Why are there crescent moons carved on outhouse doors?
There had to be some way to let light in. Electric lights wouldn’t work, and installing a window was out of the question. So people carved designs in the door. It allowed sunlight or moonlight in and provided some insulation. Commonly, a sun was used to show it was a men’s restroom and a moon used for women’s. It was easy for travelers to understand since most people used that system, much like we have universal signs for things such as “no smoking.” If one of the outhouses were damaged somehow, the remaining one would be assumed to be women’s, using the philosophy that men could go behind some tree. To save money, some hotels would just make a women’s outhouse. Soon, putting the crescent moon on all outhouses became a common practice.
