Backyard Residential Incinerator, 1946-55
Courtesy of Nat Isaac
Courtesy of Nat Isaac
They are Los Angeles’s history keepers. They
research, organize, store, repair, and care for historical artifacts and make
them available to us online, at exhibitions, through publications, or in their
homes. This summer, from August 5 to August 27, the California Historical
Society celebrates Los Angeles’s history keepers with an exhibition at the
historic El Pueblo National Monument.
A series of blogs brings our online visitors a
sample of objects in the exhibition. In this blog, research into the city’s history
of refuse collection and disposal leads one history keeper to acquire this old backyard
incinerator—and successfully find it a home in a permanent collection.
By Nat Isaac, Los Angeles Sanitation Historical Project
By Nat Isaac, Los Angeles Sanitation Historical Project
As all historians know, you don’t
just pass up on a treasured relic of the past, especially one such as this that
tells the story of L.A.’s trashy past full of issues ranging from environmental
protection to traffic, to organized crime to mayoral politics.
In the 1940s Los Angeles was searching for ways to minimize the costs of rubbish collection and disposal as well as reduce smog levels. Burning refuse was then a standard method of disposal in municipal incinerators and several open pits on the outskirts of the city. In 1944 the city’s main incinerator fell into disrepair and was permanently closed. This led to a crisis in the refuse industry. Home backyard incinerators, a firmly established practice since the turn of the twentieth century, became an even more popular method of disposing trash.
While burning trash meant less garbage trucks—and less traffic—on the streets of the city, it also meant more pollution in the air.
In the 1940s Los Angeles was searching for ways to minimize the costs of rubbish collection and disposal as well as reduce smog levels. Burning refuse was then a standard method of disposal in municipal incinerators and several open pits on the outskirts of the city. In 1944 the city’s main incinerator fell into disrepair and was permanently closed. This led to a crisis in the refuse industry. Home backyard incinerators, a firmly established practice since the turn of the twentieth century, became an even more popular method of disposing trash.
While burning trash meant less garbage trucks—and less traffic—on the streets of the city, it also meant more pollution in the air.
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Burning Dump, 1945
Los Angeles Public Library, Herald-Examiner Collection
|
“Like a miniature Vesuvius,” the Herald-Examiner reported on August 2,
1945, “this open dump belches forth clouds of eye-irritating smog to pollute
the atmosphere of the entire Los Angeles County. Scores of open dumps like this
one would be eliminated through a county-wide incinerator and rubbish
collection system.”
In the fall of 1954, the city council approved an increase in
the daily hours of rubbish burning from four hours to seven hours. Rubbish
could now be burned from 6 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. Although only a
small contributor to Los Angeles’s overall smog, backyard incinerator smoke was
very visible and its odors persisted for quite some time. As a result,
residents began attributing high smog levels and poor health quality to the
smoke from these units and complained to the air control district, local
councilmen, and county supervisors about them.
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End of the Backyard Incinerator, 1954
Los Angeles Public Library, Herald-Examiner Collection
|
“Backyard incinerator with a
large black bow with the letters ‘R.I.P’ on it marks the end of the backyard
incinerator in Los Angeles,” noted the Herald-Examiner
on October 20, 1954.
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Backyard Incinerator Ban, 1954
Los Angeles Public Library, Herald-Examiner Collection
|
“W. G. Ney and Loy E. Moore,
owners of the Peerless Incinerator Company, 1854 W. Washington Blvd., display
their inventory of backyard incinerators as they hear reports of banning all
incinerators,” the Herald-Examiner
reported on October 20, 1954.
The County of Los Angeles addressed these complaints in 1955 with
a phased-in ban on backyard incinerators. To Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson,
the writing was on the wall. If the ban were applied city-wide, the garbage
would have nowhere to go but to privately-owned dumps, which were known to be
corrupt through involvement with organized crime.
Poulson immediately requested the county to delay
implementation of the ban pending discussions on a more efficient garbage
collection system for the city. He then began investigating private waste
haulers and dumps for racketeering violations while at the same time proposing
a new tax-funded municipal garbage collection program for the entire city that
would ensure city-owned landfills and collection trucks for years to come. Such
a municipal collection program, he saw, would avoid the need for dirty backyard
incinerators, corrupt haulers, and privately-owned dumps.
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Hearing Conducted by Mayor Poulson, 1955
Los Angeles Public Library, Herald-Examiner Collection
|
At a hearing conducted by Mayor
Norris Poulson and his investigation into rubbish collection racketeering,
reported the Herald-Examiner on June
20, 1955, “The crowd heard testimony that threats have been made against
persons who tried to dump their own rubbish. This was described as “a customary
threat.”
As the mayor continued holding hearings on organized crime’s involvement
with garbage collection haulers throughout 1955, public sentiment shifted in
favor of his proposed municipal collection program. However, without adequate
funding for such a program and with an expected increase in rubbish from the
city-wide ban on backyard incineration, Poulson found himself in a difficult
position.
By the summer of 1956, the city had started to phase in trash collection in areas where incinerator use was being slowly phased out. Poulson brought the proposed municipal collection program to a City Council vote on June 15, 1956. However, the council deadlocked, with six in favor and six opposed.
By the summer of 1956, the city had started to phase in trash collection in areas where incinerator use was being slowly phased out. Poulson brought the proposed municipal collection program to a City Council vote on June 15, 1956. However, the council deadlocked, with six in favor and six opposed.
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Ban on Residential Incinerators, 1957
Los Angeles Public Library; Herald-Examiner Collection
|
“All refuse burning will end
October 1 when Air Pollution Control District’s ban on residential incinerators
becomes effective,” reported the Herald-Examiner
on July 1, 1957.
The mayor had no choice but to put the matter to a vote by
the public, and on April 2, 1957, the residents of Los Angeles approved a new
tax to fund a municipal garbage collection program for the city. Poulson won
the battle against privately-owned haulers and dumps while enabling the ban on
backyard incinerators to move forward. Later that year, on October 1,
1957, a total ban was placed upon incinerators by the county’s Air Pollution
Control District, establishing the current way the city handles trash.
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City Starts Combustible Rubbish, 1957
Los Angeles Public Library; Herald-Examiner Collection
|
“Loader Fred Mosely and driver
Henry Lind are shown at Washington Boulevard and Arlington Avenue with one of
57 new garbage trucks put in use today as the City starts its combustible
rubbish collection,” reported the Herald-Examiner
on April 8, 1957.”
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| Residential Incinerator, 1960 Los Angeles Public Library, Herald-Examiner Collection |
As the Herald-Examiner reported on June 25, 1960: “Patrolman Terzo explained to a new resident that incinerator burning has been banned within the Los Angeles basin since Sept. 30, 1957, and that the fire should be extinguished immediately.”
History Keeper: Los
Angeles Sanitation Historical Collection
Los Angeles Sanitation Historical Collection encompasses a history of and historical records
related to municipal collection programs for refuse, recyclables, dead animals,
and yard trimmings throughout the City of Los Angeles from its inception to the
present day. The collections are located in the Los Angeles City
Archives.
An exhibition by the California Historical
Society and LA as Subject
Presented in partnership with El
Pueblo Historical Monument and the El Pueblo Park Association
El Tranquilo Gallery
& Visitor Center
634 N. Main Street
(entrance on Olvera Street, W-19)
Tuesday–Friday, 10:00 am–3:00
pm
Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 am–4:00 pm
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