Goodbye to the Outhouse on 39th Street

We lived in those four rooms on 39th Street from 1942 until about 1949 or 1950. I must have been about twelve when Daddy built on a bathroom and two bedrooms. We were all so happy not to have to use the outhouse anymore. I never felt poor when I was growing up, but when I finally realized most people had indoor bathrooms, I secretly knew we must be poor. I do know I never wanted my friends at school to know we had an outhouse. Our outhouse was built of ugly gray boards outside. Inside, there was a rough board with two holes. It was very spartan. Sometimes we didn’t have toilet paper and used pages from a Sears Roebuck Catalog. Going to the outhouse at night was very spooky and we didn’t go out there until we absolutely had to. Mom would grab a flashlight and go out with us. Sometimes she let us go on the grass so we didn’t have to go way out to the outhouse. There was no heat out there so it was a very cold experience in the winter. The neighborhood boys considered tipping over outhouses on Halloween great fun. (My brothers would never be involved in anything like that!) When we first had our inside bathroom, Daddy wanted to leave the outhouse intact just in case something went wrong with the inside plumbing. But one day, when Daddy was at work, my brothers went out to the yard and tore down the outhouse. Boy, were they in a heap of trouble when Daddy got home that night! Today an outhouse would be painted a pretty color and decorated with a country motif. There would be wallpaper with chickens or ducks, window boxes with colorful annuals, and a crescent moon on the door. Martha Stewart would have a million decorating tips!