Butch Says Goodbye to the Outhouse!

   I think you fellow “baby-boomers” would agree that the present generation of whipper-snappers might be a tad spoiled by the amenities and technology of today. Of course, we always like to tell them how hard we had it when we were growing up. Now think back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, and recall the following…

(1) The Outhouse…sometimes known as the “mission,” since you prayed that no one would interrupt you during nature’s calling…or the “library,” as there was always a supply of reading materials. The generation ahead of me kept the Sears and Roebuck catalog on hand, but they used it for something else besides reading. Visiting that little shack east of our farmhouse was not something that I looked forward to, especially during the winter months. Thank God, we had an indoor toilet installed in 1954 when I was 6 years old. Got a real bathtub, too … no more bathing in a metal wash tub! And what happened to the outhouse? It became the new home of two pet rabbits!

(2) Coal Stove…We had two coal stoves, one in the living room and one in the kitchen. The coal shed was attached to our back porch, and the coal bucket was kept nearby. Several trips to the shed were made during the winter months. I admit that it kept the downstairs warm, but by winter’s end, coal soot was everywhere. Ashes had to be constantly removed, and the stovepipes cleaned out in the spring. We eventually got two fuel oil stoves, which were cleaner, but my brother and I still froze in our upstairs bedroom with no heat. There was quite a bit of coal left over, and for some time Dad used it to cook hamburgers on the outside brick fireplace. Instead of charcoal burgers, we just had plain coal burgers! I likely still have soot lining my intestines.

(3) Oak Wall Telephone…Like everyone else, we had the old wall-mounted ringer telephone. It was located near the front door, between the kitchen and living room. We had to ring the operator so she could connect us to the receiving party. There were seven other families on this “party line,” and we were two and half rings. Other people could listen to our conversations, and of course, we listened to them. My little brother wanted to call his best friend one time, but a neighbor lady kept talking for almost an hour…so my brother got on the phone and yelled into it, “Hang up the phone, you old bag!” Dial phones came along in 1958 … our own private line … Wow! … but we couldn’t listen in on the neighbors’ conversations … Phooie!

(4) Television … Dad purchased a television in 1952 when I was 4 years old … two years before we got an indoor toilet. Not quite sure what his priorities were! Anyway, before that TV came along, we listened to our radio, a tall wooden cabinet which also included a 78 RPM record player. I can still recall listening to Jack Benny, the Lone Ranger, Fibber McGee and Molly and The Shadow. In my mind I could “see” the action just by listening to the words. Our TV could only pick up two channels out of Indy, and the screen was often snowy, but I enjoyed watching The Howdy Doody Show, The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Superman, Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle and Ding Dong School.

(5) Washer and Dryer … My mother had a Maytag ringer washer for many years. It actually did a good job, but was much more time-consuming than washers of today. We had no electric dryer, so all of the clothes were hung out on the clothesline to dry in the sun and wind. In winter, the clothes could freeze, so they were hung to dry on wooden racks near the stoves. The washers and dryers of today are great, but too complicated for me to figure out … too many electronics. A few years ago, after 50 years of marriage, I had never “done” a load of clothes. My wife had to leave one afternoon, so I decided to try my hand at it and surprise her. I eventually figured everything out … washed the clothes, dried them, and even folded everything and placed them on the kitchen table. She was very happy … until she found out that I had forgot to put in the soap!

(6) A “Normal” Car … Dad always purchased cheapest car he could afford. And the cars back then had only the basics … a motor that an average guy could actually work on, 3-speed shifter on the column, manual roll-down windows, bench seats, a spare tire and jack that were simple to remove, easy-to-read dash, no seat belts or warning lights and no computer or electronic components. Can’t work on a motor today, and it takes twice as long to change a tire. There are buttons with symbols all over the interior. Last week I accidentally pushed a button on my Toyota’s steering wheel, and it changed the readout on my dashboard screen. It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to change it back!

   Calculators had not been invented when I was young, so like everyone else I learned how to add and subtract with pencil and paper, and in my head. Some kids today can’t even figure change for a dollar in their head! No computers back then either. To look up facts, I used the World Book encyclopedia. Kids today just Google the information, without checking whether the info is correct or not.

   Despite all of the “wonderful” technology that we have today, I am glad I experienced life in the late 1940s and early 1950s era … a much simpler time. I wouldn’t trade it for anything! Well, that’s not quite correct. I would trade that outhouse for an indoor toilet anytime!

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.