Thought that we should remember, the hero of the outhouse.
I reckon that Sammy Davis Jr would still have had a hit if the words of the song The Candy Man were changed to suit The Dunny Man.
Jay&Dee
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.
I DO REMEMBER the old outhouse, it was still in operation back in the 1960's. It stood tall in the back corner of our yards all over the country.
Dare I say, our outhouse also had a timber screen along one side and the back that Dad built. This allowed the old man to install steel type gutter to the screen just high enough for us boys and men to have a pee and not cause the dunny can to overflow. YUK... Did I really type that.?????
I remember always banging the seat up and down several times to try and get rid of the dreaded Red Back Spider.
Worked for my brother who had the garbage contract for a shire council just outside Bundaberg in the late 70's. Not everywhere was sewered so that job was part of the role. Guess who pulled rank and gave me the worst ones? The classic fat lady in short nightie with knickers around her ankles at 6am happened more than once! A sight that can never be unseen.
Still remember digging out an old septic tank for new footings for an extension. It hadn't been used for a long time. There was a small amount of residue in the bottom on the tank. It stunk. The smell seemed to linger on my body for a week!
Connected to the sewer in the 1960s lower Sydney Northern Beaches, & we still had no kerb & guttering, that I can clearly remember. Now the houses sell for $5m+!
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As a kid I often stayed with an aunt who had a can way down in the backyard. She had a double depth block of land. You almost had to take a cut lunch with you just to get to the out house. To make it worse you had to negotiate between a couple of huge pampas grass. Every rustle was a 'snake'. After dark we had potties under the bed! I can remember the night cart coming and the night man jogging down the side of the house with the cans on his shoulders. No work place health and safety in them days. But hey we all survived.
I recall growing up with the trusty dunny, brick of course, standing proudly at the end of a path in our back yard. I remember mum giving us kids the job of painting the door to keep us busy over school holidays. The only paint we had was dark blue so that got used to cover the old white paint. Unfortunately, no one told dad of our accomplishment and the first night he walked straight into the door thinking it was open resulting in a bent nose and the door coming off one of its hinges.
My old dad was the local copper and he was called out to the scene of an accident one night when the local "pie cart" had rolled over on a bend. Pulling rank, my old dad made the junior constable stand at the scene and direct traffic whilst he waited in the car with the windows fully wound up.
I remember an old dunny man telling me the worst things he encountered was steppping into the wheel of a pushbike that was laying on its side on the ground whilst carrying a full one. Another hazard of the trade was the old clothes line that consisted of wires running between two posts on either side of the yard. Hit that at speed fully loaded and imagine the result.
I still laugh my guts out when I think about that conversation.
Hey BigD, I'm still laughing at ya Dad running into the blue door.
I too remember and used the out door 'thunder box' for many moons and even up to when I was a very young brave. Well, I had to be brave to go it sometimes. I also remember the news paper. I reckon we used news paper to give the Red Backs something to read.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there (Including drop dunnies) A very close relative to the old outside dunny.
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Dad didn't think it was too funny Doug. Dad had to go to work with a bent nose and black eyes wondering how he could explain it to his officers. The last thing he would tell them was what really happened.
Poor old mum was worried everyone would think she had assaulted him.
Nothing like those hilarious memories of days of yore.
Grew up in Regentville a suburb of Penrith . still had the outside dunny when i left the area in 1975 . the guzzunder was a blessing on a winters night .
We had relatives on my mum's side that we used to visit in the country near Wagga. They had a big property and raised sheep. They had this big pit in the ground and when it got full they used to close it using gelignite.
Some of those posts on another thread about weights et al should have probably found their maker at that site.
Versailles Palace, lack of toilets. I was there some years ago, it was eye watering the non existent facilities even in a palace a few hundred years ago.
As a teenager, he worked for the shire, and arranged to borrow a vehicle, for his driving test
At the appointed time, the only vehicle available, was the dunny cart
He rolled up to the police station, as a passenger, and received his licence, without driving the vehicle
Same for me - got my truck licence in the garbage truck (complete with sanitary pan section). We pulled away from the police station with half a dozen officers hanging out of the station windows yelling "****ty" comments at the examiner. Reckon it was the shortest test he ever conducted. Got my licence no worries.
