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The Outhouse Name

By Capper's Staff
Published on August 29, 2012

When nature called and my grandmother had to make a trip to the little house out back, she always said, “I must go see Mrs. Jones.”

One day my mother and grandmother were cutting out a dress. My grandmother came across a pattern she no longer wanted. She handed the tissue pieces to my four-year-old brother and said, “Take these down to Mrs. Jones.”

My brother was gone awhile and when he came back he said,

“I couldn’t find Mrs. Jones anywhere!”

Mrs. Emma Coulter
Springfield, Missouri


Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.