Was Symbol on Outhouse Door First Sign of Americans’ Anger?

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Was Symbol on Outhouse Door First Sign of Americans’ Anger?

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Over the weekend, I came up with a new reason to believe the appearance of the crescent moon and star symbol on outhouse doors in America during the early 19th century may have been the first visible sign of how many Americans felt -- and, indeed, still feel -- toward radical Muslims.

This news comes two years after I published a post in which I noted how the symbol that appears on the flags of no fewer than 11 Muslim countries appears remarkably similar to the cutouts that appeared on the doors of old-fashioned outhouses (see photo). Below are two key pieces of research that appeared in that post:

• “The crescent moon cutout and the star cutout on the door of many (American) outhouses goes back to Colonial times,” according to the folks at Outhouse Graffiti, individuals who stand among the nation’s foremost authorities on the history of outdoor facilities (a.k.a., “one-holers,” “two-holers,” “privies” and “crappers”); and

• A University of Rochester Department of Religion web site provides background about the relationship of the crescent moon symbol to Islam that includes, but is not limited to, the following: “The Crescent moon, often with a five- or six-pointed star, became a prominent symbol for Islam early in the 19th century” and “…the crescent moon is the universal symbol of Islam.”
  

What I had not considered at the time was the fact that the so-called "Barbary Pirates" were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa from the time of the Crusades (11th century) until the early 19th century. Those pirates gave Americans more than enough reason to be upset with them, not the least of which was their affinity toward commandeering U.S. ships and doing horrendous things to those on board.

For those reasons, I came to the conclusion that it was the early Americans' dislike of the Barbary Pirates that prompted them to put the crescent moon and star symbol on the doors of their outhouses.

-- Bob McCarty Writes