Well, we seem to be pretty boring in Australia, as I've never seen a dunny here with a symbol carved into the door!

Dunny? Is that the official name? Cute! What is its meaning? "The place where you've done it" or something like that?

Do you know Dixie? Nowadays, at festivals etc, it's the plastic version and they are mostly called Dixie over here, although there are other suppliers as well: http://www.vandoornverhuur.nl/lay/media/catalogus-2011-fotos-producten/600/845003.jpg

My great-grandmother apparently had one outside in the village where she lived but I was too little to remember it. My grandmother also had a dry closet, but it was inside the house. You had to go out of the apartment, down to the stair landing. So it was inside the house, but not a water closet.

Nah, it apparently comes from an old English dialect word "dunnekin", which meant "privy".

Here are some websites about them:

http://www.warrenfahey.com.au/the-dunny-a-history/
http://travel.cnn.com/sydney/life/long-drop-australias-outback-dunnies-291535/


We just call those plastic toilets "portaloos"!

Very interesting links, thank you! Lots of great terms in the first, and nice pictures in the second.

I knew what bloke means though. Guess I am fit to travel Australia then! I didn't know it's Irish, but know it from British TV shows like Torchwood.

So there was a guy going around, collecting the cans? Ugh! What a weird business? In my grandmother's house, there was a huge pit (with a lid) where the waste would go into, and then once or twice a year a car would come and pump it out.

Before that, in cities people just threw the inside of their nightpots outside the window, there were canals along the streets where it was going down then. Then someone invented canals that go under the ground.

I don't remember seeing anything carved into the door of toilets here in America! I just looked at a photo I took of an outhouse in Death Valley National Park and there was nothing on the door. But it's not made of wood there.

If I notice any with a crescent moon in the future I will be sure to let you know! :)

Yeah, I should have added that the guy was making it for an old Western town.

Hehe, thanks! I love talking such topics with my friends. I just wonder how the moon came to America, I would look for it more in the Orient!

My great-grandmother apparently had one outside in the village where she lived but I was too little to remember it but my parents do. My grandmother also had a dry closet, but it was inside the house. You had to go out of the apartment, down to the stair landing. So it was inside the house, but not a water closet.

I googled it and jugding from the photos, it seems in Poland it's a heart or nothing. I've never seen one made of wood though.

Hearthouse sounds nice, I wouldn't guess it means outside toilet ;) One of the names used in Poland is "sławojka", and it's from Prime Minister's name from the twenties - Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski - who decided there had to be a toilet on every land with buildings. He'd travel along the country (in the countryside most often) and check if they're there, and their state! So people named those toilets after him. Poor man, now no one remembers him from anything else ;)

I meant to say the same, so I'll only confirm. :)

I might add some say domek z serduszkiem = little house with a heart. Not sure which is more widespread in general, but my own family would say this rather than sławojka.

And I never actually seen this - wooden one with the heart and all - in use, too. I'm sure there are still some houses with an outside toilet, but domek z serduszkiem is more an iconic fun imagery thing nowadays.

domek z serduszkiem = little house with a heart

Aw, so it's almost the same! I did translate mine wrong, as both the l mean the small form so also mean that it should be little house with a little heart.

And yeah, the American guy was making it for an old Western town.

My great-grandmother apparently had one outside in the village where she lived but I was too little to remember it. My grandmother also had a dry closet, but it was inside the house. You had to go out of the apartment, down to the stair landing. So it was inside the house, but not a water closet.

I'd never heard of "domek z serduszkiem", but I wouldn't normally say "sławojka" either. In a quiz, perhaps ;)

That is a funny story actually! And I think it is not the worst thing to be remembered for. He can be proud, as he surely brought much health to these peoples. To avoid illness is an important topic.

I should have added that the guy who made it was making it for an old Western town.

My great-grandmother apparently had one outside in the village where she lived but I was too little to remember it. But my parents do. My mother would wake my father as she did not want to go alone outside in the night ;)

My grandmother also had a dry closet, but it was inside the house. You had to go out of the apartment, down to the stair landing. So it was inside the house, but not a water closet.

Yes, I suppose there can be worse things to be remembered for.

By the way, I love the fact that you asked about toilets and everyone responded immediately with some trivia and their own stories! :D

I just love talking about such topics and learning things from all over the world. It is my belief that we all should talk much more to each other and learn and then we all will be friends and no war. Or something like that.

Did you read the response of my Czech friend? "Little house where you poop"? LOL

Talking is key for understanding and solving problems. People are afraid of things they don't know, so I thought, now, because of the Internet, we can learn so much about other cultures and have friends from all over the world even if we can't travel. Everything should be fine, right? Racism, xenophobia, prejudice all gone. But the fear of strangers and people different from us increases recently in most countries, and I'm truly worried about it. We can't close our hearts, minds and borders. We all live in the same world.

Did you read the response of my Czech friend? "Little house where you poop"?
Oh yes! lol Sometimes, name just tells you exactly about an object's purpose ;)

Well, no symbols in Canada (unless "WC" counts). But there are endless variations on the Ladies/gents theme in the world! My fave was in Uganda, where I walked into the loo with the figure with a grass skirt on it -- only to find, when I came out of my stall, a guy peeing into a urinal I hadn't seen when going in. Turns out the Ladies' was the one with the figure in a LONGER grass skirt....

It's such an interestic topic, who would have even guessed they are not the same around the world?

Hehe, funny story! I also have pictures of some funny signs. I liked best the one that had a (real) shaving brush and lipstick. I need to look for the pics and post them.

What did you happen to do in Uganda?

I'll tell you in a PM...

I love your research!
Here in CR there are either hearts or just plain circles.
And we have an endearing word for this construction: "kadibudka". Not possible to translate properly, "a small shelter where you poop" doesn´t sound right at all!:-)

I love talking about such topics with my friends!

"kadibudka". Not possible to translate properly, "a small shelter where you poop" doesn´t sound right at all!:-)

Haha LOL that is a very literal name then! Budka is the little house, right? It sounds a bit like "Bude" which we use in German as well, for a hut maybe. So I assume "ka" is the little form of it then. I did translate mine wrong, as there are two l in Herzlhäusl. So it literally means little house with little heart.

I guess you could say poop-hut as a short translation LOL

My great-grandmother apparently had one outside in the village where she lived but I was too little to remember it. My grandmother also had a dry closet, but it was inside the house. You had to go out of the apartment, down to the stair landing. So it was inside the house, but not a water closet.



My great-grandmother apparently had one outside in the village where she lived but I was too little to remember it. My grandmother also had a dry closet, but it was inside the house. You had to go out of the apartment, down to the stair landing. So it was inside the house, but not a water closet.

Outhouses still exists in the Canadian back country/wilderness and many have carved into it crescent moons, hearts, stars, small windows at the very top, or nothing at all. I'm going to guess but the original outhouses probably had a small opening to let the smell or to air it out and also maybe for finding out if someone was in there - you could ask and get an answer that wasn't muffled by the door.

Ah, that's interesting that there are many different shapes. I was wondering how the half moon came to America, I would have put this more to the Orient, you know?

I also think it is for getting a bit of fresh air in and also some light.