Some Bathroom humor, or not....

No, this in not going to be a list of bad jokes, even though I have been known to tell a few. This is a reality check about growing up in a large family with no indoor plumbing until I was eleven. That is right, NO indoor plumbing.  We had an outhouse, a hydrant type faucet on a well in the yard, and at night you could use a chamber pot, if you didn't want to venture outside.

We usually had a large enamel pail on our counter top, which had a dipper. If you needed a drink, you used the dipper, and so did your brother and sister. If it got low, you took it out to the hydrant and filled it up. The water was bone chilling cold and tasty, but, no fluoride or chlorine. That is probably why I had so many fillings as a kid. We also passed our germs around, just a little.

by Natalie Maynor

I could not call our outhouse a reading room, as so many bathrooms were called. There was never a time that I wanted to spend any extra time in there. In summer, hot and flies, in winter, cold and sometimes flies.  Ours was a luxury outhouse, as it had a convertible seat. There was an extra board on a hinge with a smaller hole in it for the littler kids, so they wouldn't fall in!

Bath time was also a trip. Mom would heat up water on the stove, pour it in a galvanized tub and several young ones would jump in it.  The tub was usually set in front of the oil burner stove in the kitchen, to keep off the chill. We had one round tub and a larger oval one.  Sponge baths were in order as you got older, not wanting to strip in the kitchen and all.

When I first went to school, I had seen and used flush toilets at my relatives, but, not like the monster that sounded like I was going to get sucked down that was there. Scared the crap out of me! I know, bad pun. Having to shower after gym or sports was OK with me, better than the sponge bath at home!

I have always appreciated a warm shower and indoor bathrooms ever since. Leave a comment if you had a similar experience growing up.