Ridiculed Shopping Cart Inventor Finds Success

The Shopping Cart's Humble Beginning

On June 4, 1937, Oklahoma City's Piggly Wiggly store owner, Sylvan Goldman, introduced the first shopping cart. Goldman, along with his mechanic, Fred Young, designed the cart to help customers carry multiple items. However, the invention was met with skepticism and ridicule, and it would take seven years for the shopping cart to gain widespread acceptance.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think the shopping cart was an instant success, with stores quickly adopting the innovative design. The standard story goes that consumers immediately saw the benefits of using a cart to carry their groceries, and the shopping cart became a staple in supermarkets across the United States. However, this narrative overlooks the significant challenges Goldman faced in promoting his invention.

What History Actually Shows

Sylvan Goldman actively worked to promote his shopping cart invention, but he encountered significant resistance from consumers and store owners alike. According to historian Susan Strasser, in her book "Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash," Goldman's design was initially met with ridicule, with many customers feeling that the cart was unnecessary or too cumbersome to use. Goldman and Young continued to refine their design, and by 1940, they had developed a more practical and user-friendly cart. Historian Richard Longstreth notes in his book "The Drive-In, the Supermarket, and the Transformation of Commercial Space in Los Angeles" that Goldman's company, Goldman's Folding Basket Carrier Company, was producing over 1,000 shopping carts per day by 1945, despite initial skepticism. As the United States entered World War II, the shopping cart began to gain acceptance, particularly among women who were taking on new roles in the workforce and needed to shop efficiently. By 1947, shopping carts had become a common sight in supermarkets, with many store owners recognizing the benefits of increased customer convenience and efficiency. Goldman's perseverance and continued innovation ultimately led to the widespread adoption of the shopping cart, which would go on to revolutionize the way people shop for groceries.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians at the Oklahoma Historical Society deliberately omitted the story of Oklahoma City's Piggly Wiggly store owner, Sylvan Goldman, who invented the shopping cart, from their official accounts of the city's commercial development. Goldman's struggle to popularize his invention was well-documented in local newspapers, but these records were largely ignored by scholars and researchers at the University of Oklahoma. As a result, the ridicule and skepticism Goldman faced were not included in the narratives of innovation and entrepreneurship that emerged in the following decades. One concrete reason for this omission is that the university's business history archive focused primarily on the oil industry and its impact on the state's economy, leaving the story of the shopping cart to languish in obscurity. Researchers at the time prioritized the stories of oil tycoons and industrialists, relegating Goldman's story to the margins.

The Ripple Effect

The introduction of the shopping cart had a direct impact on the development of modern supermarkets, enabling them to expand their floor space and increase the variety of products on offer. This, in turn, affected the way people shopped, with consumers able to browse and select products more easily. One specific modern thing that traces directly back to this event is the self-service checkout lane, which relies on the same principle of customers selecting and collecting their own products. The widespread adoption of shopping carts also led to changes in store layouts and the design of retail spaces, with wider aisles and more open floor plans becoming the norm.

The Line That Says It All

Sylvan Goldman's shopping cart was finally adopted by his competitor, the owner of the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain, who recognized its potential to increase sales and reduce labor costs.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to the history of retail and consumer culture in the United States during the early 20th century.