Dear Sun Spots: I was wondering if anyone knows of any top metal-detecting magazines that one could buy and that includes stories and tips on how and where to look? Secondly, what would be a good bottle magazine that one would be able to subscribe to? And lastly, does anyone know where I might find maps showing where old outhouses are located? Thanks and keep up the good work. – No Name, No Town.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, you might do a Google search for both these kinds of magazines to get your started on your research. Among the possibilities are, www.losttreasure.com, customer service 866-469-6224, all correspondence other than subscription or customer service write to Lost Treasure, Box 451589, Grove, OK 74345-1589. Subscriptions and/or Customer Service may be reached at Lost Treasure, P.O. Box 469091, Escondido, CA 92046.

And lastly, Sun Spots does not know where you would locate these maps. Hopefully readers might be able to assist you here.

In the meantime, Sun Spots thought you might get a kick out of some fun outhouse facts featured online at www.mainetoday.com and written by Portland Press Herald writer Tom Bell.

Bell’s 2002 Sunday article notes that the outhouse has been in a precipitous decline for more than a century, and the decline is accelerating, in Maine and across the United States.

Half the houses in the United States lacked plumbing in 1940, when the Census Bureau began keeping plumbing records. By 2000, only 0.64 percent of U.S. households did not have a flush toilet, a shower or bathtub, and hot and cold piped water.

In Maine, houses without plumbing are typically located in poor, rural communities, and islands with limited water supplies.

According to the census, 4,468 housing units in Maine lacked complete plumbing fixtures in 2000, putting the state near the top of the most-primitive list. Only Kentucky, West Virginia, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska had a greater percentage of homes without plumbing.

Outhouses come in a variety of architectural styles – one-holers, two-holers, even an eight-holer at a lumber camp near Allagash Lake. Double-decker outhouses were popular in places like Maine because, in deep snow, the second story still could be reached.

In the mid-1990s, the community of Pownal tore down a two-story outhouse attached to its town hall. It used the salvaged lumber to make Christmas tree ornaments and refrigerator magnets. Around the same time, the town of Poland tore down the two-story outhouse that had served municipal employees well since 1908. (The upper chamber was for women, and the lower for men).

In a two-story outhouse, for the uninitiated, the upper hole is offset from the lower hole so that the waste passes safely on the way down.

The humble outhouse now is drawing attention from folklorists and historians. At least one Maine outhouse, a double-decker connected to Bridgewater Town Hall in Aroostook County, has earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Archaeologists are digging up old privies to learn about the diets and habits of earlier generations.

Dear Sun Spots: I am trying to find a Michigan Rummy board card game put out by Milton Bradley. I have checked all of the stores in the Auburn Mall. If anyone has one they’re not using, I would like to purchase it.

Might you also please have a contact number or address for Milton Bradley? No Name, Jay.

Answer: The Milton Bradley Co. is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Mass., in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States and in 1987 it purchased Selchow and Righter, makers of Parcheesi and Scrabble. Milton Bradley was taken over by Hasbro Inc. in 1984. Now wholly owned by Hasbro, it is still retained as one of Hasbro’s brands, similar to the manner in which Parker Brothers is one of Hasbro’s brands. Contact Hasbro’s corporate offices at 1027 Newport Ave., Pawtucket, RI 02862-1059.

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