Monday, October 19, 2009

the shopping cart: technology of buy more

Sometimes, the eye of the earth stares at you. Like a wise old sage. Patient with your failure to learn your lessons.
Sometimes, even though you look back, you have a hard time making out what is there. What are you supposed to see?
There they are, the mallard couple. Paddling away.
Have you any idea how many shopping carts I have pulled out of McVicar Creek? How difficult it is to drag a shopping cart out of water?

Invention: shopping cart in 1937
Photo courtesy www.realcartu.com
Function: noun / a handcart that holds groceries while shopping
Definition: A device whose concept was simple: make shopping easier for the customer and they’ll visit the store more frequently, and buy more.
Patent: March 15, 1938

3 comments:

marja-leena said...

how difficult is it to take the shopping cart back to the store where it was taken from? grrr.

Merche Pallarés said...

This didn't exist either in my time... How uncivic have people become! I can't believe it... Hugs, M.

northshorewoman said...

There is an apartment buildings along one part of McVicar Creek, and there's a whole stash of shopping carts by its parking lot. People take them filled with their stuff from Safeways, Metro and Walmart but never return them. So they end up in the creek.