History of and Facts About the Shopping Trolley |
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The first shopping trolley was invented by Sylvan Goldman in 1937. Sylvan Goldman owned a supermarket chain in Oklahoma, and he noticed his customers struggling to carry their groceries in over filled, heavy hand baskets. With the help of a mechanic, Fred Young, he made the first shopping trolley prototype from a folding chair, wheels, and a pair of wire baskets. The shopping trolley was not immediatedly successful. Men considered pushing a trolley to be effeminate, whilst women thought it unstylish and reminiscent of pushing a baby's buggy. However, they eventually caught on because they made grocery shopping so much easier, and by 1940 their popularity had grown so much that there was a seven year waiting list for other stores to purchase them. In 1947, Goldman improved the Shopping Trolley design by replacing the folding part with a nested design, so trolleys could be pushed into each other as they are today. He also increased the size of the trolleys, as he realised that a larger trolley leads to larger purchases. However, no one has yet invented a trolley that will actually steer in a straight line and does not have a mind of its own, although recent innovations include:
Interesting Facts about Shopping Trolleys
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