Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: OH NO! This is not a good situation.

Well I was first introduced the Aussie Dunny back in 1960, actually it was quite an experience! It was on or about 1 PM on the 10th of October.

I had just arrived in Oz that morning in Fremantle on my own at 10AM, after traveling for nearly 4 weeks on a ship, as a 10 Quid Pohm.

I asked my aunt where can I find the tiolet'? She said it is out the back at the end of the garden. Also there is a box of matches there, just in case you need to strike a light?

I came to know the value of striking a light & it was an effective practice of deodorising.

I was told the word dunny is an Ocker corruption of the French 'Dunegan', meaning Privy. Which became known as the Dunekin & Dunecan, describing the method of containment. There was a hatch way at the rear which was used to remove the Can [bucket] in the middle of the night, by 'Dunny Men' also known as Soil or Night Carters.

Each house had a laneway at the rear to give acess to them.

In fact in the older suburbs the DunnySoillane wayaccess is still there, along with the lanes. Also in outback homes in the bush & Stations [farms], they still use the g'd old Dunny systems.

So over the years it has become an Aussie Icon & you can even buy replica models & toy dunny's on EBay.

There is also the Dunny Aussie Derby each two years south west of here in Donnybrook WA.

The Great 'Dunny Derby' race;-

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200803/s2197467.htm

There is quite a few poems about the Dunny here is one;-

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, or my name isn’t Crump,
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 pick 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 twice a week, to these buildings out the back,
And he would leave an extra can, if you left for him a zak.
For those of you who’ve no idea what I mean by a zak,
Then your too young to have ever had, a dunny out the back.

For it seems today they call them the bathroom, or the loo,
If you’ve never had one out the back, then I feel sorry for you.
For it used to be a way of life, top race along the track,
To answer natures call, at these buildings out the back.

By Judy Jenkinson

[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

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I thought waitressing was a bad job in college......very interesting and insightful Joe. I agree with you Marty, it sure does give a whole new thought about Outback. lol

BTW opening day was great. Thanks again all.

Old volunteers never die, they just get recycled!

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So how did the opening go?

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