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Presidential Outhouses

By Capper's Staff
Published on August 24, 2012

Under President Roosevelt, the W.P.A. put men to work building toilets. They were constructed with cement bases to be more sanitary and they had lids. This was for safety, too. The door had to be closed at all times to keep out toddlers that were unattended and might fall in.

With this new outhouse we really thought we were living uptown.

Dorothy Rohlfs 
Seward, Nebraska


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.