I remember using these in Paris when I was there in the summer of 1964. They were easy to use. I miss them because they were a bit of the old time Paris. There is only one left now but it is still in use. I am glad they left one. I went to Google maps and got a street view of Blvd. Arago by the La Sante Prison and after looking up and down the street found the last old time pissoir and was able to see it clearly via Google street view.
The following is quoted from the wikipedia entry on urinals.
"A city famous for its street urinals is Paris, France. Until the 1990s, street urinals were a common sight in the city, and in the 1930s more than 1200 were in service. Parisians referred to them as vespasiennes, the name being derived from that of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, who, according to an anecdote, imposed a tax on urine. Beginning in the 1990s, the vespasiennes (renowned for their smell and lack of hygiene) were gradually replaced by Sanisettes. Today only one vespasienne remains in the city (on the boulevard Arago), and it is still regularly used. They still exist in other French cities, and in other countries. Central Amsterdam has a number of strategically-placed street pissoirs.”
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pissoir
http://www.atkielski.com/PhotoGallery/Paris/General2/VespasienneSmall.html
http://www.pariscool.com/english/picture.php?cat=1&image_id=14&expand=3,1
