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This article explores the water sources and bathroom facilities used in the Stone House from its construction in 1953 to the late 1950's. Learn about the hand-dug well, outdoor toilets, chamber pots, and the eventual installation of indoor bathrooms. Discover how the family adapted to their changing water needs and improved their sanitation practices over the years.
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1953 • Gradually the house was completed although part of the upstairs remained unfinished until after Walter’s death in 1956. Many changes for utilities and furnishings took place over the years.
Source of Water • At first the family used a pump to get its water from a hand-dug well that was about twenty feet deep. Sometimes it went dry. • On August 22, 1934, drilling was begun for a new well. It was seventy-two feet deep. • Water for all purposes was carried into the house in pails.
Bathroom Facilities • A deep hole in the ground with a small building over it provided an outdoor toilet. Later such a toilet was built in the wood shed. The family did not have an indoor bathroom until the late 1950’s. • Each year the hole needed to be cleaned. • An old catalog hung on a wire provided the toilet paper. • A chamber pot was used for nighttime purposes or very cold winter days. It too needed to be emptied.
Bathroom Facilities • A chamber pot was used for nighttime purposes or very cold winter days. It too needed to be emptied. • A disinfectant was used to keep the chamber pot clean and free of germs. • Ashes were used for the same purpose in the outdoor toilet. Note the covered pail next to the outdoor version. It contained the cooled ashes.
Doing the Wash • Amanda Janke Kuse spent many hours each week washing clothes on a wash board. • In the late 1930’s Grandpa Janke gave her money and she purchased the washing machine in the picture. It had a gasoline powered engine. The exhaust pipe was put out through a hole that had been purposely built into the south wall of the stone house.
Wash Boiler • Clothing was boiled in the hot soapy water of a wash boiler. This was done on the wood stove. • Homemade lye soap was often used to do the laundry.
Small Sink • This lavatory was the first sink installed in the kitchen. • The waste water was drained into an open, outside ditch. When the family got electricity it was possible to have running water.
Kitchen Sink • Amanda bought a kitchen sink with some of the money she received from her father, Gustav Janke. At first the sink was used only to drain waste water and store items.
