Water

Hello Dear Reader,
The Carters had no electricity or water in their house when Grandpa (Wes) Carter was growing up. They used buckets to carry well water into the house. Then the old wood stove was used to heat the water for the family’s use. They used pans, a teakettle, or the boiler that was attached to the back of the stove (or all of the above) to boil water for bathing, laundry, cleaning, and doing dishes.

The family took turn bathing in a number three round tub. Wes liked to be first to bathe. Two or three people frequently used the same water and he was afraid others would pee in the water like he sometimes did. (I could have said, “urinate,” but that’s not the word Grandpa would have used.)

Their toilet was an outside two-holer. They used an old Sears catalog for toilet paper. Sometimes the person using the outhouse would sit, looking at the pictures in the catalog, so long other family members resorted to throwing rocks at the structure to get the occupant out of there.

Count your blessings, Dear Reader.
Love,
Aunt Genni