document_title: Christine (1983 film)

question_text: who owns the car from the movie christine

text: Christine (1983 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In Detroit, Michigan September 1957, at a Chrysler Corporation assembly plant, a line worker props open the hood of a newly assembled 1958 Plymouth Fury, rests his hand in front of the radiator and bends down to inspect the front end. Without warning, the hood slams down on the worker's hand. As he is taken for medical attention, another worker who is smoking a cigar, sits behind the wheel. Whilst smoking his cigar, he drops a large piece of ash on the passenger seat. There is a cut to the end of the shift. Everyone leaves. The line supervisor notices the worker still slumped in the car seat. When he opens the door, the worker rolls out - stone cold dead with a look of terror on his face.

text: 21 years later, in September 1978, Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is an awkward and unpopular teenager, in Rockbridge, California, with only one friend, Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell). Arnie's life begins to change when he buys a used, badly battered red-and-white 1958 Plymouth Fury named "Christine" (the same car from the assembly plant), in need of extensive repairs. Due to his parents being against him keeping the car in their yard, Arnie begins to restore Christine at Darnell's Autobody, a local repair shop and junkyard, but as he spends more of his time working on the car, he discards his glasses, dresses more like a 1950s greaser, and develops an arrogant personality. Dennis investigates and learns of the car's dark past, that its obsessive previous owner and his wife both died in it and their daughter was choked to death inside the car, but Arnie does not know this. Arnie's new girlfriend, Leigh Cabot (Alexandra Paul), narrowly escapes her death when she is choking on a hamburger inside the car while on a date with Arnie.

text: Angry with Arnie after a shop class confrontation leads to his expulsion, lead bully Buddy Repperton (William Ostrander) and his gang, vandalize Christine. Arnie is devastated and determined to repair Christine. As he examines the ruined car, he hears the creaking of metal and notices the engine is now fully restored. Arnie tells the car, "Show me." Christine flips on its lights and restores itself to showroom quality, then, driving itself, seeks out the vandals. Moochie Welch (Malcolm Danare) is targeted first and chased down by Christine into an alley and is crushed to death. Richie and Don are caught in a gas station explosion (which sets Christine on fire); and Buddy is chased down a lonely road until he is run over and burned to death by the flaming car. Darnell (Robert Prosky), owner of the garage and junkyard where Arnie restored and keeps his Plymouth Fury, is murdered by Christine in the garage when he sits in the car and is crushed between the seat and the steering wheel. Rumors begin to spread about Arnie and the car, as state policeman Rudolph Junkins (Harry Dean Stanton) becomes suspicious of Arnie.

text: On New Year's Eve, Dennis and Leigh decide that the only way to stop Christine and save Arnie is to destroy the car. Dennis scratches "Darnell's Tonight"—referencing the name of the junkyard—into Christine's hood, then makes his way there with Leigh. Dennis waits in a bulldozer while Leigh heads to the office so that she can shut the door after Christine arrives, trapping the car. Christine, who has been lying in wait the entire time, shines the headlights from under a pile of trash and charges after Leigh. Christine crashes into Darnell's office in an attempt to kill Leigh, and Arnie (revealed to have been driving the car himself) is thrown through Christine's windshield. He is impaled through a shard of glass and dies, reaching out to touch Christine one last time. Dennis and Leigh engage in a fight against Christine with the bulldozer. Christine continues to attack Dennis and Leigh, repeatedly sustaining damage and regenerating. Dennis pulls Leigh into the cab of the bulldozer; the two then smash Christine, driving back and forth over the car with the bulldozer as it mocks them by playing "Rock and Roll Is Here To Stay" over the radio until at last it is too shredded to regenerate again.

text: Dennis, Leigh, and Junkins survive and leave behind the remains of the car. The closing shot of the film is of Christine, now having been crushed into a cube by a car crusher, as a piece of the grille slowly begins to move and "Bad to the Bone" plays.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Keith Gordon as Arnold "Arnie" Cunningham
John Stockwell as Dennis Guilder
Alexandra Paul as Leigh Cabot
Robert Prosky as Will Darnell
Harry Dean Stanton as Detective Rudolph "Rudy" Junkins
Christine Belford as Regina Cunningham
Roberts Blossom as George LeBay
Kelly Preston as Roseanne
William Ostrander as Clarence "Buddy" Repperton
Malcolm Danare as Peter "Moochie" Welch
Steven Tash as Richard "Richie" Trelawney
Stuart Charno as Donald "Don" Vandenberg
David Spielberg as Mr. Casey

text: Production[edit]

text: Conception[edit]

text: Producer Richard Kobritz had previously produced the miniseries Salem's Lot, also based on a Stephen King novel; through producing the miniseries, Kobritz became acquainted with King, who sent him manuscripts of two of his novels, Cujo, and Christine.[4] Kobritz purchased the rights to Christine after finding himself attracted to the novel's "celebration of America's obsession with the motorcar."[4]

text: According to John Carpenter, Christine was not a film he had planned on directing, saying that he directed the film as "a job" as opposed to a "personal project."[5] He had previously directed The Thing (1982), which had done poorly at the box office and led to critical backlash.[4] In retrospect, Carpenter stated that upon reading Christine, he felt that "It just wasn't very frightening. But it was something I needed to do at that time for my career."[5]

text: King's novel, the source material for Carpenter's film, made it clear that the car was possessed by the evil spirit of its previous owner, Roland D. LeBay, whereas the film version of the story shows that the evil spirit surrounding the car was present on the day it was built.[6] Other elements from the novel were altered for the film, particularly the execution of the death scenes, which the filmmakers opted for a more "cinematic approach."[7]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Initially, Columbia Pictures had wanted to cast Brooke Shields in the role of Leigh due to her publicity after the release of The Blue Lagoon (1980), and Scott Baio as Arnie.[4] The filmmakers declined the suggestion, opting to cast young actors who were still fairly unknown. Kevin Bacon auditioned for the role, but opted out when offered a part in Footloose (1984).[4] Carpenter cast Keith Gordon in the role of Arnie after an audition in New York City; Gordon had some experience in film, and was also working in theater at the time; John Stockwell was cast at an audition in Los Angeles.[4]

text: Nineteen-year-old Alexandra Paul was cast in the film after audition in New York City; according to Carpenter, Paul was an "untrained, young actress" at the time, but brought a "great quality" about the character of Leigh.[4] According to Paul, she had not read any of King's books or seen Carpenter's films, and read the novel in preparation.[4]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Christine was shot largely in Los Angeles, California, while the location for Darnell's garage was located in Santa Clarita.[7] Filming began in April 1983, merely days after the King novel had been published.[8] The film's stunts were primarily completed by stunt coordinator Terry Leonard, who was behind the wheel of the car during the high-speed chase scenes, as well as the scene in which the car drives down a highway engulfed in flames.[7]

text: The car[edit]

text: Although the car in the film is identified as a 1958 Plymouth Fury[9]—and in 1983 radio ads promoting the film, voiceover artists announced, "she's a '57 Fury"—two other Plymouth models, the Belvedere and the Savoy, were also used to portray the malevolent automobile onscreen. John Carpenter placed ads throughout Southern California searching for models of the car, and was able to purchase twenty-four of them in various states of disrepair, which were used to build a total of seventeen models of the Fury.[8]

text: Total production for the 1958 Plymouth Fury was only 5,303, and they were difficult to find and expensive to buy at the time. In addition, the real-life Furys only came in one color, "Buckskin Beige", seen on the other Furys on the assembly line during the initial scenes of the movie.[10] The Fury also got anodized gold trim on the body and Fury script on the rear fender. In order to bypass the problem of obtaining the rare trim, the cars featured the more common Belvedere "Dartline" trim. Several vehicles were destroyed during filming, but most of the cars were Savoy and Belvedere models dressed to look like the Fury. At least one '57 Savoy was used, its front end modified to look like a '58.

text: Originally, Carpenter had not planned to film the car's regeneration scenes, but decided after the shoot had finished to include them. The shots of the car regenerating itself were shot in post-production and done using hydraulics.[7]

text: Of the twenty cars used in the film, only two still exist. One is a stunt vehicle with a manual transmission and now resides in the hands of a private California collector.[11] The other vehicle was rescued from a junkyard and restored by collector Bill Gibson of Pensacola, Florida.[12]

text: Release[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Christine was released in North America on December 9, 1983, to 1,045 theaters.[13]

text: In its opening weekend Christine brought in $3,408,904 landing at #4. The film dropped 39.6% in its second weekend, grossing $2,058,517 slipping from fourth to eighth place. In its third weekend, it grossed $1,851,909 dropping to #9. The film remained at #9 its fourth weekend, grossing $2,736,782. In its fifth weekend, it returned to #8, grossing $2,015,922. Bringing in $1,316,835 in its sixth weekend, the film dropped out of the box office top ten to twelfth place. In its seventh and final weekend, the film brought in $819,972 landing at #14, bringing the total gross for Christine to $21,017,849.[2]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Based on 25 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Christine has an overall 68% approval rating from critics with the consensus saying: "The cracks are starting to show in John Carpenter's directorial instincts, but Christine is nonetheless silly, zippy fun." and an average score of 5.9 out of 10.[14] Variety gave the film a negative review, stating: "Christine seems like a retread. This time it’s a fire-engine red, 1958 Plymouth Fury that’s possessed by the Devil, and this deja-vu premise [from the novel by Stephen King] combined with the crazed-vehicle format, makes Christine appear pretty shop worn."[15]

text: Roger Ebert gave the movie three out of four stars, saying: "by the end of the movie, Christine has developed such a formidable personality that we are actually taking sides during its duel with a bulldozer. This is the kind of movie where you walk out with a silly grin, get in your car, and lay rubber halfway down the Eisenhower."[16] Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the film a middling review, saying: "The early parts of the film are engaging and well acted, creating a believable high-school atmosphere. Unfortunately, the later part of the film is slow in developing, and it unfolds in predictable ways."[17] Time Out said of the film: "Carpenter and novelist Stephen King share not merely a taste for genre horror but a love of '50's teenage culture; and although set in the present, Christine reflects the second taste far more effectively than the first."[18]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on VHS by Columbia Pictures, and later in a special edition DVD in 2004.[19] On March 12, 2013, Twilight Time video released the film on Blu-ray for the first time in a limited edition run numbered at 3,000 copies.[20] On September 29, 2015, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment re-released the film on Blu-ray.[21]

text: Soundtrack [edit]

text: Two soundtracks were released, one consisting purely of the music written and composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth, the other consisting of the contemporary pop songs used in the film.[22]

text: Score[edit]

text:
Christine: Music from the Motion Picture

Film score by John Carpenter & Alan Howarth

Released
June 1, 1990

Genre

Electronic
film score

Length
33:14

Label
Varèse Sarabande

Producer
John Carpenter, Alan Howarth

John Carpenter & Alan Howarth chronology

They Live
(1988)
Christine: Music from the Motion Picture
(1990)

John Carpenter chronology

They Live
(1988)
Christine
(1990)
Body Bags
(1993)

text:
Christine: Music from the Motion Picture (by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth)

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Arnie's Love Theme"
1:15

2.
"Obsessed with the Car"
2:07

3.
"Football Run/Kill Your Kids"
2:42

4.
"The Rape"
1:10

5.
"The Discovery"
1:30

6.
"Show Me"
2:36

7.
"Moochie's Death"
2:25

8.
"Junkins"
3:33

9.
"Buddy's Death"
1:27

10.
"Nobody's Home/Restored"
1:44

11.
"Car Obsession Reprise"
1:53

12.
"Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)"
2:30

13.
"Talk on the Couch"
1:23

14.
"Regeneration"
1:25

15.
"Darnell's Tonight"
0:13

16.
"Arnie"
1:01

17.
"Undented"
1:54

18.
"Moochie Mix Four"
2:26

text: Songs appearing in film[edit]

text: The soundtrack album containing songs used in the film was entitled Christine: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and was released on LP and cassette on Motown Records.[23] It contained 10 (of the 15) songs listed in the film's credits, plus one track from John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's own score. The track listing was as follows:

text:
George Thorogood and the Destroyers - "Bad to the Bone"
Buddy Holly & the Crickets - "Not Fade Away"
Johnny Ace - "Pledging My Love"
Robert & Johnny - "We Belong Together"
Little Richard - "Keep A-Knockin'"
Dion and The Belmonts - "I Wonder Why"
The Viscounts - "Harlem Nocturne"
Thurston Harris - "Little Bitty Pretty One"
Danny & The Juniors - "Rock n' Roll is Here to Stay"
John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - "Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)"
Larry Williams - "Bony Moronie"

tag: ol

text: The following tracks were not included on this LP release, but were used in the film and listed in the film's credits:

text:
ABBA - "The Name of the Game"
Bonnie Raitt - "Runaway"
Ritchie Valens - "Come on, Let's Go"
Tanya Tucker - "Not Fade Away"
The Rolling Stones - "Beast of Burden"


document_title: Holmes on Homes

question_text: who pays for the renovations on holmes next generation

root

text: Holmes on Homes

text: Premise[edit]

text: The show's premise revolves around general contractor Mike Holmes visiting homeowners (initially in the Greater Toronto Area in the earlier seasons, but also to various locales across Canada and the United States, starting with the seventh season) who are in need of help, mainly due to unsatisfactory home renovations performed by hired contractors.  A typical episode has homeowners describing their experiences with the previous contractor, including what had caused the original contractor to leave the work incomplete or with substandard work (often under Ontario building codes).  Holmes would also go into detail to explain why the work he sees is substandard and needs to be replaced during the repair process.  The original contractors are never named on the shows, although an episode of CBC Television's Marketplace has done investigative journalism behind a sixth-season episode and exposed the contractor alleged to have been at fault.[citation needed]

tag: p

text: Typically, after beginning the repair work, Holmes and his crew of contractors often find that their small repair project has escalated into a larger one due to surprises that they find and are forced to fix; only on rare occasions has the show's crew not been forced to tear everything down and start over.  However, in the end, Holmes presents the homeowners with a completely finished place, often with a few extra surprises.

text: Throughout the rebuilding process, Holmes often comments on the professionalism of the people hired for the job or lets other contractors talk about how to build things correctly. On some occasions Holmes has vented out his frustrations with previous contractors' substandard work in front of the camera. Particularly for projects involving new homes, Holmes often criticizes the developers for following minimum code and trying to save as many costs as possible.

text: Several episodes have deviated from this formula: a fourth-season episode explored the issue of mold in the household, and Holmes was brought in to investigate the matter after the homeowner had done some investigative work on their own; a fifth-season episode saw Holmes and crew build a common fence for 52 households, while a sixth-season episode saw Holmes and crew clean up and restore a house that had been rented out and, unknown to the homeowner, turned into a marijuana grow-op.  The sixth-season Pasadena 911 two-hour episode also saw Mike and senior contractor Damon Bennett travel to Los Angeles to help out a couple in need after Holmes' own appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

text: Because the show is a television series, costs for the homeowners, who are likely to be strapped for cash due to the previous contractors' mistakes and/or frauds, are kept to a minimum (10% to 20% of the cost of repair).  Some contractors hired on the show have even donated time, materials, and labor to help homeowners in need. The remainder of the work is funded by the TV production company, but in some cases, Mike Holmes personally contributes funds towards the repairs.[3]

text: History[edit]

text: Holmes was originally hired on Just Ask Jon Eakes, a home improvement show (also on HGTV and formerly in the US on sister network DIY Network) hosted by Jon Eakes, for some behind-the-scenes work. Mike Holmes approached the show's producers Scott Clark McNeil and Michael Quast with an idea for a new kind of home improvement show. Holmes did not intend that he appear on camera, but the producers made this a condition of the deal. Although submissions to be on the show were initially few and far between, with Holmes doing work on small botched jobs early on in the series, the number of submissions quickly ballooned by the show's fourth season. In its last season, the show was directed by The Holmes Group's Vice President Pete Kettlewell, who had worked on the show from the first season where he did the show's audio, produced by The Holmes Group's Vice President Michael Quast, who had been with the show since the fifth season, and also produced by Mike Holmes himself.

text: As a result of the show's popularity, Holmes had been able to start up the Holmes Foundation, a charity organization which helps raise awareness of skilled trades.

text: Construction crew[edit]

text: Although Holmes serves as the show's host, he brings with him several other equally skilled contractors who are regulars on the series (although not all appear in all seasons):

text: Crew[edit]

text: The construction crew in the seventh season is as follows:

text:
Damon Bennett - Damon was introduced (by Shawn) in the fourth season of the series in the episode Window Well to Hell. With the departure of Shawn, Damon became the senior contractor starting in the sixth season.  He is also the only series regular other than Mike himself to be part of Pasadena 911.  His specialty is carpentry, though he started in bricklaying (having come from a long line of bricklayers) and roofing.
Adam Belanger - Adam is another senior contractor who joined Mike in the fifth season.  His specialty is in landscape and concrete work.
Corin Ames - Corin, known affectionately as "Pinky", was the first female labourer on the show, starting in the fifth season.  She had joined the Holmes Crew as an intern, and was famously hired on-air in her first appearance after finishing her required hours.
Mike Holmes Jr. - Mike's son has been seen in parts of the first four seasons, and, after graduating from high school some time between the fourth and fifth seasons (his previous appearances having been part of a co-op term in high school), joined the Holmes Crew as a series regular.
Matt Antonacci - Matt, known affectionately as "Hammy", joined the Holmes Crew for sporadic appearances in the fifth season, and joined full-time in the sixth season.
Carl Pavlovic - Carl, sometimes known as "Carlito", became a series regular in the sixth season.
Kate Campbell - Kate is introduced late in the sixth season.
Peter Lundy - Peter is introduced late in the sixth season.
Billy Bell - "Uncle Bill", Mike's uncle, is the truck driver for the Holmes tool truck (itself introduced in the fifth season to replace a series of trailers).

tag: ul

text: Former crew[edit]

text: The following is a list of past crew members who have appeared in earlier seasons:

text:
Shawn Morren - Shawn was the site supervisor from the first five seasons of the series. He left after the fifth season. He now has his own company in the Toronto area. Shawn also appeared on episode 208 of Candice Olson's Divine Design.  Candice designed the kitchen in his newly purchased home.
Benjamin Green - Benjamin ("Bengi") was Mike's senior contractor for the first four seasons of the series.  Mike and Ben have known each other for much of their careers.
Desmond Hamlyn - Desmond was another contractor who appeared in the first four seasons of the series.
Don Carter - Don, a tile specialist, appeared for the first two seasons of the series (the first as a hired specialist), as well as Holmes for the Holidays.
Micah Morren - Micah, younger brother to Shawn, appears in the fifth season of the series.
Brennan Cavendish - Brennan briefly appeared in the fifth season of the series.
Dan Rapa - Dan, a plumber, was introduced in the fourth season as a hired specialist, and became a series regular in the fifth.  He has left the series to continue operating his own business.

text: Several other tradespersons running their own companies also make regular appearances on the series.

text: Home renovation expert Jon Eakes has also appeared as a guest in one episode, and the winners of Handyman Superstar Challenge are invited to make a guest appearance on the show (Jordan MacNab in season 6 and Kevin Howe in season 7).

text: List of episodes[edit]

text: Season One[edit]

text:
Additional Grief - After an expensive kitchen addition and back deck fails to pass city inspection, Mike Holmes steps in and does the job that the previous contractor couldn't.
Soggy Sorority - The roof at a sorority house had been leaking for a long time, so Mike Holmes picks up where many contractors had failed before him.  He supervises an all-new flat roof installation, builds a new rooftop deck and learns about sorority life in the process.
Botched Basement - After a renovation to lower a basement floor goes bad and the contractor skips town, Mike Holmes makes it right by installing an interior weeping tile system and fixing a dangerous electrical mess.
Attica! Attica / Crappy Capping - In part one, Mike Holmes repairs an attic with water damage in a new housing development.  In part two, Mike helps finish a shoddy window job by installing proper insulation and capping.
Cold Comfort - After a contractor failed to properly insulate a new addition, a bedroom became cold and unlivable in winter.  With a court case pending, Mike Holmes tears open the ceiling, insulates properly and finds numerous other problems that need fixing.
Flimsy Floor - When a brand new kitchen addition floor buckles during a party, a "quick-fix" by the contractor fails to solve the problem.  Mike Holmes secures the floor's joists, adds braces and reminds us that structure is just as important as design.
Kitchen Catastrophe - When a shady contractor guts a family's kitchen and then stalls for six months with numerous lame excuses, Mike Holmes steps in to mediate and gives the home owners a brand new kitchen in just one week.
Window Pain - After four contractors try and fail to fix three very leaky windows, Mike Holmes is called in to fix the leaks once and for all.  He restructures the roof and properly installs new windows and an eaves trough.
Faulty Showers - A couple paid top dollar to have their kitchen and two bathrooms renovated, but the tiles began to crack and fall apart just one year later.  Mike Holmes starts from scratch by tearing out the bathroom and finds a very dangerous surprise.
Tiles and Tribulations - A couple bought a recycled wood-product tile for their kitchen, but after just one week, the tiles began to bow and the grout started to crack.  After numerous arguments with the installer, Mike Holmes is called in to install a proper porcelain tile floor.
Site Unseen - When Mike Holmes arrives to investigate a mysterious leak, he discovers that the two-storey addition is sitting on a dirt foundation and is in serious danger of collapsing.  Mike quickly secures the structure and pours a proper concrete foundation, saving the house.
Sweet Home Abandoned - With a dream home two-thirds complete, a family was abandoned by their contractor and is forced to live in a motor home on their front driveway.  Mike Holmes supervises the house to completion and moves the family back into their beautifully finished home.
Whole House Disaster (1-hour) - In this classic one-hour special, Mike Holmes and his team save a couple from losing their family home, which had been ravaged by a crooked contractor.

text: Season Two[edit]

text:
Terrible Terrace - After a couple with a leaky terrace fought their home builder for two years without any avail, they called Mike Holmes to fix it once and for all.  Mike demolishes the existing terrace and rebuilds it with a water tight membrane and new decking.
Drafty Ducting - In a brand new townhouse, Mike Holmes is called in to fix a ducting problem that the builder wouldn't.  Mike makes things right by busting open the walls, resealing the exposed joints and increasing the size of the main duct line.
Ramp Revamp - A couple hired a contractor to build a wheelchair accessible ramp, but the ramp was dangerous and not to code.  Mike Holmes arrives on site and rebuilds the ramp — the way it should have been done in the first place.
Flooded Foundation - After a young couple tries to fix their leaky foundation numerous times, Mike Holmes excavates the foundation and supervises the installation of a new rubber membrane — fixing the leak once and for all.
Garage Grievance - Mike Holmes is called in to replace a brand new garage that was poorly built.  Armed with new architectural plans, Mike and his team build a brand new studio garage from the foundation up.
Lamin-Ain't - When a contractor improperly installs laminate flooring in a basement, a homeowner is left with an unusable space and an empty wallet.  Mike Holmes steps in, tears up the floor and properly installs tile and carpet in its place.
Roof Goof - After struggling with leak after leak, a couple calls in Mike Holmes and his team to fix a poorly done flat roof.  Mike and his guys tear it off and start from scratch.
Floor Fiasco - Mike Holmes and his crew tear up a sloppily done front foyer floor and replace it with beautiful granite.
Doozy Jacuzzi - After a family gets a new jacuzzi installed in their basement that doesn't work, Mike Holmes arrives on site and quickly discovers the entire basement is a dangerous rat's nest of shoddy electrical work.  Mike guts the entire basement to make sure the job is done right.
Jacking the Box - A homeowner hired a contractor to pour a new foundation under her house, but the wall was too small for the size of the house and the job was left unfinished.  Mike Holmes arrives to shore up the owner's house and give her a safe, warm basement.
Access Denied - A couple hired a contractor to build a wheelchair-accessible addition for their six-year-old son with cerebral palsy, but it was riddled with errors.  Mike Holmes arrives on site and revamps the 260-square-foot (24 m2) addition from top to bottom.
No Grout About It - When a couple's tiles start to loosen and crack in their new home, Mike Holmes is called in and fixes the problem by reinforcing the floor joists and laying a brand new style of floor with a rock hard finish.
Hell's Kitchen - After a conflict with a contractor, a family was left with an unusable, barren kitchen for five months.  Mike Holmes and his crew undo the small amount of work that the contractor had done, and build a beautiful, functional kitchen.
Holmes for the Holidays - In this one-hour Christmas special, Mike Holmes comes to the aid of a family — swindled by a contractor and left to live in their basement underneath a gutted, unstable home.  Mike and his crew undertake the enormous task of finishing the whole house renovation in time for Christmas.

text: Season Three[edit]

text: The third season saw a move from a 30-minute format to a full-hour format partway through the season.

text:
Shower Stalled - What should have been a basic bathroom enlargement snowballs into disaster for a young couple seeking to spruce up their mid-century home.  Mike explains the importance of obtaining permits before any home renovation projects (they protect the home owner, not the contractor) and why no one should just build over top of old fixtures.
Cabinet Chaos - A "professional" cabinet and kitchen company does a very unprofessional job on a couple's home.  Not only that, due to improper safety measures on the site, the couple's son is poisoned (he survives).  They enlist Mike to testify in court on their behalf as well as salvage their wreck of a kitchen.
Cold Feet - New home construction with improper vapor barrier between the garage and the bedroom above. The team uses spray-foam as insulation.
Exit Wound - A walk-up stairwell is oozing water and has a dangerous tilt to it.  Mike digs up the whole thing only to discover that while the brickwork is beautiful, it isn't up to code.
All Decked Out - A "power of sale" house proves to be more than a homeowner bargained for, inheriting a mess of an addition that the previous owner built without a permit.  Mike volunteers to replace a rotted, poorly built double-deck and also finds an architect and contractor to fix the rest of the errors inside the house.
Step By Step - After a contractor poorly builds a staircase in their home, a couple turns to Mike who removes the old work and builds a new staircase.
Smoke and Mirrors - A poorly installed wood fireplace creates consternation for a family.  The Make It Right crew lend a hand in airing out the situation.
Wall of Shame - Mike and a team of masons replace a wobbly stone wall and flimsy fence with beautiful new cobblestone.
Drain Disdain - A botched attempt at adding a basement shower and a weight room leave a home owner incensed.  Mike steps in to correct the last contractor's well-meaning, yet amateur, efforts.
Twice Bitten - New parents try to put an addition on their mid-century home to create a nursery for their daughter.  After going through two shifty contractors and a lot of grief, they call in Mike to clean up the mess left by careless con artists.
Honeymoon Ensuite - A newlywed couple purchases a freshly remodeled home with a top-notch bathroom.  However, some alarming cracks in the wall, ceiling, and bathroom tile begin to appear.  The inspector deems these 'cosmetic', but it takes Mike and his crew to uncover the shoddy workmanship beneath a thousand-dollar finish.
Semi-Dilemma - Two families sharing a 110-year-old Victorian townhouse are experiencing issues with sagging front porches and drippy rain spouts.  Mike and co. replace the rotting wood and repair the roof and drains, ultimately performing more of a restoration than a renovation.
Wash & Weep -  An improperly installed laundry room has the washing machine cleaning the kitchen floor instead of the dirty clothes.  Mike unravels a plumbing tangle and also addresses some areas that the first two contractors ignored.
Holmes for the Holidays

text: Note: Holmes for the Holidays was filmed during the second production season, but is considered as part of the third airing season, although it is not included in HGTV's rotation due to it being a Christmas special. (Included on Season 2 DVD set)

text: Season Four[edit]

text:
Bungled Bungalow - A couple purchases a charming 1930s era cottage in which to enjoy their golden years.  Sadly, their attempts at renovating it leave them with empty wallets and a half-finished interior.  Mike and his crew step in and unify what turns out to be about four different additions from various decades.
Kitchen Coleslaw - A first-time home owner wants to update the kitchen in his 120-year-old Victorian townhouse.  When the contractor cuts and runs leaving a gutted downstairs and a hazardous mess of plumbing and wiring, Mike and co. end up tearing out the floor as well as the walls to make it right.
Bar None - A young couple want to add a bar and entertainment area to their finished basement.  In a refreshing turn for the unusual, Mike deems the previous contractor's work "not bad" if only about 40% complete.  With fewer headaches than usual to deal with, Mike and the crew put extra care into creating the perfect pub.
Two Steps Back
Window Un-Well (a.k.a. Window Well to Hell) - Homeowner hired contractor to finish basement and install larger windows to make a living space for her daughter and grandchildren. After reaching the end of her rope and running out of money she fired the contractor. When she noticed the window wells filling with water she called Mike. Along with no provision for drainage he noticed that they had not installed proper lintels above the window to support the brick. Once inside he noticed signs of poor workmanship in the basement finishing. Pulling some drywall for further inspection found improper construction, insulation, electrical and plumbing. Mike tore it all down and rebuilt the basement, plus corrected the windows.
A River Ran Through It - Homeowners attempt to solve the problem of their mid-century home's leaky roof by adding a second story addition.  However, the contractor does little to fix the lingering damage from the roof leaks and eventually skips out with the work only half-finished.  Mike and the crew assist in correcting old mistakes and finishing the work left undone.
Best Laid Plans - A wooden kitchen floor was replaced several times due to water damage.  Mike calls in several experts to determine the source.
Sunnyside Down - After a homeowner mistakenly hires an inexperienced designer-contractor to renovate a sunroom and bathroom, a leak left in the roof results in her grandson slipping and getting hurt badly. Enraged at the accident and how poorly the job was going, she fires the contractor and calls in Mike Holmes to make things right. The lesson? An interior designer is not a renovator.
This Mould House - A young family is plagued with coughs and colds as well as leaks due to improperly installed windows.  Mike stresses the dangers of mould, the importance of filter masks, and when to seek out a professional.
Hullaba Loo - A woman hires a bathroom specialist company to renovate her bathroom. She finds the work is sub-standard and, when she withholds final payment pending completion of the work, the company sues her for the balance.
Unfinished Business - A family acts as their own contractor in order to build a second floor addition to their house. Everything goes well until they hire the final contractor to do the insulation and finishing work.
House to Home (Two 1-hour parts) - After re-mortgaging their home to add a wheelchair accessible addition for their disabled son, a couple is confronted with improper work and a crumbling foundation. In part one of this two-part season finale, Mike Holmes comes to the aid of a family in dire straits and begins one of the toughest and biggest jobs of his contracting career.

text: Season Five[edit]

text: The fifth season saw an overall change in look, due to increased production values (the filming crew, unlike the first four seasons, were equipped with widescreen high-definition cameras, although the show continues to air in standard-definition on HGTV).  The season also saw the Holmes crew expand from a few experienced contractors to encompassing younger apprentices as well.

text:
O-fence-ive - A fencing contractor rips off 52 families in a new housing development. Mike and crew bring the neighborhood together.
House Arrest - A planned 3-month renovation becomes a year-and-a-half nightmare.  Mike and crew come to the rescue.
Falling Flat - A photographer's backyard studio is plagued with a leaking flat roof after a prolonged build.
Bargain Basement - Mike and crew discover major flaws in a remodeled basement, tear it all out, and make it right.
For Annie - The Holmes Crew arrive to finish a renovation intended for their now-deceased daughter.
Ceiling the Deal - Mike arrives to investigate a job by web-based "basement specialists" who claimed to work for him. During the inspection, with one hand he pulls down a 150-pound ceiling bulkhead secured with a few screws. The team gut, redesign and build a whole new multi-purpose basement.
Out of the Ashes (Two 1-hour parts) - A previous contractor hired by the homeowners insurance company to repair the home after an electrical fire leaves behind incomplete and substandard work.  Mike and crew arrive and, after completely gutting the home, find they must remove asbestos insulation from the basement and do a full toxic-waste remediation caused by leakage from a heating-oil tank left buried in the back yard.
Taking a Bath - The Holmes crew investigates why a pair of homeowners had their bathtubs in their bathrooms replaced three times in quick succession, causing a large mould buildup.
Showing the Cracks - The elderly homeowner called in a trusted contractor to lay a new ceramic tile floor. When the tiles start cracking down the middle in straight lines, Mike and the crew strip it down to the sub-floor and build a new kitchen 'from the ground up'.
Wall of Sound - The Holmes crew investigates why the homeowners could hear their neighbors from across the common wall of a new semi-detached house.  It's discovered that there was a walkway in that shared wall, initially for construction purposes only, which was improperly sealed off and would have been a major fire hazard. Mike also discovers that the insulation in the garage is improperly installed.
What a Mesh - The contractor’s initial work was up to standard, although using old methods. However, the task of tiling the entire ground floor overwhelmed him, and the standard deteriorated until he quit. Mike is impressed with the tile company (and their delivery vehicle) when they invite him to redo the whole job with products they offer to donate, if he applies them using the correct methods.
Holmes Inspection (Two 1-hour parts) - Homeowners learn the value of doing your homework and verifying the credentials of a home inspector.  Having been told that their 1940s-era home was "fine" in all respects, they move in only to encounter problem after problem.  Mike spots nearly all the glaringly obvious issues immediately and brings in his crew to fix what turns into a gigantic electrical/plumbing/HVAC nightmare created by previous attempts at renovation.  Among other things, the crew discovers tree roots in the clay basement pipes, a laundry room full of mould, carpenter ants, and an electrical fire that fortunately burned itself out without igniting anything else.  One interesting surprise is the discovery of an old and extremely well-constructed well buried in the front yard.

text: Season Six[edit]

text: Note: The last four episodes of the fifth production season were aired as part of the sixth airing season on HGTV Canada.

text:
Shaky Foundation - In the sixth season debut, Mike and crew arrive at a new home at which the homeowners had discovered that the foundation concrete was woefully weak — as little as one-third of the minimum code requirement — and which had slipped past the building inspectors, who had only compared the weak foundation wall concrete to that of the foundation floor (without considering that the floor may have also been weak).
Let's Rejoist - In this episode, featuring guest crew member Jordan MacNab, the winner of the first Handyman Superstar Challenge (for which Mike was a judge), Mike comes to the assistance of a homeowner who had discovered a small water stain in their ceiling below an upstairs balcony.  After the homeowner hired a roofer to investigate, the roofer discovered that the joists holding the balcony up had completely rotted through, and was forced to abort any roof repair.  Finding no other local contractors willing to undertake the challenge of replacing these joists in addition to fixing the original problem, Mike and his crew step up to the plate and make things right.
Completely Incomplete - Mike Holmes arrives to a second-story addition that was claimed by the original contractor to be "99% complete", and had liened the property when the homeowners refused to pay in full before the project was complete.  However, what he discovers is that the "99% complete" assertion was more like a 99% fabrication.
Stone Walled - Mike Holmes arrives to a home in which the homeowners had removed a retaining wall in their backyard because it needed replacement.  Unfortunately, the original contractor had left much of the material ordered unused, and had done a subpar job in building the new wall from cinderblocks meant for the foundation of a house — which was completely inappropriate given the size of the wall needed.  As the original contractor stopped showing up at the home and became difficult to reach, the concerned homeowners even inquired as to whether the contractor had been injured at another site, and only realized that they had been victimized when a bill for the unused material had shown up at their door.
Gone to Pot - Mike Holmes comes to the aid of a homeowner who had rented out a house to tenants — only for the Ontario Provincial Police to inform her that her house had been transformed into a marijuana grow-op.  Mike enters the picture after the police had left, and is faced with restoring the damage done to the home largely due to mould but also due to the grower's modifications. The work requires replacing most drywall, most electrical, the kitchen and three bathrooms to turn it back into a comfortable living space again.
Pasadena 911 - In this two-hour special episode, Mike Holmes, after appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, learns of the plight of two homeowners whose "dream house" renovation had gone horribly wrong (having spent 90% of their money but only having 30% of the work done before the original contractor had apparently abandoned the job) and travels to Pasadena, California to make it right.  The renovation effort is spearheaded by Los Angeles-area general contractor James Cowan and foreman Christopher Chico instead of the regular crew (who were in the process of filming the remaining episodes of the season), and only Holmes and senior contractor Damon Bennett (both of whom had to fly regularly between Toronto and Los Angeles) from the regular crew appear in this episode. Even though only Mike Holmes and Damon Bennett were the only regular crew members to appear in this episode. One of his Subtrades the painter that has known him for a long time, Craig Lowe and has worked with Mike for a long time, he happened to be on vacation and came into help paint the house. He was the only subtrade that Mike knew who appeared in this episode.
Lack of Truss - In this episode, which was also featured on Marketplace six months before it first aired, Mike and his crew visit homeowners who had asked for an additional bedroom, and were convinced by the original contractor that it could be done within the space of their attic.  Yet, to do so, the original contractor had removed much of the structural support in the attic, forcing Mike and crew to remove the roof entirely to rebuild the bedroom, raising the height of the house in the process.
Clean Slate - Mike and crew arrive at a century-old house whose bathroom had recently undergone an expensive renovation (complete with slate tiles), but had problems with water seeping through the grout and the fact that the shower did not drain properly.  Upon taking the bathroom apart, he discovers the extent of the damage: leaking water had pooled two inches deep under the shower.
Due Date - Mike and crew help out a family whose basement renovation (the first step in a long line of house remodeling jobs) was carefully planned around expecting the birth of a child, but had been delayed by the original contractor for almost a year.  With the basement nowhere near completion despite a massive cost overrun and in the middle of a time crunch (due to the baby), the homeowners turn to Mike to help them complete their basement.
Frozen Assets - Mike and crew arrive at a new home development that has been plagued with heating and plumbing issues caused by faulty design, leading to the front porch collapsing.  They discover that (design issues aside) while the builders had tried to make the home safe and livable, several glaring mistakes had ultimately caused these problems.
Country Kitchen (a.k.a. Nashville Kitchen) - Mike and crew arrive at a 25-year-old townhouse, where the homeowners had undertaken a kitchen renovation, but ended up with a very small and virtually unusable kitchen.  Country singer Charlie Major, a family friend of the homeowners, guest stars.
Third Time Lucky - Mike and crew visit the home of a wheelchair-using woman, who had been living without a bathroom in her apartment for the better part of two years.  The homeowner had hired two previous contractors — the first was dismissed because of a lack of skill, the second because communications had broken down.  The Holmes crew not only try to make her now-gutted bathroom wheelchair-accessible, but also, after seeing the various injuries she had from bumping around on her wheelchair in her apartment, attempted to remodel the rest of her apartment for wheelchair accessibility.

text: Season Seven[edit]

text: In a change from previous seasons, Mike travels across Canada to help homeowners in other parts of the country, although a number remain within Ontario.  Season seven is also notable for the formation of The Holmes Foundation, a charity organization affiliated with the show that promotes awareness of skilled trades (both to homeowners looking to hire them for renovations and to youth as a career choice), and its first project, the episode Lien on Me.  Season seven will also have a special "behind-the-scenes" episode.

text:
Hit the Deck - Mike and crew travel to Saint John, New Brunswick, to help a homeowner whose second-story deck had recently collapsed, injuring the homeowner and several friends.  Mike discovers the problem behind the collapse, and builds a replacement for the homeowner. Kevin Howe, the winner of the second Handyman Superstar Challenge, also has a small guest appearance in this episode.
Rocky Reno - The Holmes crew travel to Canmore, Alberta, to fix a front porch and entranceway that was part of an addition.  The homeowners became wary of the original contractor after their product started to substantially differ from the plans, and the contractor demanded the completion payment well before the job was complete.
Paradise Island - In Northern Ontario, Mike comes to the aid of a homeowner who had a serious injury in her cottage on an island, prompting the need of a bathroom renovation with shower bars to help her move in and out of her shower. However, the original contractor, though meaning well, had also taken the opportunity to treat the job as if it were a vacation, taking a month to do a four-day job, while leaving serious water issues untouched.  Mike comes to the rescue by helping her relocate a hot water heater originally in the exterior of the cottage, while redoing the bathroom and the entrance ramp, as he discovers that the rails are installed on the wrong side (and the more dangerous side remains exposed) - all while noting that, because of their location on an island, any missing supplies will take 30 minutes to recover from their truck at shore, and a trip to the store could take up to three hours.
Lien on Me - In this two-hour special episode, Mike deals with a couple who had a "friend" do an addition.  Although the work was originally estimated to cost just over $200,000, the "friend" later put a lien on the house for more than $500,000 and took the owners of the house to court. Mike and the crew take the house down brick by brick and stud by stud to save the family from shoddy work done under the previous contract, then design an eco-friendly home and construct it on the site. This episode is notable for employing over 100 companies and 30 months of construction work (demolition having started sometime in Season 5, and construction during Season 6) - to date the most extensive work on the show, in terms of materials, manpower, and time. The Lien on Me episodes are the ones that are shown the least on TV and are very hard to find anywhere. Almost any other Holmes on Homes Episode is aired on a regular basis
Brick-A-Brack - When Mike seemingly comes on the job for exterior work only (later found to have been caused by a humidifier which had been running continuously), they discover that the homeowners' possessions, which were piled from floor to ceiling, are preventing them from doing a full basement inspection.  The Holmes crew not only repairs the exterior issue, but also helps the homeowners to sort and throw out their unnecessary possessions.
Re-Inventing - The Holmes Crew inspects a house that has had intermittent heating issues in the six years since it was built, yet had gone unaddressed by the builder or Ontario's New Home Warranty Program (due to a series of bureaucratic issues and "band-aid" remedies). The problem was discovered to have been caused in part by alterations to the design of the house having been done without necessary matching alterations to the HVAC system, thus forcing Holmes and his crew to completely replace the HVAC, hot water, and electrical systems.
Behind the Scenes - In this special episode, the Holmes crew (both construction and production) reveal the behind the scenes work during the filming from the seventh season, including the process from viewer submission to filming, how three or four episodes are produced at the same time, and the logistical issues with having a camera crew and a construction crew trying to work over each other.  The episode includes behind-the-scenes footage from Additional Grief, Country Kitchen, Paradise Island, Lien on Me, and an upcoming episode titled Blind Faith, as well as a Maxwell House commercial and Mike's interview on 20/20.  It also explores the origins of the series and how the Holmes Foundation was founded, as well as providing some insight into the Holmes family (all three of Mike's children work on the show in some capacity).
Blind Faith - After winning a $15,000 bathroom renovation from a church auction, the homeowners discover that the contractor behind the renovation prize had spent another $15,000 with only a rough-in to show for the $30,000 worth of work.  The Holmes Crew arrives to fix the bathroom.
Kitchen Knockout - George Chuvalo, former heavyweight boxer, finds himself the victim of a disreputable contractor.  When the situation was brought to Mike Holmes' attention, he felt honored to help out his boyhood hero.
Pane in the Glass - The homeowners call in the Holmes Crew to fix a bay window.  The original contractor's work, involving replacing a regular window with a bay window without supporting structure, were captured on tape by a neighbor's home security system cameras.
Gut Ache - The Holmes Crew arrive to help a homeowner with a kitchen renovation — the previous renovators had specialized in finishing work (such as cabinets), but had not addressed any of the underlying problems at all.
A Different Slant - The Holmes Crew address a couple who every year has snow accumulating in their attic — so much that they are forced to shovel it all into plastic bags.
Rock Bottom - The Holmes Crew address a custom-built home, whose brand-new components are beginning to show signs of deterioration. Footage from this episode was also featured on CBC Marketplace in 2009, where two other homes built by the same builder were investigated.
Capital Offense (a.k.a. Bath Reno Gone Wrong) - The Holmes Crew travel to Ottawa, Ontario to help two of the show's biggest fans, who, despite having heeded Mike's advice and researched meticulously, nevertheless find that their bathroom renovation has gone awry.

text: Best of Holmes on Homes[edit]

text: Best of Holmes on Homes is a 2012 remix TV series featuring clips from Holmes on Homes, brought together on a common theme, to illustrate home problems. Mike Holmes narrates the show.[4]


document_title: Outhouse

question_text: why is there a moon on the outhouse door

text: Outhouse

text: Design aspects[edit]

text: Common features[edit]

text: Outhouses vary in design and construction. They are by definition outside the dwelling, and are not connected to plumbing, sewer, or septic system. The World Health Organization recommends they be built a reasonable distance from the house balancing issues of easy access versus that of smell.[1]

text: The superstructure exists to shelter the user, and also to protect the toilet itself. The primary purpose of the building is for privacy and human comfort, and the walls and roof provide a visual screen and some protection from the elements. The outhouse also has the secondary role of protecting the toilet hole from sudden influxes of rainwater, which would flood the hole and flush untreated wastes into the underlying soils before they can decompose.[citation needed]

text: Outhouses are commonly humble and utilitarian, made of lumber or plywood. This is especially so they can easily be moved when the earthen pit fills up. Depending on the size of the pit and the amount of use, this can be fairly frequent, sometimes yearly. As pundit "Jackpine" Bob Cary wrote: "Anyone can build an outhouse, but not everyone can build a good outhouse."[2] Floor plans typically are rectangular or square, but hexagonal outhouses have been built.[3]

text: The arrangements inside the outhouse vary by culture. In Western societies, many, though not all, have at least one seat with a hole in it, above a small pit. Others, often in more rural, older areas in European countries, simply have a hole with two indents on either side for your feet. In Eastern societies, there is a hole in the floor, over which the user crouches. A roll of toilet paper is usually available. Old corn cobs, leaves, or other types of paper may instead be used.

text: The decoration on the outhouse door has no standard. The well-known crescent moon on American outhouses was popularized by cartoonists and had a questionable basis in fact. There are authors who claim the practice began during the colonial period as an early "mens"/"ladies" designation for an illiterate populace (the sun and moon being popular symbols for the sexes during those times).[4] Others dismiss the claim as an urban legend.[A] What is certain is that the purpose of the hole is for venting and light and there were a wide variety of shapes and placements employed.

text: Toilet types covered by outhouse shelters[edit]

text: The shelter may cover very different sorts of toilets.

text: Pit latrines[edit]

text: An outhouse often provides the shelter for a pit latrine, which collects human feces in a hole in the ground. When properly built and maintained they can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the amount of human feces in the environment from open defecation.[6]  When the pit fills to the top, it should be either emptied or a new pit constructed and the shelter moved or re-built at the new location.[7] The management of the fecal sludge removed from the pit is complicated. There are both environment and health risks if not done properly. As of 2013 pit latrines are used by an estimated 1.77 billion people.[8] This is mostly in the developing world as well as in rural and wilderness areas.

text: Bucket toilet[edit]

text: Another system is the bucket toilet, consisting of a seat and a portable receptacle (bucket or pail). These may be emptied by their owners into composting piles in the garden (a low-tech composting toilet), or collected by contractors for larger-scale disposal. Historically, this was known as the pail closet; the municipality employed workers, often known as "nightmen" (from night soil), to empty and replace the buckets. This system was associated in particular with the English town of Rochdale, to the extent that it was described as the "Rochdale System" of sanitation.[9][10] 20th century books report that similar systems were in operation in parts of France and elsewhere in continental Europe.[9]

text: The system of municipal collection was widespread in Australia; "dunny cans" persisted well into the second half of the twentieth century,[11] see below. In Scandinavia and some other countries, outhouses are built over removable containers that enable easy removal of the waste and enable much more rapid composting in separate piles.[citation needed] A similar system operates in India, where hundreds of thousands of workers engage in manual scavenging, i.e. emptying pit latrines and bucket toilets without any personal protective equipment.[12][13][14]

text: Drums and barrels in national parks[edit]

text: A variety of systems are used in some national parks and popular wilderness areas, to cope with the increased volume of people engaged in activities such as mountaineering and kayaking. The growing popularity of paddling, hiking, and climbing has created special waste disposal issues throughout the world. It is a dominant topic for outdoor organizations and their members.[15] For example, in some places the human waste is collected in drums which need to be helicoptered in and out at considerable expense.

text: Alternatively, some parks mandate a "pack it in, pack it out" rule. Many reports document the use of containers for the removal of excrement, which must be packed in and packed out on Mount Everest. Also known as "expedition barrels"[16] or "bog barrels",[17] the cans are weighed to make sure that groups do not dump them along the way.[18] "Toilet tents" are erected.[19][20] There has been an increasing awareness that the mountain needs to be kept clean, for the health of the climbers at least.[16]

text: Composting toilets[edit]

text: Worm hold privies, another variant of the composting toilet, are being used by Vermont's Green Mountain Club. These simple outhouses are stocked with red worms (a staple used by home composters).[15] Despite their environmental benefits, composting toilets are likewise subject to regulations.[21]

text: The "Clivus Multrum" is another type of composting toilet which can be inside of an outhouse.

text: Others[edit]

text: There are other types of toilet that may be covered by an outhouse superstructure, or a toilet tent (e.g. in humanitarian relief operations), or even be installed inside a house that is beyond the reach of sewers. The Swedish Pacto toilet uses a continuous roll of plastic to collect and dispose of waste.[22] Incinerating toilets are installed in several thousand cabins in Norway.[23] These toilets incinerate waste into ashes, using only propane and 12 volt electricity.

text: Public health issues[edit]

text: Outhouse design, placement, and maintenance has long been recognized as being important to the public health. See posters created by the Works Progress Administration.[24]

text: Insect control[edit]

text: Some types of flying insects such as the housefly are attracted to the odor of decaying material, and will use it for food for their offspring, laying eggs in the decaying material. Other insects such as mosquitoes seek out standing water that may be present in the pit for the breeding of their offspring.[citation needed]

text: Both of these are undesirable pests to humans, but can be easily controlled without chemicals by enclosing the top of the pit with tight-fitting boards or concrete, using a sufficiently sealed toilet hole cover that is closed after every use, and by using fine-grid insect screen to cover the inlet and outlet vent holes. This prevents flying insect entry by all potential routes.[citation needed]

text: It is common (at least in the United States) for outhouses to have a bucket or a bag of powdered lime with a scoop of some kind in it. Either before or after using the outhouse (usually after but sometimes both) a scoop or two of lime was sprinkled into the lid holes to cover the waste as to suppress the odor which also can help with the insect issues. This method of using powdered lime was also used (and for the same reasons) in common/mass graves.

text: Parasites[edit]

text: One of the purposes of outhouses is to avoid spreading parasites such as intestinal worms, notably hookworms, which might otherwise be spread via open defecation.

text: Uses[edit]

text: Outhouses on mountain peaks[edit]

text:
On August 29, 2007, the highest outhouse (actually, not a building at all, but a pit toilet surrounded by a low rock wall) in the continental United States, which sat atop Mount Whitney at about 14,494 feet (4,418 m) above sea level, offering a magnificent panorama to the user, was removed. Two other outhouses, in the Inyo National Forest, were closed due to the expense and danger involved in transporting out large sewage drums via helicopter. The annual 19,000 or so hikers of the Mount Whitney Trail, who must pick up National Forest Service permits, are now given Wagbags (a double-sealed sanitation kit) and told how to use them. "Pack it in; pack it out" is the new watchword.[25] Solar-powered toilets did not sufficiently compact the excrement, and the systems were judged failures at that location. Additionally, by relieving park rangers of latrine duty, they were better able to concentrate on primary ranger duties such as talking to hikers.[26] The use of Wagbags and the removal of outhouses is part of a larger trend in US parks.[25] The US National Park Service once built an outhouse that cost above $333,000.[27]
In 2007, Europe's two highest outhouses were helicoptered to the top of France's Mont Blanc at a height of 4,260 metres (13,980 ft). The containers from these outhouses are emptied by helicopter. The facilities will serve 30,000 skiers and hikers annually, thus helping to alleviate the deposit of urine and feces that spread down the mountain face with the spring thaw, and turned it into 'Mont Noir'.[28] More technically, the 2002 book Le versant noir du mont Blanc ("The black hillside of Mont Blanc") exposes problems in conserving the site.[29]
Upon the 5,642-metre (18,510 ft) Mount Elbrus—Russia's highest peak, the highest mountain in all of Europe and topographically dividing Europe from Asia—sits the world's "nastiest outhouse" at 4,206 metres (13,799 ft). It is in the Caucasus Mountains, near the frontier between Georgia and Russia. As one writer opined, "...it does not much feel like Europe when you're there. It feels more like Central Asia or the Middle East."[30][31] The outhouse is surrounded by and covered in ice, perched off the end of a rock, and with a pipe pouring effluvia onto the mountain. It consistently receives low marks for sanitation and convenience, but is considered to be a unique experience.[32]
Australia's highest outhouse — located at Rawson's Pass in the Main Range in Kosciuszko National Park, which each year receives more than 100,000 walkers outside of winter and has a serious human waste management issue, was completed in 2008.[33]
A stone outhouse in Colca Canyon, Peru, has been claimed to be "the world's highest".[34]

text: History[edit]

text: Old outhouse pits are seen as excellent places for archeological and anthropological excavations, offering up a trove of common objects from the past—a veritable inadvertent time capsule—which yields historical insight into the lives of the bygone occupants. This is also called privy digging. It is especially common to find old bottles, which seemingly were secretly stashed or trashed, so their content could be privately imbibed.[35][36][37] Fossilised feces (coprolites) yield much information about diet and health.

text: Australia and New Zealand[edit]

text: "Dunny" or "dunny can" are Australian and New Zealand words for a toilet, particularly an outhouse. For other uses of the word, see Dunny (disambiguation).

text: In suburban areas not connected to the sewerage, outhouses were not always built over pits. Instead, these areas utilized a pail closet, where waste was collected into large cans positioned under the toilet seat, to be collected by contractors (or night soil collectors) hired by property owners or the local council. The used cans were replaced with empty, cleaned cans. Brisbane relied on "dunny carts" until the 1950s (one source says until the 1970s[11][38]); because the population was so dispersed, it was difficult to install sewerage.[39] Tar, creosote, and disinfectant kept the smell down.[40] Academic George Seddon claimed that "the typical Australian back yard in the cities and country towns" had, throughout the first half of the twentieth century, "a dunny against the back fence, so that the pan could be collected from the dunny lane through a trap-door"[41] The person who appeared weekly to empty the buckets beneath the seats was known as the "dunnyman", see gong farmer.

text: The "dunny lanes" provided access to collectors. These access lanes can now be worth considerable sums[42] see Ransom strip.

text: The Great Australian Dunny Race has become an icon during the Weerama Festival at Werribee.[43]

text: Denmark[edit]

text: The remains of a thousand year old Viking outhouse were discovered in 2017.  This is the oldest known outhouse in the country, even though evidence cannot establish it to be "the first."   This discovery was considered to be culturally significant.[B]

text: United States[edit]

text: Outhouses are typically built on one level, but two-story models are to be found in unusual circumstances. One double-decker was built to serve a two-story building in Cedar Lake, Michigan. The outhouse was connected by walkways. It still stands (but not the building).[C] The waste from "upstairs" is directed down a chute separate from the "downstairs" facility in these instances, so contrary to various jokes about two-story outhouses, the user of the lower level has nothing to fear if the upper level is in use at the same time. The Boston Exchange Coffee House (1809–1818) was equipped with a four-story outhouse[46] with windows on each floor[47]

text: Some outhouses were built surprisingly ornately, considering the time and the place.[48] For example, an opulent 19th century antebellum example (a three-holer) is at the plantation area at the state park in Stone Mountain, Georgia.[49] The outhouses of Colonial Williamsburg varied widely, from simple expendable temporary wood structures to high-style brick.[50] Thomas Jefferson designed and had built two brick octagons at his vacation home.[50] Such outhouses are sometimes considered to be overbuilt, impractical and ostentatious, giving rise to the simile "built like a brick shithouse." That phrase's meaning and application is subject to some debate; but (depending upon the country) it has been applied to men, women, or inanimate objects.

text: With regards to anal cleansing, old newspapers and mail order catalogs, such as those from Montgomery Ward or Sears Roebuck, were common before toilet paper was widely available. Paper was often kept in a can or other container to protect it from mice, etc. The catalogs served a dual purpose, also giving one something to read.[51]

text: Names[edit]

text: These outdoor toilets are referred to by many terms throughout the English-speaking world.[D] It is not always easy to determine whether a given term was restricted to an outdoor toilet, or whether the meaning had extended, over time and with the development of indoor plumbing, to any toilet. The term "outhouse" is used in North American English for the structure over a toilet, usually a pit latrine ("long drop"). However, in British English "outhouse" means any outbuilding, such as a shed or barn.

text: "Privy", an archaic variant of "private", is used in North America, Scotland, and northern England. "Bog" is common throughout Britain (used to coin the neologism "tree bog"). In Australia and New Zealand, an outdoor toilet is known as a "dunny". The name "little house"[52] (as ty bach) continues as a euphemism for any toilet in both the Welsh language and the Welsh English dialect. Other terms include "back house", "house of ease", and "house of office". The last was common in 17th-century England and appeared in Samuel Pepys's Diary on numerous occasions.[54]

text: In the Scouting Movement in North America, a widespread term for outhouse is "kybo". This appears to have originated from camps which used Kybo brand coffee cans to hold lye or lime which was sprinkled down the hole to reduce odor. "Keep Your Bowels Open" may be a backronym.[55][56] Temporary encampments may use a tent or tarpaulin over a shallow pit; one name for this is a "hudo".

text: Society and culture[edit]

text: Mythology[edit]

text: Tsi-Ku, also known as Tsi Ku Niang, is described as the Chinese goddess of the outhouse and divination. It is said that a woman could uncover the future by going to the outhouse to ask Tsi-Ku.[57][58] See toilet god.

text: Regulations[edit]

text: United States[edit]

text: Construction and maintenance of outhouses in the US is subject to state and local governmental restriction, regulation and prohibition.[59] It is potentially both a public health issue, which has been addressed both by law and by education of the public as to good methods and practices (e.g., separation from drinking water sources). This also becomes a more prevalent issue as urban and suburban development encroaches on rural areas,[60] and is an external manifestation of a deeper cultural conflict.[61] See also urban sprawl, urban planning, regional planning, suburbanization, urbanization and counterurbanization.

text: Songs and stories[edit]

text:
The double-decker outhouse has been used as an unflattering metaphor for the "Trickle-down theory" of politics, economics, command, management, labor relations, responsibility, etc.[62][63] Depending on who is depicted on top and below, it is an easy and familiar cartoon.[64]
On November 10, 2003, a drawing of an outhouse was used by B.C. cartoonist Johnny Hart as a motif in a controversial and allegedly religiously-themed piece.[65] The cartoonist denied the allegations and the convoluted analysis of the alleged iconography of the cartoon.[citation needed]
Charles "Chic" Sale was a famous comedian in vaudeville and the movies. In 1929 he published a small book, The Specialist,[66] which was a hugely popular "underground" success. Its entire premise centered on sales of outhouses, touting the advantages of one kind or another, and labeling them in "technical" terms such as "one-holers", "two-holers", etc. Over a million copies were sold. In 1931 his monologue "I'm a Specialist"[67] was made into a hit record (Victor 22859) by popular recording artist Frank Crumit (music by Nels Bitterman). As memorialized in the "Outhouse Wall of Fame",[68] the term "Chic Sale" became a rural slang synonym for privies, an appropriation of Mr. Sale's name that he personally considered unfortunate. (See Outhouse humor.)
Folk singer Billy Edd Wheeler wrote and performed a song titled "The Little Brown Shack Out Back", a sentimental look at the outhouse.[69]
In Newfoundland, a well-known song entitled "Good Old Newfie Outhouse" sings the praises of using the outhouse when it is -25 degrees out, mentioning pleasures like pants being frozen in position at the knees. A version by singer Bobby Evans is available on an album called Silly Songs on iTunes.[70]

text: Races and pranks[edit]

text:
In Michigan, the Upper Peninsula's Trenary has the largest outhouse race,[71][72] but Mackinaw City is home to an annual and largest "outhouse race south of the Mackinac Bridge".[73] Other famous outhouse races are during the Yale Bologna Festival and in Dawson City, Yukon.
As a college student, Richard Nixon achieved renown by providing a three-hole outhouse to be tossed onto the traditional campus bonfire.[74]

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
An outhouse display in an Old West setting on a Colorado ranch

Outhouse used in the 19th century: Manistee Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, US

Outhouse used in the 19th century: Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, US

Triple-seated outhouse, Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia

Outhouse at Walcha, New South Wales, Australia


document_title: Lord of the Flies

question_text: what was the monster in lord of the flies

text: Lord of the Flies

text: Background

text: Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies was Golding's first novel. Although it was not a great success at the time—selling fewer than three thousand copies in the United States during 1955 before going out of print—it soon went on to become a best-seller. It has been adapted to film twice in English, in 1963 by Peter Brook and 1990 by Harry Hook, and once in Filipino (1975).

text: The book takes place in the midst of an unspecified war.[2] Some of the marooned characters are ordinary students, while others arrive as a musical choir under an established leader. With the exception of the choirboys, Sam, and Eric, they appear never to have encountered each other before. The book portrays their descent into savagery; left to themselves on a paradisiacal island, far from modern civilization, the well-educated children regress to a primitive state.

text: Golding wrote his book as a counterpoint to R.M. Ballantyne's youth novel The Coral Island (1858),[3] and included specific references to it, such as the rescuing naval officer's description of the children's pursuit of Ralph as "a jolly good show, like the Coral Island".[4] Golding's three central characters—Ralph, Piggy and Jack—have been interpreted as caricatures of Ballantyne's Coral Island protagonists.[5]

text: Plot

text: In the midst of a wartime evacuation, a British aeroplane crashes on or near an isolated island in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors are boys in their middle childhood or preadolescence. Two boys—the fair-haired Ralph and an overweight, bespectacled boy nicknamed "Piggy"—find a conch, which Ralph uses as a horn to convene all the survivors to one area. Ralph is optimistic, believing that grown-ups will come to rescue them but Piggy realizes the need to organize: ("put first things first and act proper"). Because Ralph appears responsible for bringing all the survivors together, he immediately commands some authority over the other boys and is quickly elected their "chief". He does not receive the votes of the members of a boys' choir, led by the red-headed Jack Merridew, although he allows the choir boys to form a separate clique of hunters. Ralph establishes three primary policies: to have fun, to survive, and to constantly maintain a smoke signal that could alert passing ships to their presence on the island and thus rescue them. The boys establish a form of democracy by declaring that whoever holds the conch shall also be able to speak at their formal gatherings and receive the attentive silence of the larger group.

text: Jack organises his choir into a hunting party responsible for discovering a food source. Ralph, Jack, and a quiet, dreamy boy named Simon soon form a loose triumvirate of leaders with Ralph as the ultimate authority. Upon inspection of the island, the three determine that it has fruit and wild pigs for food. The boys also use Piggy's spectacles to create a fire. Though he is Ralph's only real confidant, Piggy is quickly made into an outcast by his fellow "biguns" (older boys) and becomes an unwilling source of laughs for the other children while being hated by Jack. Simon, in addition to supervising the project of constructing shelters, feels an instinctive need to protect the "littluns" (younger boys).

text: The semblance of order quickly deteriorates as the majority of the boys turn idle; they give little aid in building shelters, spend their time having fun and begin to develop paranoias about the island. The central paranoia refers to a supposed monster they call the "beast", which they all slowly begin to believe exists on the island. Ralph insists that no such beast exists, but Jack, who has started a power struggle with Ralph, gains a level of control over the group by boldly promising to kill the creature. At one point, Jack summons all of his hunters to hunt down a wild pig, drawing away those assigned to maintain the signal fire. A ship travels by the island, but without the boys' smoke signal to alert the ship's crew, the vessel continues without stopping. Ralph angrily confronts Jack about his failure to maintain the signal; in frustration Jack assaults Piggy, breaking his glasses. The boys subsequently enjoy their first feast. Angered by the failure of the boys to attract potential rescuers, Ralph considers relinquishing his position as leader, but is convinced not to do so by Piggy, who both understands Ralph's importance and deeply fears what will become of him should Jack take total control.

text: One night, an aerial battle occurs near the island while the boys sleep, during which a fighter pilot ejects from his plane and dies in the descent. His body drifts down to the island in his parachute; both get tangled in a tree near the top of the mountain. Later on, while Jack continues to scheme against Ralph, the twins Sam and Eric, now assigned to the maintenance of the signal fire, see the corpse of the fighter pilot and his parachute in the dark. Mistaking the corpse for the beast, they run to the cluster of shelters that Ralph and Simon have erected to warn the others. This unexpected meeting again raises tensions between Jack and Ralph. Shortly thereafter, Jack decides to lead a party to the other side of the island, where a mountain of stones, later called Castle Rock, forms a place where he claims the beast resides. Only Ralph and a quiet suspicious boy, Roger, Jack's closest supporter, agree to go; Ralph turns back shortly before the other two boys but eventually all three see the parachutist, whose head rises via the wind. They then flee, now believing the beast is truly real. When they arrive at the shelters, Jack calls an assembly and tries to turn the others against Ralph, asking them to remove Ralph from his position. Receiving no support, Jack storms off alone to form his own tribe. Roger immediately sneaks off to join Jack, and slowly an increasing amount of older boys abandon Ralph to join Jack's tribe. Jack's tribe continues to lure recruits from the main group by promising feasts of cooked pig. The members begin to paint their faces and enact bizarre rites, including sacrifices to the beast. One night, Ralph and Piggy decide to go to one of Jack's feasts.

text: Simon, who faints frequently and is likely an epileptic,[6][7] has a secret hideaway where he goes to be alone. One day while he is there, Jack and his followers erect a faux sacrifice to the beast nearby: a pig's head, mounted on a sharpened stick and soon swarming with scavenging flies. Simon conducts an imaginary dialogue with the head, which he dubs the "Lord of the Flies". The head mocks Simon's notion that the beast is a real entity, "something you could hunt and kill", and reveals the truth: they, the boys, are the beast; it is inside them all. The Lord of the Flies also warns Simon that he is in danger, because he represents the soul of man, and predicts that the others will kill him. Simon climbs the mountain alone and discovers that the "beast" is the dead parachutist. He rushes down to tell the other boys, who are engaged in a ritual dance. The frenzied boys mistake Simon for the beast, attack him, and beat him to death. Both Ralph and Piggy participate in the melee, and they become deeply disturbed by their actions after returning from Castle Rock.

text: Jack and his rebel band decide that the real symbol of power on the island is not the conch, but Piggy's glasses—the only means the boys have of starting a fire. They raid Ralph's camp, confiscate the glasses, and return to their abode on Castle Rock. Ralph, now deserted by most of his supporters, journeys to Castle Rock to confront Jack and secure the glasses. Taking the conch and accompanied only by Piggy, Sam, and Eric, Ralph finds the tribe and demands that they return the valuable object. Confirming their total rejection of Ralph's authority, the tribe capture and bind the twins under Jack's command. Ralph and Jack engage in a fight which neither wins before Piggy tries once more to address the tribe. Any sense of order or safety is permanently eroded when Roger, now sadistic, deliberately drops a boulder from his vantage point above, killing Piggy and shattering the conch. Ralph manages to escape, but Sam and Eric are tortured by Roger until they agree to join Jack's tribe.

text: Ralph secretly confronts Sam and Eric, who warn him that Jack and Roger hate him and that Roger has sharpened a stick at both ends, implying the tribe intends to hunt him like a pig and behead him. The following morning, Jack orders his tribe to begin a hunt for Ralph. Jack's savages set fire to the forest while Ralph desperately weighs his options for survival. Following a long chase, most of the island is consumed in flames. With the hunters closely behind him, Ralph trips and falls. He looks up at a uniformed adult—a British naval officer whose party has landed from a passing warship to investigate the fire. Ralph bursts into tears over the death of Piggy and the "end of innocence". Jack and the other children, filthy and unkempt, also revert to their true ages and erupt into sobs. The officer expresses his disappointment at seeing British boys exhibiting such feral, warlike behaviour before turning to stare awkwardly at his own warship.

text: Themes

text: At an allegorical level, the central theme is the conflicting human impulses toward civilization and social organization—living by rules, peacefully and in harmony—and toward the will to power. Themes include the tension between groupthink and individuality, between rational and emotional reactions, and between morality and immorality. How these play out, and how different people feel the influences of these form a major subtext of Lord of the Flies.[citation needed] The name "Lord of the Flies" is a literal translation of Beelzebub, from 2 Kings 1:2–3, 6, 16.

text: Reception

text:
Its stances on the already controversial subjects of human nature and individual welfare versus the common good earned it position 68 on the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1900–1999.[8]
It was awarded a place on both lists of Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 41 on the editor's list, and 25 on the reader's list.
In 2003, the novel was listed at number 70 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.[9]
In 2005 the novel was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.[10]

text: In other media

text: Film

text: There have been three film adaptations based on the book:

text:
Lord of the Flies (1963), directed by Peter Brook
Alkitrang dugo (1975), a Filipino film, directed by Lupita A. Concio
Lord of the Flies (1990), directed by Harry Hook

text: A fourth adaptation, to feature an all-female cast, was announced by Warner Bros. in August 2017. Scott McGehee and David Siegel were slated to write and direct.[11]

text: Stage

text: Nigel Williams adapted the text for the stage. It was debuted by the Royal Shakespeare Company in July 1996. The Pilot Theatre Company has toured it extensively in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

text: In October 2014 it was announced that the 2011 production [12] of Lord of the Flies would return to conclude the 2015 season at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre ahead of a major UK tour. The production is to be directed by the Artistic Director Timothy Sheader who won the 2014 Whatsonstage.com Awards Best Play Revival for To Kill A Mockingbird.

text: Radio

text: In June 2013, BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast a dramatization by Judith Adams in four 30-minute episodes directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.[13] The cast included Ruth Wilson as "The Narrator", Finn Bennett as "Ralph", Richard Linnel as "Jack", Caspar Hilton-Hilley as "Piggy" and Jack Caine as "Simon".

text:
Fire on the Mountain
Painted Faces
Beast from the Air
Gift for Darkness

text: Influence

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2015)

tag: table

text: Many writers have borrowed plot elements from Lord of the Flies. By the early 1960s, it was required reading in many schools and colleges.[14]

text: Film

text: Stephen King's fictional town of Castle Rock, inspired by the fictional mountain fort of the same name in Lord of the Flies, in turn inspired the name of Rob Reiner's production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced the film Lord of the Flies (1990).[15]

text: Literature

text: Stephen King got the name Castle Rock from the fictional mountain fort of the same name in Lord of the Flies and used the name to refer to a fictional town that has appeared in a number of his novels.[16] The book itself appears prominently in his novels Hearts in Atlantis (1999), Misery (1987), and Cujo (1981).[17]

text: Stephen King wrote an introduction for a new edition of Lord of the Flies (2011) to mark the centenary of William Golding's birth in 2011.[15]

text: The novel Garden Lakes by Jaime Clarke is an homage to Lord of the Flies.

text: Music

text: The final song on U2's debut album Boy (1980) takes its title, "Shadows and Tall Trees", from Chapter 7 in the book.[18]

text: Iron Maiden wrote a song inspired by the book, included in their 1995 album The X Factor.[19]

text: Blues Traveler wrote a song called "Justify the Thrill", in which a small part of the lyrics are in reference to the book:[20]

text: "The pig's head on a stick does grin. As we teeter on the brink. He's singing you are all my children. My island's bigger than you think."

text: The Radiohead song "The Daily Mail" includes lyrics that make direct reference to the title of the novel.[21]