It may depend on how old you are or where you were brought up or perhaps how good your memory is, but there is no doubt that dunnies have been part of our Aussie folk law for as long as anyone can remember!
Indeed, the good old bush dunny has always had an air of romance and character from our pioneering past – yes, a place in our history far above what its utilitarian presence really deserves! Now I’ll admit it’s pretty basic stuff we’re discussing here, but as the old say goes ‘reality should always be faced head on’!
Undoubtedly for some the subject might be taboo, but for most of us listening to light-hearted and humorous dunny stories told down through the years, clearly places them right up there as an important part of our social history! Mostly standing alone down the back yard, these quintessential Aussie structures were to some, even referred to as architectural masterpieces … but indeed it’s hard to imagine why!
Referred to by a number of different names including outhouses, bush loos, the thinking or meditating room, la las, convenience, pissoir, the-you-know-where, s… house, lavatory, alter room, cloak room, lava-tree, latrine, WC (water closet), powder room, privy, Jon, crapper, comfort station, seat of power, Aunt Mabel, Jake’s can, bog house, throne room, toot, little house, dyke, thunder boxes or circular ones have been called a thunder dome, and many, many more. Indeed, these small structures all with their own individual character have in fact, been and continue to be, a vital appendage to our living quarters wherever we are. One guy also used to call his dunny the ‘loositania’ as it looked like it “would go down at any moment in the wind”!
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