Waxing or Waning on the Outhouse Door

Last evening while traveling home from Nebraska on I-90 through South Dakota, I was leaning back in the passenger seat with not a lot to do. I had already used  all my thread I had along and could no longer work on my needlework project. When dusk began to override daylight, John Grisham had been put aside too.

It was then that I noticed the thin sliver of a moon making its appearance at the top of the darkening sky. With no pressing issues to occupy my brain, the small scientific portion of my mind began to exercise. Was this a waxing moon or a waning moon? At some point in time I had read about each, but it must have been stored in the deep gullies of brain matter and smothered with more urgent knowledge – maybe how to distinguish an Eastern bluebird from a western bluebird or ten tips to cooking the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.  I asked my husband if his gullies were less deep, but apparently not.

With all this pondering about waxing and waning moons, I began to wonder which one it was that took a place on the  old outhouse doors. And why did outhouse doors have one in the first place? From personal experience I am certain that not all outhouses did have a moon. As a kindergartener I spent a lot longer in the old schoolhouse outhouse than I had planned on when I had asked to be excused. When the rusty lock on the outside flipped down and locked me inside, I had ample time between unheard screams of “help” to study every characteristic of each bare board that made up the rustic shelter.

With the use of laptop computers and smart phones, there is not a good excuse to remain ignorant, so this morning with a cup of coffee on the stand beside me, I settled into my large comfy chair and opened the laptop. My first ambition was to find out what a waxing and waning moon is. I learned that waxing means increasing; a waxing moon is in the process of becoming a full moon. Waning means decreasing; a waning moon is in the process of becoming a new moon. In the northern hemisphere, a sliver of moon in the shape of a backward “C” like we saw last night, is a waxing moon and is on the journey of becoming a full moon on January 11th. Had it been in the shape of a true “C” it would have been a waning moon.

Now, with that straight in my mind for the time being, my curiosity still kept me captive with the question of the crescent moon on the old outhouse. Come to find out, years and years ago, a crescent moon was placed on the women’s bathrooms, and a star or sunburst was placed on the men’s. The moon stood for “Luna” and was a symbol of womanhood. The male counterpart was “Sol” symbolized by the star or sunburst. The women’s bathrooms of old were better maintained than the men’s. The outhouses with the stars and sunbursts became in such disrepair that they soon became a thing of the past. Both genders began using the same building. For whatever reason, my research claims that most of the moons placed in the doors were waning moons, but no explanation is given as to why. Maybe waning moons were easier to cut out with the types of saws they used – that’s my theory.  The practicality of a moon in the outhouse door was that it allowed for some fresh ventilation and enough light to tend to business.

There were many outhouses that didn’t have the good fortune of a moon in the door. I  remember back to 1960 to that outhouse I was imprisoned in south of Osmond, Nebraska. It had no moon, no ventilation, and no light. I was never so happy to see my brother when Miss Libby finally sent him out to check on me.

Until next month, keep on readin’ and I’ll keep on writin’.