The funny looking building

[Billy]

Had to share this one for the "old timers" amongst us!

They were funny looking buildings, that were once a way of life,
If you couldn't sprint the distance, then you really were in strife.
They were nailed, they were wired, but were mostly falling down,
There was one in every yard, in every house, in every town.
They were given many names, some were even funny,
But to most of us, we knew them as the outhouse or the dunny.
I've seen some of them all gussied up, with painted doors and all,
But it really made no difference, they were just a port of call.
Now my old man would take a bet, he'd lay an even pound,
That you wouldn't make the dunny with them turkeys hangin' round.
They had so many uses, these buildings out the back,"
You could even hide from mother, so you wouldn't get the strap.
That's why we had good cricketers, never mind the bumps,
We used the pathway for the wicket and the dunny door for stumps.
Now my old man would sit for hours, the smell would rot your socks,
He read the daily back to front in that good old thunderbox.
And if by chance that nature called sometime through the night,
You always sent the dog in first, for there was no flamin' light.
And the dunny seemed to be the place where crawlies liked to hide,
But never ever showed themselves until you sat inside.

There was no such thing as Sorbent, no tissues there at all,
Just squares of well read newspaper, a hangin' on the wall.
If you had some friendly neighbours, as neighbours sometimes are,
You could sit and chat to them, if you left the door ajar..

When suddenly you got the urge, and down the track you fled,
Then of course the magpies were there to peck you on your head.
Then the time there was a wet, the rain it never stopped,
If you had an urgent call, you ran between the drops.
The dunny man came once a week, to these buildings out the back,
And he would leave an extra can, if you left for him a zac.
For those of you who've no idea what I mean by a zac,
Then you're too young to have ever had, a dunny out the back.

Cheers,
Billy.

 

[SCROUNGER]

Are the outhouse hey Billy. Thanks for the memories. Cold and windy, scary at night for us little kids. As you say, torn up squares of newspaper until toilet rolls came in. The poor old night watchmen, i remember one loosing his load one morning at out house, didn't know whether to feel sorry for him or us because it was in our driveway. And i remember the time dad was p....g himself when the night watchman caught mum on the throne with an earlier than usual visit. Did dad ever cop it for that.
I remember rolling up the newspaper into '****' and having my first few puffs while on the wooden loo seat and knowing nobody would smell the smoke in there because of the odour. An the bloody blowies and spiders!!!! And we worry about kids these days being scared of the dark :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[SCROUNGER]

Leaving long necks out at Christmas time to say thankyou to the dunnyman for doing what most of us couldn't or wouldn't want to do. :lol:

 

[Chewy]

I was born in 71, so I was lucky enough to have an inside dunny until we bought our own house which had an outside dunny when I was about 4. I can still remember that outside dunny being scary as hell at night. It was a flusher, but spiders and stuff loved to make it their home. It was better than the old long drop at pa's shack at the beach though. Braving stepping on a snake in the long grass in the middle of the night, only to be confronted by a huntsman guarding the exit on the back of the door and being trapped in there with the stench. Oh yay! Good times. Lol

 

[SCROUNGER]

It's funny how we take so many basic things for granted these days. But it's only really since the mid fifties that comforts could be afforded or were reasonably common. When we were kids we had electricity in our house (that dad built after coming home from the war) but not out in the dunny, out the back, so forays after dark were via candle or by moonlight. The kitchen stove was a wood burner and we only had one bath a week before hot water systems came in, sunday night was the big wash night in the bathtub with mum doing relays from the stove to the tub with kettes of hot water. :lol: One kid in, one kid out, the youngest got the dirtiest water :lol:

 

[kemjak57]

Ahhh the memories. Funny how universal the dunny woes were. Great times to live in.

 

[kemjak57]

I was bought up in Gympie and the winter run to the dunny was wicked. Most times you got a crack in the ear for pi#^ing over the rail of the steps

 

[Chewy]

I remember when the Truro murders were happening and my dad was working away, so just me and mum at home, I'd heard the news on the radio and was freaking out. Had to brave the cold and dark and go to the loo, with torch in hand and dressing gown on I ran to the dunny through the cold wind. Freezing cold and scared witless, I take care of business. Suddenly the wind gusted, blew through the old willow tree next to the dunny, it creaked, I peaked, and then as if things couldn't get any worse the dunny door blew open (rusty worn latch gave way with the wind) and the door hit me in the back. Bloody near jumped through the roof! I couldn't get back into the house and the safety of my bed quick enough......don't think I even flushed. 8.( :8

 

[Chewy]

Think I was only about 5 or so years old.

 

[jamie]

my grandparents had a bush block of land when i was a little one with a large 'shed' as the living area and the toilet was a small gal. garden shed type thing similar set up as the normal outhouse just a bit more rough, well being a decent block of land the toilet was a fair distance from the 'house', i tell you what when you where out there doing what needs to be done in the middle of the night and a possum comes jumping onto the roof and busting through a small gap and proceeds to explode in rage cause you have scared it almost as much as it did you, makes you never want to go out there and use their toilet again, good times :|

edit for spelling

 

[silver]

From 1992-1994 we used a thunder box,... had to push it upright and rebrace it first,.. it was on quite an angle when we got to it,... no one else to empty it but me,...dug the holes meself,.. once they had sunk in and deteriorated a QLD nut tree was planted in there,... the cows wouldn't touch the nut trees at all,... never been back to see how those trees did either. It's a case of have to sometimes, when there is nothing else at all,.... did build a home made ceptic tank and soakage trench at the end,... and had an inside toilet.

 

[Keith]

I lived on a Farm for many years, we had 2 Dunnies, one of which had a full sized hole & a smaller one for the kids to use.
When they were full, anew one was dug by hand- 6 feet deep.

 

[Metamorphic]

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDAiq2-xeU[/video]