Who Invented the Shopping Cart? The Story of an Invention That Changed the World

The shopping cart is one of the symbols of consumerism, born in response to the growing demands we had in the twentieth century. In the twentieth century, in fact, thanks to the advent of the automobile, refrigerators and the first supermarkets, the way of shopping changed radically. Consumers began to buy large quantities of products at once: how to transport them inside the store? Sylvan Nathan Goldman in 1937 had a brilliant idea, destined to revolutionize retail trade: the shopping cart. Let's look together at the epic that led to the birth of this object as simple as it is brilliant.

The Shopping Cart is Like The Beatles

January 1, 1962: The Beatles are rejected by Decca and EMI, the two most important record companies of the time, because the producers think that these four kids from Liverpool don't have a shred of talent. Similarly, the shopping cart, after being presented, is rejected by practically everyone. People consider it useless, a waste of money, unmanly, and they have no idea that it would become the world symbol of spending and shopping, even online, and almost a century after its invention. An incredible object, one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, capable of changing the purchasing habits and lives of entire generations. And the great thing is that it is an object of extreme simplicity but, at the same time, so perfect in its use that in most cases it is still very similar to how it was in the 1950s.

You should know that the debate about the origin of the shopping cart has been going on for 50 years: a 1975 New York Times article wonders why everyone knows Henry Ford and the Wright brothers but no one knows Sylvan Nathan Goldman, the father of the shopping cart.

But let's take a step back: what were the United States like before the economic boom? There were small, mono-thematic neighborhood shops (greengrocer, butcher, milkman and so on), with residents who know the sellers "personally". Each person buys the little they need every day, also because there are no refrigerators and consequently you can't preserve food. There aren't even cars with large trunks: just bags and the strength of your arms.

Things begin to change with self-service stores and no, it is not as recent as we think. In America they were introduced in 1916; three years later there is even a chain of stores without cashiers with dozens of addresses scattered around Oklahoma. In 1920 its founder, Sylvan Nathan Goldman (nomen omen, a real "golden man" since he gets rid of it before the crisis of '29) sells his creation and reinvests the capital sparingly. In the '30s cars and the first refrigerators arrive: people want to use these things and buy more, but a greater purchasing power clashes with the limits of human strength. Goldman thus introduces baskets and a sketch of "customer service": the clerks must offer a second basket to customers who have filled the first, offering to bring them the full one already at the checkout. The thing is appreciated, but not completely, also because the 30s are still the years of the Great Depression and there is not so much money. According to what Il Post writes, however, at a certain point the illumination arrives: "It seems then, always according to reports that are difficult to verify, that, looking at a folding chair, Goldman had the idea of ​​building shopping carts. Together with his employee Fred Young, between 1936 and 1937 he designed, built and perfected his first models of carts, which in the first versions were in fact folding structures, with wheels, in which to put two baskets while shopping".

It seems all done, all solved, but it isn't: on the other hand, others in America are also inventing things similar to shopping carts but without success. There are technical obstacles that prevent the idea from spreading: today's shopping carts fit inside each other and aren't that bulky when not in use, the early ones hadn't yet reached this engineering sophistication and even the foldable ones were really excessive. Then there is a more subtle cultural obstacle: in a world still clearly divided between the housewife and the working man, the former don't want to use them because "they've already pushed enough strollers and don't want to know about them anymore" while the latter find them unmanly, strong arms are more than enough to carry the shopping around. Not to mention that even men think these carts are like strollers and so it's not their business, because it's the woman who looks after the children. What can be done to reverse the trend? We are still in the USA and therefore: marketing campaigns. Marketing campaigns to get people to use a product and buy more products.

In 1937 Goldman organizes a series of promotional activities for the trolleys, but they are not enough. The inventor does not give up, also because he is certain that the real business will be selling the trolleys to competitors, and so he hires actors and actresses to make them go around the shops with the trolleys, all smiling. He even makes some promotional videos, tutorials on how to use them. Something so futuristic that it is still relevant today.

Since humans, like all primates, operate by imitation, people actually start using shopping carts: it becomes a trend. Goldman registers the patent, mass-produces them and sells them to other stores. He creates a monopoly on shopping carts that he continues to update in the meantime, until he arrives at the telescopic shopping cart, that is, the one that fits into other shopping carts, very similar to the one still in use today.

Now, this is what he actually copied: again, it's such a simple invention that others have thought of it, and Goldman has several similar legal problems over the years. One in particular leads to a settlement agreement in 1949, in which Goldman recognizes Orla E. Watson for the invention – and compensation – of the telescopic trolley, but also obtains the right to continue selling as many shopping carts as he wants. Thanks to large-scale production, Goldman amassed a large fortune, and in 1975 he declared: "It made all the difference in the world, but if I hadn't invented it, someone else would have." In 1961 he sold his businesses and devoted himself to other projects until his death (a multimillionaire tycoon) in 1984.

Today, trolleys are used all over the world, Goldman's company has also changed hands, it still exists, it has had various expansions and has expanded to the production of other objects. The trolley, however, has remained almost identical to the one invented by Goldman because it is objectively difficult to improve: the material is resistant, the transparent structure allows you to see what is inside, the space for children is functional and this is why, just like the Beatles, trolleys are still a success today, remaining the same as themselves. For the peace of mind of those who did not believe in them.