Today in Oklahoma History: Shopping cart invented in Oklahoma in 1937

The shopping cart, now a staple in grocery stores across the country, was first introduced on June 4, 1937, by Oklahoma grocer Sylvan Goldman.

Goldman designed the cart based on a wooden folding chair and placed the first models in his Humpty Dumpty grocery stores in Oklahoma City.

The invention initially failed to catch on, but later designs helped popularize the concept, ultimately turning Goldman into a multimillionaire.

Today, the largest shopping cart manufacturer in North America is Unarco, based in Wagoner. The company produces about 1 million carts annually and estimates it manufactures nearly half of all shopping carts currently in use.

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