor plumbing...a couple had inside (cold) running water but no real facilities...all had outhouses...

I was 6 years old before we had an indoor "outhouse"

The school I went to, I was 8 or 9 before it had indoor plumbing.

 

[Bird]

I was 6 years old before we had an indoor "outhouse"

The school I went to, I was 8 or 9 before it had indoor plumbing.

When I started to school, the school had indoor plumbing and "running water" but we didn't have either of those luxuries at home. I guess I was 12 when Dad bought a place with a good well and windmill, and I helped him put a tank up on a stand head high on a grown man to provide enough water pressure, then he hung a curtain to separate a section of a bedroom and put in a bathroom and even a water heater.

 

[Daver1963]

My old Granddad was quite a character...born in 1880, he passed away in 1978 at age 98. He and Grandma lived in a house built in the 1920's and the only bathroom was added in the early 50's right after WWII. He never used the inside bathroom; he always used the old outhouse, even in the winter. He said the world was going to he77 in a handbasket when folks had to s**t in the house and eat outside.

Worked with a feller down in Mississippi that said when he was a boy he asked his grandfather why he still used the "little house" and not the indoor privy. Reply was much the same.

Spiker;3564060
Ya one of my buddies went on European Tour back 20 years ago now, said was sure shocked at how eastern europe was

Italian rest stop bathrooms had two footprints - one on each side of the hole. If you were lucky they had heels and helped you balance on your toes.
Corfu - Greek island - got off ferry boat and had to go real bad. There was an underground toilet in the town square. A feller lived down there and you had to tip him for cleaning up after you.

Quote Originally Posted by /pine View Post

When I first got established here (N.E. GA Mtns.) in the early 70's (far removed from the time you recalled)...some of the first jobs I did for neighbors was adding indoor plumbing...a couple had inside (cold) running water but no real facilities...all had outhouses...

My English aunt married a feller from Oklahoma and that is where they moved when he got out of the Air Force. She decided she wanted to be near her older sister so they moved to West Tennessee. They eventually bought a house that had indoor water, but a "little house" out back. That was until the tornadoes came through in 1972 and laid a big ole tree down right beside their house and right on top of the "little house." Great excuse for an indoor privy.

 

[MossRoad]

Soo; scoff at my suggestion of Moss. Try it, see if you still prefer TP. It surely beats the catalogue.:thumbsup:

So you're saying I'd take a liken to lichen?

 

[Daver1963]

So you're saying I'd take a liken to lichen?

If you don't mind fungus on your fanny!

 

[Redneck in training]

I am currently working in Venezuela. Supply of the TP (and many other things) is spoty at best. One girl from the office was robbed during trafic jam. The robber asked for money but when he saw 24 pack of TP on the back seat he said screw the money give me the TP.

 

[dave1949]

So you're saying I'd take a liken to lichen?

I dunno about the moss, Moss. I think it is full of little mites and spiders. Probably tiny worms in there too.

 

[dave1949]

I am currently working in Venezuela. Supply of the TP (and many other things) is spoty at best. One girl from the office was robbed during trafic jam. The robber asked for money but when he saw 24 pack of TP on the back seat he said screw the money give me the TP.

Yikes! Hugo C. sure messed that place up.

 

[/pine]

When I started to school, the school had indoor plumbing and "running water" but we didn't have either of those luxuries at home. I guess I was 12 when Dad bought a place with a good well and windmill, and I helped him put a tank up on a stand head high on a grown man to provide enough water pressure, then he hung a curtain to separate a section of a bedroom and put in a bathroom and even a water heater.

We take so much for granted these days...And it was only harder on the generations before...and people think they're tough today...!...(no cell service= panic)

 

[turnkey4099]

I like to keep about 6 months worth of toilet paper stashed away.
My wife thinks I'm crazy; but I love to smirk at her whenever she runs out and asks me to bring her a new roll.
"See hun? I told you it was smart to keep a good stock of this stuff just in case."

My cleaning lady laughs at my stock but I explain the theory of "dollar cost averaging". Every time I go to Costco I bring back a couple bales last trip a bale was costing almost twice as much as when I first became a customer there. I'm using some now that I bought a couple years ago. My stock of paper ware and cleaning goods would pretty well stock a mom-n-pop store.

Harry K

 

[Scott85]

Living in the Middle East one thing you do for sure is use the bathroom before you leave the house, ain't much fun to go in nothing but a hole in the ground or with place that have a regular toilet and the sprayer next to it coming in and the whole place is covered in water from the pervious user. Living in WV I knew people that only had a water pump in the kitchen and no other running water, and this wasn't in coal country either.

 

[PILOON]

Sure is a crappy discussion.

 

[Ken]

It's possible to use a pitcher of water and the left hand, as is done in the Middle East. That takes a little getting used to, but actually fairly sanitary.

Dave They use water also?
ken

 

[dave1949]

Dave They use water also?
ken

Yep, they do.

The little place we lived in had a small courtyard maybe 15'x20' with a 10' high wall on the dirt alley entrance side. Very private space. Off the courtyard was a door to the privy, a stairway to the roof, a door to the shower room, a door to a 4'x8' "kitchen", and a door that led to our two living/sleeping area rooms. Those were each about the size of small to medium bedroom.

The houses all had adjoining walls on three sides, so that was the extent of the house. No back door or yard. There was the solid sheet steel door to the alley, and one barred window on the alley wall of the "living room."

The privy floor space was about like a single-hole outhouse. The squat toilet had those raised foot pads. The waste went straight down a deep hole pretty much like an outhouse, not a water based plumbing system. There was a water spigot in the privy and a plastic jug sort of like you would use to water plants. The floors were all done in terrazzo-type pavers. You could wash everything down with a hose.

Any water used to wash clothes, shower water, or kitchen water ran to a drain pipe under the courtyard, and from there outside to a small open ditch. The water came from the local river and might have been minimally treated, but sometimes very muddy water came out of the faucet if something was disturbing the river or a supply pipe broke.

That was a typical house in the poor part of the town of Dezful, Iran in the 1970's. The upscale neighborhoods were much the same except everything was bigger, with more rooms. The courtyards would have a few small trees, flowers, usually some kind of small water pool with a simple fountain in it.

 

[JamesHW]

Riding the train somewhere around NYC as a kid I remember going to the bathroom in the old coach and was surprised to see the rail bed flash by under the train through the toilet. I guess that was the way it was. After that I always kept an eye out where I stepped when walking on any railroad tracks.

 

[PMA]

My wife bought toilet paper the other day and I swear you have to pull three yards off to wipe. Told her to never buy that kind again.

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