That knocked over grocery cart in your neighbour’s front lawn, while adding to the curb appeal, has an interesting history.
Turns out that the little piggy that “went to the market” has Piggly Wiggly to thank for their grocery cart. Prior to the invention of the shopping cart, consumers had to use things like their hands, cloth or paper bags, wooden or wire baskets, and an assortment of offspring’s to help carry those jars of Nutella and cases of 4 Loko to the check-out counter.
Enter Sylvan Goldman, owner of the local chain of grocery stores called Piggly Wiggly. The first shopping cart came into existence on June 4th, 1937 when Sylvan placed a basket on a wooden folding chair while adding wheels to its legs. Impressive thinking, Goldman. With some fine-tuning c/o mechanics Fred Young and Arthur Kosted, the “folding basket carrier” was patented on April 9th, 1940.
Consumers were at first reluctant to use the carts as male shoppers found them too “effeminate,” and female consumers considered them too baby carriage-esque. I just find them practical in assisting me in purchasing a number of items I don’t really need. Fast forward to 1948. Goldman’s creation, which is seen as too labourous given how consumers had to assemble and disassemble the parts, is eventually replaced by Orla Watson’s Nest-Karts. Watson devised a system of “nesting,” where stand-alone carts could be fitted into another cart for compact storage. With time, the single basket cart came to dominate the shopping trolley market, while other innovations included colour coordinated cart handles (circa 1954), swivel casters (circa 1960), and cart locks.
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(Image c/o 1)
