An outhouse is a small outdoor building with a toilet inside, used before homes had indoor plumbing. The toilet was usually just a wooden seat built over a deep hole in the ground. When someone needed to use the bathroom, they'd walk outside to the outhouse, no matter the weather.

Outhouses were common in America through the early 1900s, and you can still find them at campgrounds, parks, and construction sites today (though modern versions are called portable toilets or port-a-potties). Pioneer families built their outhouses away from their main house and water source to keep things sanitary. Some fancy outhouses had two seats so family members could sit side by side, and many had a crescent moon cut into the door for ventilation.

The experience wasn't pleasant: outhouses were smelly, attracted flies, and could be freezing in winter or sweltering in summer. People often kept a catalog or newspaper inside to use as toilet paper. Despite the inconvenience, outhouses solved an important problem before modern sewage systems existed. Today, when someone says they're “heading to the outhouse,” they usually mean any outdoor toilet, or they're joking about going to the regular bathroom.