Why did colonial outhouse doors have cutouts of a moon or a star on them?

thistlechick

...because most people were illiterate, symbols were used on the outhouses to show which was "his" and which was "hers". Pictures of the sun and moon were the obvious choice. From ancient times, the "sun" had been a symbol of all that was masculine and the "moon" of all that was feminine. -- from wikipedia.org Jun 16 06, 8:27 AM

thistlechick

...because most people were illiterate, symbols were used on the outhouses to show which was "his" and which was "hers". Pictures of the sun and moon were the obvious choice. From ancient times, the "sun" had been a symbol of all that was masculine and the "moon" of all that was feminine. -- from wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outhouse Jun 16 06, 8:29 AM

Gnomon

Seems unlikely. If the cubicle was for one person, there would be no reason to distinguish between "his" and "hers". Jun 16 06, 8:41 AM

zbeckabee

thistlechick is correct. Same building...different entrances. "The woodshed was often a lean-to attached to the schoolhouse, but the most accepted arrangement was to place it between the schoolhouse and the privy, with a fence separating the boys' entrance from the girls'. The ancient designation of privy doors was to saw into them a sun (for boys' toilet) and a moon (for girls' toilet)." http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_382.html Jun 16 06, 10:45 AM