THE DIRTY TRUTH ABOUT DIGGING DOWN UNDER

 

 

There are hobbies and then there are hobbies. Who would have ever thought that finding where poo has been would lead to buried treasure?

That is exactly what outhouse diggers, also known as privy diggers, do. I thought it was crazy and maybe an isolated incident a couple years ago when I heard that a “privy digger” was coming to my hometown to try and find treasure under what used to be an outhouse.

However, since then I have learned that this can be not only big business, but a lucrative one at that, and that there are societies of people around the country who seek buried treasure where outhouses used to be.

Outhouses were the go-to, literally for when anyone had to “go” up until the 1920’s when indoor plumbing began to replace these necessary out buildings. It turns out that there were a lot more things than poo that ended up down in the hole. Old bottles, jugs, coins, tools, guns, tea pots, medicine bottles and many other things are found “down there.”

The most popular treasures are old bottles themselves. Many privy diggers are old bottle collectors whose primary reason for digging is to unearth antique bottles that are buried in centuries-old feces. The real finds are bottles that were handmade before machines began cranking them out. Some of these relics sell for thousands of dollars each.

 

Why would bottles end up under a toilet? To start with, back in their day, the bottles were not anything special. It’s only the years that have added to their value. The outhouse was not only used for doing the duty, but also for disposing of bottles and other items that were considered junk in the day.

 

Before it was considered kosher for women to drink alcohol, many women would sneak their whiskey bottles to the outhouse to have a couple snorts and would dispose of the evidence through the hole.

 

There were also a lot of snake oil salesmen or medicine men that would travel from town to town back in the day and sell miracle cures in unique bottles. These concoctions claimed to be the cure-all for whatever ailed a person. Some of the concoctions contained heroin which would become addictive for those with an unhealthy taste for opiates. Many of these bottles can still be found intact on sites where outhouses used to be, a couple have even been retrieved with some of the contents still in them.

This passion isn’t really as dirty or disgusting as it sounds. Pathogens usually die off after three years so the remains is basically just dirt.

 

Since the outhouses have been long-gone for years, the biggest challenge can be to locate where they once stood. One method is to look for an old woodshed since the privy was usually pretty close nearby. Old pathways lined with rocks often led to the outhouse. Depressions or dips in the ground are often indicators of where they once stood. Most were located between 50 and 150 feet from the houses.

 

Old maps can be useful when trying to find city privies. Many of these communal outhouses are now in open fields.

 

Most outhouse diggers use a probe rod (bottle probe) to check for soft soil or voids underground. These probes are somewhere between six to nine feet long with a bulb at the end. The diggers feel for a wall from a brick liner or cistern. A scratchy crunch that wasn’t anywhere else around can be felt where a privy used to be.

 

They also note the color of dirt that is on the rounded tip of the probe. Most soil is varying shades of brown but historical poop is a dark black color. When they see black, they know they have hit pay dirt…literally!

Metal detectors are also helpful in locating digging spots. Deep seeking ones are the best bet to find large collections of treasures. They can’t detect glass but many of the antique bottles had metal lids or rings which the detectors can pick up. Once something is located, an area of three and a half feet square and five feet deep is scanned.

All in all, it is not a very expensive hobby to get into. All the basic equipment that is needed are a pinpointing probe, headphones, a sturdy-handled digging tool and some good gloves…just because!

Scott Hendrichsen is a UPS driver based out of Texas township in Barry county, Michigan. He keeps an eye out for houses on his route whose architecture suggests that the house is old enough to have had an outhouse. He then asks the homeowner for permission to search. Usually, the landowner is as curious as the privy digger to see what is “down there” and readily agrees. Sometimes they agree to split the found treasure.

Some diggers work in crews and travel to different areas, unearthing pieces of the past. What remains underground where there used to be outhouses are time capsules in backyards. Archeologists complain that diggers are tearing up and plundering historical sites. A lot can be learned about our ancestors’ lifestyles by what they left behind or, more correctly, below. Once it is dug up, it is destroyed. It all depends on one’s outlook though; you are either on the side of history or finding buried treasure.

By the way, this little tidbit has nothing to do with digging for treasure, but it is an interesting outhouse fact. Many outhouses have a cut-out moon in the door. This was because, in the time of the outhouse, many folks couldn’t read. So, a moon shape designated a woman’s privy whereas a star stood for men. Eventually, the moon shape, a symbol for women, became the symbol for all outhouses.

I have to say that digging under old privies isn’t exactly something I want to delve into even though it can be very lucrative. Outhouse diggers see it in a different light. Doing the dirty work is a privilege for them.