Thanks Anita for sharing, because I thought I was going to have to give some 
city folks a lesson in how females "go behind a tree" in the woods. ;-} It's 
really not that difficult. And it seems to me, it would be much easier with 
a hoop skirt on than in a 21st century pair of jeans. LOL.

Lonny
(who has done her share of marking her terriority in the backwoods of WV)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anita L. Henderson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 1:19 PM
Subject: Re: Before the Portable Toilet


> Dear Folks:
>
> People in the 19th century did use outhouses both in the country and the 
> city.  I recall one very fancy one at Drayton Hall just outside of 
> Charleston.  It was an ornately decorated brick structure about the size 
> of a small smoke house with a common wooden seat with 3 holes side by 
> side.  Of course common folks would just have a wooden outhouse and not be 
> as fancy.  Women's "unmentionables" aka underwear, had a large slit in the 
> crotch area of the bloomers which facilitated going to the bathroom with 
> hoops on.  The hoops are quite flexible and one can get pretty skilled at 
> scooping up one's skirts and bending the hoops forward to get them out of 
> the way if one is sitting on the privy.  If one is out in nature, all that 
> is needed is to squat and go ;-)!!  As a 19th century living historian I 
> can vouch for how this works ;-))!  Men would go in the woods as they do 
> now, the only difference being it would take longer as zippers don't get 
> invented until the 1920s and they would have to unbutton both trousers and 
> sometimes underwear when going behind the tree.  If one is doing # 2, that 
> is a bit more of a challenge, as one needs to find something to sit on to 
> facillitate nature's urges.  There is a wonderful contemporary book 
> entitled "How to S--- in the Woods" which is handy for folks who commune 
> with nature away from modern conveniences.  The author as I recall calls 
> it a "lost art" ;-0!
>
> Anita L. Henderson
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask]
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Tue, 1 May 2007 12:07 PM
> Subject: Re: Before the Portable Toilet
>
>
> They went behind a tree.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ronald Whitaker
> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 11:59 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Before the Portable Toilet
>
> Sound like a thesis topic to me!  Thanks, Brent.
>
> --One wonders how the process was achieved for the ladies adorned in hoop
> skirts and layers of garments often required by fashion.  That would seem
> quite a chose in a facility, but in the woods......?
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Brent Tarter" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 10:36 AM
> Subject: Before the Portable Toilet
>
>
> I noticed yesterday that in preparation for the Thursday visit of Queen
> Elizabeth to Richmond the grounds staff has placed more than 75 bright
> blue and green portable toilets in Capital Square, where a large crowd
> is expected. They add a dash of color to the scene, but I am not sure
> that on they whole they classify as a thing of beauty and a joy forever.
>
> I wonder, though, for all the centuries before portable toilets, what
> corresponding preparations got made for large, protracted gatherings of
> people at such events as revival meetings, political rallies, and the
> like. Several thousand people spent the day on Jamestown Island in May
> 1857 celebrating the first settlement of the colony, for instance, but
> accounts of that event that I have seen  mention speaking and eating and
> drinking but nothing else.
>
> I suppose that people researching such events may have encountered some
> references to that important subject, even though once upon a time it
> might have been regarded as improper to mention it. Students of social
> history or public health may also have knowledge of this subject, but I
> confess that I do not recall seeing any references at all.
>
> Perhaps somebody out there can satisfy our purely empirical curiosity
> about that part of the past.
>
> Brent Tarter
> The Library of Virginia
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at http://www.lva.lib.va.us
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