Hastily constructed barracks had been set up, and temporary privvies were placed at random out on the field with a curtainless opening. Although there were a number of regular toilets under the grandstand, they could not accommodate us all. All sense of propriety and modesty had to be cast to the wind, or you suffered inwardly.
A bachelor friend who had gone to Tanforan a month prior to us to help organize and assemble the center had advised us by letter to bring a hammer, toilet paper, sheets and towels and bring two sets of metal camping utensils, dish cloths and soap, which we did. We found we needed nails to hang things on so a friend and I would scour the grounds looking for stray nails the carpenters had carelessly dropped. We hammered away, straightening crooked nails and were elated when we found a straight one.
After a week or so of adjusting to our surroundings, my husband went to work at the infirmary as an assistant administrator and I worked as a clerk at the recreation center. The wages ranged from $12-$19 a month depending on whether you were a laborer or a professional.
Living in the stables was nerve-racking as garter snakes slithered through the cracks on the floor and strange insects flew through the numerous knot holes. There would be bugs nesting in our clothes or shoes. Emotional, unstable persons were given to shouting in their sleep or quarreling with their spouses or imagining seeing ghosts.