June 5, 1957

Municipal collection of combustible rubbish began Monday in a vast area
including Hollywood and, human nature being what it is, the results
were slightly startling.

Householders seized upon the opportunity to get rid of all sorts of
rusty and dusty stuff stored for years in garages, including broken
birdcages, wicker baby buggies, old tires, beat-up suitcases, ruptured
easy chairs and worn-out girdles.

Their attitude was plain. They’re paying for the service and they intend to make the most of it.

The Fire Department naturally is delighted by this wholesale unloading. Much of the junk is a potential fire hazard.

The rubbish collectors, nursing aching backs, figure it’s all part of the job.

Their bosses would say only that the collections were "unprecedentedly heavy."

In the event anyone is interested, the stuff is burned in two city
incinerators–one on Lacy Street and Avenue 21, the other on Gaffey
Street in San Pedro–and also dumped in Toyon Canyon in Griffith Park.

Toyon Canyon is a cavity of 5,000,000 cubic yards, will take
approximately five years to fill and never seemed so appropriately
named as now.

Note: In April 1957, the city of Los Angeles began collecting
combustible rubbish as it moved toward a ban on incinerators, which
were outlawed as of July 1, 1957 for businesses, motels and apartment
houses, and Oct. 1, 1957, for homes. The Toyon Canyon Landfill closed in 1985.