You hold in your hands yet another of those snippets of Appalachian humor and wisdom cranked out by West Virginia native Dean Six. This, the fourth in a series of small booklets, digs into the deep topic of outhouses and their history, wit, and cultural relevancy.
Here are drawings to help you build a privy, as well as jokes and recollections of the role these shacks have played in our national consciousness. All of this is gathered for your reading and musing when—well—perhaps you are on your comfy throne in your own home!?
Also in these pages is a wealth of historic newspaper accounts concerning topics as diverse as death by outhouse, missing houses, and bad jokes turned fatal—all revolving around the little brown shack out back! Who knew so much could relate to such a small piece of architecture?
Sprinkled throughout the book, readers also encounter priceless information on how (where) to locate a new outhouse, notes on legendary pranks that were outhouse themed, and the evolution of many words related to the outhouse, like “crap.” You can also find out why we came to cut crescent moons in our outhouse doors. Yep, it is all here in this small tome.
A must read for everyone who has ever enjoyed the comforts of indoor plumbing!
If you enjoyed this book, you may want to read some or all of the other three books in this series written by Dean Six.
