The Outhouse

While we were in Florida we visited an old homestead farm. As I took a photo of the outhouse, I realized that many outhouses had those symbols on them. The sliver of a moon and the star. I thought surely there was some meaning to it.

Google helped to find this trivia fact:

Cut-outs of a moon and a star were used in colonial times on outhouse doors to designate the gender of the intended user. Originally, the moon cut-out was for women and the star was for the men. But men's outhouses were usually such a mess that men preferred using the women's outhouses. So, eventually the use of stars were phased out.

Ever wonder about the history of these buildings? How they were built. What happened when they got full? What did they use before toilet paper came into the world? What about flies and was there some way to control the smell? Visit this site to learn more.