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PSAI Association Insight, September 1, 2021 I 3 Wooden Portable Restroom Units – A Long History (continued from page 2) (continued on page 4) When Bluett told this to star Clark Gable, he became enraged and called the film's director, Victor Fleming, telling him "If those signs don't come down, you don't have a Rhett Butler." Hence, the comparatively new concept of portable restrooms made the news sometime in 1938. Indications are that these units were wooden structures with removable chamber pots inside that were collected and disposed of in waste collection vessels. Elsewhere, portable outhouse-like struc- tures were being used for other pur- poses. Below is an innovative portable restroom from the 1930s. Units like this— basically, an outhouse on wheels with some sort of waste collection receptacle beneath—were used in large agricultural fields. The one pictured was found in Pennsylvania. Portable Sanitation After World War II Beginning in 1945, hundreds of thousands of troops returned home and the production of goods and services shifted from military to civilian requirements. New families began and a major housing boom created suburban areas through- out the country. Those wooden portable restrooms that were so convenient and sanitary on the naval shipyards could also be used on the burgeoning construction and home sites. Their popularity began to spread when workers and sailors stationed in Long Beach went home to locations throughout the country. One of those that is believed to have learned of the "portable latrines" or "portable outhouses" at the shipyards was a senior staff member in the Department of Strategic Metals named George Harding. He put this knowledge to good use and eventually patented the "Portable Toilet Cabana" on June 3, 1969. His polyethylene creation was an updated version of the wooden portable restroom. For more about George Harding, check out our story in the March 17, 2021 issue of Association Insight. An Early Portable Restroom Operator - 1949 While most of the initial operators known by PSAI members today began their companies in the mid-to-late 1950s, I did find a company that was in business during World War II and evolved as a portable restroom company. Pacific Sanitary Service of Los Angeles was incorporated on May 5, 1949.