The man behind the carpenter

Chic Sale began his acting career in vaudeville, performing on the legitimate stage and transitioning to film in the early days of Hollywood. As a member of Rotary, he would attend meetings in the cities where he was performing, and was often asked to entertain members after luncheons.

He developed a short monologue for the occasion, portraying the fictional character Lem Putt — a country carpenter who took particular pride in his speciality of outhouse building. Chic specialized in portraying old timers skeptical of a changing world, and his audience not only loved the comedy but appreciated the monologue’s underlying message: know what you’re doing or suffer the hilarious consequences. Deft at communicating the familiar experience of outdoor plumbing with tasteful humor, Chic was asked to tell the tale of The Specialist again and again to small groups of men and women.

A best-seller is born

Chic became aware that his charming, humorous monologue was being stolen by other performers. Years in the theater had taught him that it was nearly impossible to protect one’s gags or stories. But for this material, he acted on advice to copyright the story by publishing it. In January, 1929, he self-published the 29-page book titled The Specialist, which soon went viral, as we say today. Its popularity dumbfounded critics who wondered why this little book about a fictional privy builder could outsell serious works of literature. Within a few short years over a million copies had been sold nationwide.

Harry Hansen, book critic for The New York World, wrote the same year The Specialist was published:
“The ways of the public are inscrutable. … the whole reading public falling head over heels for a volume of less than a hundred pages on the architecture of the outhouse.”