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Thunderbox - " The Good Old Days?"

aussie_paul said
02:47 PM Feb 9, 2025

Thunderbox - " The Good Old Days?"

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.

Burt65 said
03:12 PM Jul 23, 2025

One thing I have learned in life, is that there is always someone doing it worse than yourself...

At least in the dunny you could sit down...

Turkish toilet 2025

Attached Files:

turkishtoilet.jpg

erad said
09:55 AM Jul 24, 2025

I spent a lot of my working time in SE Asia, and this type of toilet was fairly common. I always carried a small roll of toilet paper, because most of the toilets had none. Once, I was working with a local counterpart (training him) and he mentioned that his brother had a broken leg and it was in plaster. I asked him how he coped with this type of toilet. He didn't know...

Burt65 said
10:10 AM Jul 24, 2025

erad wrote:
I spent a lot of my working time in SE Asia, and this type of toilet was fairly common. I always carried a small roll of toilet paper, because most of the toilets had none. Once, I was working with a local counterpart (training him) and he mentioned that his brother had a broken leg and it was in plaster. I asked him how he coped with this type of toilet. He didn't know...

biggrin

Probably everything went well, until the sh1t hit the fan... biggrin

They were very popular in Europe too, especially just after the war. They are very easy to use if you wore a skirt.. With pants and jeans, it was a mess most of the time... I don't miss them at all smile

Ineedabiggerboat said
10:36 AM Jul 24, 2025

A classic was when the girl in Housos thought it was a baby bath.

Burt65 said
08:50 PM Jul 24, 2025

Ineedabiggerboat wrote:
A classic was when the girl in Housos thought it was a baby bath.

biggrin biggrin

Hendo said
10:47 AM Jul 29, 2025

Two seater, Irvinebank 3.jpg

My Great Grandfather had 10 kids so he built a double dunny, still standing at Ervinebank Qld.

Attached Files:

Two seater, Irvinebank 3.jpg

erad said
01:24 PM Jul 29, 2025

Back in the 60's, there was a stone hut in the Geehi valley (Snowy Mountins, NSW) about 2 miles downstream from the Geehi airstrip. It had various names, but I remember it as the Ibis Hut. The toilet there was a 3 holer - a shed about 12 feet wide with a single door, a full length bench seat (with 3 holes) and a full width window clad with flywire. As you sat and contemplate the world, the view you had was probably the best in Australia. A sparkling stream bubbling past the door. The elevation of the hut was about 1500 feet above sea level and the view looking straight up thebGeeji valley to Mt Townsend 6280 Feet above seal level A stunning place.

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