Today in Technology History
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June 4
The shopping cart, now a commonplace tool in stores around the world, made its inauspicious debut exactly 65 years ago.
Sometimes known as a "buggy" or "trolley," the shopping cart was invented by an American named Sylvan N. Goldman, who was born in 1898. During the Great Depression, Goldman purchased the Humpty Dumpty retail chain. Back then, customers usually carried bags or baskets when they shopped -- containers which could be annoying to carry and which filled up quickly.
Goldman realized that customers would shop longer and buy more if they didn't have to carry their groceries, so he built the first shopping cart -- basically just a folding chair, with a basket on top and wheels on the bottom. He introduced his invention at a Humpty Dumpty in Oklahoma City on June 4, 1937. It was not an instant hit. Customers proved reluctant to start using the carts until Goldman hired fake shoppers to walk around using them.
In the following decades, shopping cart design became much more sophisticated. Some carts had multiple tiers; some had little doors that opened to make unloading easier. Starting in the 1940s, carts were designed so they could compactly nest within one another for storage. Baby seats were eventually built in. Later, carts were given plastic or rubber corners to protect the merchandise and the customers' cars.
Today's carts, sometimes made of plastic or mesh, are usually more durable than those of yore. Some carts are also high-tech, with calculators and electronic anti-theft devices. Certain new carts even come with interactive screens that can help shoppers navigate through a store -- and can display ads as you wander the aisles.
By allowing customers to buy more goods in a single trip, Goldman's invention revolutionized shopping and made possible the modern supermarket. Goldman himself moved into the supermarket business and became an extremely wealthy philanthropist. He died in 1984.
Related links:
Click here to read more about Goldman.
The Smithsonian Institution has a collection of "telescoping shopping carts" from 1946 to 1983.
Use these links to visit the homepages of companies that make shopping carts:
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