Seven answers on 7Q (also known as the FAQs of life.)				Interviewed by Tom Mangan Scott O'Neal Colf, privy digger, weekend archaeologist His Privy Page is here		AUTHORS Michael Fuchs Elizabeth Hilts Paul Riddell Gary Rivlin Jim Motavalli Barbara Shafferman Jules Siegel Keith Snyder ARTISTS/POETS/ PHILOSOPHERS Jon C. Allen Will Baker Mike Leung Jon Sarkin COOL SITE KEEPERS Mike Cash Scott O'Neal Colf Godfrey Daniels Cliff Davis, DDS Tammy Hocking Wes Modes Frank Rogan DIARISTS Ralph Becker J. D. Bruns Linda DeVault Mike Reed Moira Richardson Jessamyn West FILMMAKERS Ben Kufrin Dean Mermell JOURNALISTS Bernie Mary Cooley-Jones Lindsay Crysler Jamie Dupree M.O.A.T.M.A.I. David Moll Robert Niles John Orr Steven Ovadia Pierce Presley Mack Reed Rip Rense Curtis Ross Neal Ross John Scalzi Catherine Seipp David Sheets Dwight Silverman Matt Welch MOVIE MAVENS MaryAnn Johanson Brian Koller HUMORISTS Debbie Farmer Mike Jasper Madeleine Begun Kane Patrick Keller Bob Sassone Valerie Sprague Ken Swarmer Ian Wolff SOLDIERS Maj. Jon Anderson, USAF TEACHERS John Warner TECHIES Chris Adamson Mike Gunderloy Michael Ivey Greg Knauss Floyd Maxwell Ellen McDonough Mike Pingleton Wayne Thume John Worth TEENS Gary Baum Marty Beckerman UNDECLARED Bev Gibbs Beth Reid WEBLOGGERS Jason Kottke Jish Mukerji
ONE				What's your explanation to reassure people it's perfectly sane to be digging among people's old droppings? Well, I can't say definitively that it is "perfectly sane." However, I can reassure people that in a normal day's activities, one is subjected to far more potentially dangerous substances than would be encountered in an eight-hour privy dig. After such a long period of time, the soil in a privy is just that: soil.
TWO				Collectors know there's a huge demand for those exquisite antique bottles buried in those privies. What else do you find besides old bottles? We rarely find any exquisite antique bottles. During the course of a season (spring through fall), we can expect one significant find. The majority of bottles we excavate are common. Just as today's bottles in your recycling bin are predominately all the same kind, so was the case, or even more so, before the turn of the century. Occasionally, we will find doll parts like complete heads or an entire doll minus the torso, as it was made of organic material and has completely decomposed. I think there were quite a few toys dropped down into the abyss by little tots carrying their favorite train or doll for safety as they made the scary trek to the dark outhouse. Most of the things little boys would have played with have been reclaimed by the earth, as most of them were made of metal. We do find a marble or two most of the time, and once found a cast-iron locomotive. The strangest thing we have found was from an 1880's dentist's house... you guessed it, a complete human skeleton! No, just kidding, it was a complete set of dentures. They were wacky looking, like real teeth glued in sections to ceramic-like gums.
THREE				Fresh human excrement is highly toxic. How long does it have to decompose down there before a) the smell recedes, and b) it becomes safe to dig in it? I think I can answer both parts of the question with one response. Because this type of solid waste has a very high nitrogen content, it decomposes to a compost material relatively quickly. It is really no different than what farmers use to fertilize their crops. I can't say scientifically how long it actually takes for this complete process to transpire, but the only privies we excavate are ones that have acquired at least 100 years of fine aging. I have never seen one that doesn't have pure, rich, composted black dirt in it to the top. Often the vegetation thrives over and throughout the entire area, making it difficult to pinpoint a site.
FOUR				What would you be doing differently if you were a professional archaeologist? Well being a commercial pilot, I am constantly studying for upgrades in various new aircraft. So if I were a professional archeologist I wouldn't be studying Federal Aviation Regulation all the time. Also, I probably would still be in college.
FIVE				Strikes me that those pros would take a pretty dim view of amateurs messing with sites that might one day be of great historical significance. How would you respond to such criticism? This is a subject that needs attention. I have received two such inquiries since the inception of Scott's Privy Page. The question has relevance. However, I am actually saving and preserving these sites from extinction. Most of the sites that I excavate are just years, months, or days away from impending doom. You see, I cannot tell you how many sites are lost to hack-and-whack developers and construction sites every day. I can take you on a trip though my hometown and point out numerous parking lots where I have excavated privies that would have been lost forever under the wheels of 40,000-pound tractors and blacktop forever. Every site that I excavate is documented, each bottle numbered with a location and description of site, then put in a numerically catalogued book. So you see, this is another one of the great feelings attributed to this hobby. I feel I am actually saving these fine pieces of history every time I locate a privy.
SIX				What are some of the occupational hazards of privy digging people need to know about before they start poking around in one? Watch out for cave-ins. Any time you are past your waist in a hole, you are in danger. This hobby should be practiced by "professionals" only. I would not recommend doing it without the guidance of a seasoned privy digger at the site to supervise the dig. Another danger is the obvious threat of glass cuts. Leather gloves are a must, as is the use of dust masks. The worst hazard of all is the inevitable habit-forming addiction induced by privy digging!
SEVEN				How has your hobby changed your perception how people lived in the era before plumbing? Most of all, I have to say they were always ailing from some sort of disease or pain. The majority of bottles are remedies for: tuberculosis, baldness, cancer, worms, dysentery, kidney and liver problems, headache, and an occasional eye or deafness cure. They must have been sick all the time, and if they weren't sick they were trying not to get a particular disease by drinking a specific cure every night. One last thought on the pre-turn of the century folks is the craftsmanship and detail the glass blowers poured into their work, and how the consumers just accepted these treasures as normal disposable objects. Each one being crafted by hand, no two the same. Today our product containers would seem so blase to them, with a total lack of style or character. I believe this says something about our prepackaged, cookie-cutter lifestyles exhibited in the century's end.
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