Why privies?

[The Bottleman]

As anyone who as read any of my recent posts knows, I am only fifteen and just getting into the world of bottles. I am wondering why does everyone search privies? I understand dumps that makes perfect sense but are privies not the holes dug beneath outhouses and such? Although I know from reading many threads that there is a lot of glass in privies, I want to know why its there and not in the dump?

Thanks, Falcon​

 

[deacon_frost]

the way it was explained to me is that back in the day there was no such thing as trash service so alot of things were discarded down the crapper hole[] i may be way off base on that theroy though. could also be that the guys use to go to the out house to get a little nip of wiskey away from the prying eyes of the ol lady...sometimes things were probably dropped down ther on accident i herd of people finding false teeth, coins ect. thats my theorys but ive had more dump digging experience than privy experience so if im way off i hope some of the more seasoned vets on here will chime in[]

 

[lexdigger]

Alot of the things down in privies were dropped in there accidentally. I doubt many people would try to retrieve something they dropped in! It was also common to dig a new privy and fill the old one in every so often. Whenever this was done they would throw alot of glass and other stuff in the hole as it was being filled in. Sometimes there may be four or five privies in one back yard, depending on the age.
One of the coolest parts about digging a privy is that you can research the home owners and find out about the people who threw the trash away. Sometimes certain items can be linked to individuals that lived in the house! It is kind of like digging a time capsule.

 

[RED Matthews]

Hello Falcon, There have been some (maybe even a lot of) neat whiskey bottles retrieved from out house digs. I knew of two hermits, when I was a kid, that I am sure put their whiskey bottles in the privy - and they didn't even have a woman checking on them. My Dad used to visit one of them and cut firewood supplies for our winter heating. That old scout had whiskey in his house but I never saw any empty ones, and I think his privy system amounted to a move-able shed that covered a new pit every two or three years.
RED Matthews

 

[cordilleran]

Like today's dumpster, the privy was the path of least resistence. I suspect most of what is found in outhouse holes was placed therein intentionally.

 

[beendiggin]

In the early to mid 1800's, the privy was a perfect place to throw trash. Plus, people didn't have a large amount of trash to throw out back then, and they were pretty careful with what little they did have. By the time indoor plumbing came around, after the mid 1800's, and in some cases the early 20th century, people had a lot more stuff due to production levels and transportation improvements. Town's were generally getting really populated also, so there was a greater demand for more products. By the late 1800's , people had a lot of choices of where to shop and what to buy. The privy was seen as a sanitary issue, and was being phased out as soon as decent affordable plumbing became common. Town dumps and rural homestead dumps were necessary to get rid of the larger amounts of trash. That's why larger dumps are usually from the late 1800's and newer.

 

[diggermeister]

Why not privies!?![]

 

[willong]

You might have heard some old hunter say that you “…have to think like a deer to find a deer.†Well, when you are out searching a site, think like that 1890’s resident. You ask: "Why privies?†Diggermeister responded: “Why not privies?†Right on target! Why not, indeed? You're living in town in 1893; your wife disapproves of your drinking and likely belongs to a temperance movement. After 14 hours of drugery on the job you drink and take solace in the solitude of the outhouse (you probably have more than one bottle hidden out there). When you’ve killed a bottle, you drop it down the crapper hole (probably give it a flick to one of the corners so that it’s not visible to a casual glance down the chute) and the evidence is disposed of. Remember that most of the “Patent†medicines and bitters were largely alcohol, and many contained narcotics such as opium and cocaine. Thus, people were not only nippers; some were addicted and would hide habitual use from family members. So, after you returned to the house, glowing from you encounter with a bottle of Rye, your teetotal ling wife visited the john to be comforted by her Lydia Pinkham’s. Again, the crapper became a convenient and private venue to imbibe contents and dispose of container.

Human nature reveals, too, that some folks are just inconsiderate slobs. How often have you entered a “Porta Potty†only to find it unusable due to trash, including bottles and cans, that some A-hole threw in there, rather than make the effort to locate a trash can or dumpster nearby? Back to 1893 again; if the users weren't the diggers, they might not care how much effort it took to dig the hole--just fill it up with any trash at hand. If they were tenents, they might even deliberately fill the privey with trash to spite a landlord.

Then, there are practical considerations. For sanitary reasons, you would never fill the hole to surface level with the intended contents. After shifting the house to a fresh pit, what's the harm in throwing some trash in the hole before capping it off with clay or soil?

Contrarywise, you are a farmer's kid with a rare soda treat; you run to the john with bottle in hand before finishing the drink. While sitting on the throne, you polish off the soda. You think about it. Either Pa dug the pit himself, and will tan your butt if you wreck his work with junk; or, more likely, Pa makes you and your brother (who never does his fair share anyway) dig fresh privey pits when needed as part of your chores. You'll be darned if you're going to dig any more holes than you absolutely have to. So, you put the bottle with other trash in the old barrel out by the barn. Once a month, or so, Pa will haul the barrel out and dump it in that marshy finger that extends into the North pasture; the same place he's been emptying the stone boat for years.

 

[RedGinger]

There are some good explanations here. Things like marbles, probably fell out of childrens' pockets and down the privy. I can only imagine how distraught someone might be to lose their dentures in a privy. I know it's gross, but if someone was feeling nauseous and went to the privy, well, that's probably how the dentures fell down there. From the many items you find there, it can only mean people also used it for trash. Why else would there be things from cannonballs, to hair combs, to broken pottery? I would like to know who first decided to dig a privy, or if it has just always been common knowledge that these holes were in backyards.

 

[CazDigger]

Laur, as to how and why people started digging privies, I understand the practice started in California in the late 60s/70s. I'm sure there are those on this site that were there during the early "good old days" that can give us the low down. I would think that digging privies started by accident when they were exposed on construction sites by heavy equipment. Once you saw a few of these concentrated ashy spot full of early bottles, it wouldn't take long for the light to come and diggers start seeking them out on purpose. We are a resourceful bunch!.
Mark