Hello Fellow Listers: Does anyone know the origin and why we usually cut a Cresent Moon shape over the Outhouse Door?? Thanks... Donna HELLER ZINN of Newville, Cumberland Co., PA.

Donna HELLER ZINN wrote Hello Fellow Listers: Does anyone know the origin and why we usually cut a Cresent Moon shape over the Outhouse Door?? Thanks... Donna HELLER ZINN of Newville, Cumberland Co., PA. -------- Hi, Donna, As a free lance writer, I usually know some trivia stuff that no one else would care to. Anyhow....re: half moons...... Here's the info I found on the "Outhouse" part of the Walton Feed (Idaho) site http://www.waltonfeed.com) . (They have a lot of old time trivia) "And now for the most ask question - What about that cutout of the moon on the door? A moon and stars were used in colonial times to designate the sex of the outhouses. Originally the moon was for women and the star was for the men. But the men's outhouse was usually in such disrepair, everyone wanted to use the women's outhouse. ...so, eventually they quit using the stars altogether." Hope that helps. Carol METZGER WILKERSON (Potter, PA native migrated to Multnomah Co. OR) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- -----Original Message----- From: Donna Heller Zinn [mailto:djzinn@pa.net] Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2001 3:50 PM To: PAFRANKL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [PAFRANKL] Cresent Moon over the Outhouse Door