Some Oklahomans Turn Their Creative Ideas Into Successful Inventions
Have you seen a new product and thought "I wish I'd thought of that!" Or maybe you have an idea for an invention, and someone beats you to it? Whether it's in oil and gas, agriculture, or aeronautics, Oklahoma ingenuity has made its mark.
For the most widely used Oklahoma invention, look no further than your grocery store. The first shopping cart was developed by Oklahoma grocery store owner Sylvan Goldman in 1937. At first, no one wanted or even knew how to use them. "There was a girl by the door who would say here's your shopping cart, and they would look at that and they would say I don't need that and would walk away," Michael Dean, Oklahoma History Center, said. Goldman hired fake shoppers to use the carts, until the idea caught on, and the rest is history.
Speaking of history, during his history making aviation career, Wiley Post had a hand in creating the early day flight suit, the precursor to ones later worn by astronauts. Another Oklahoma invention took off, by slowing people down. In 1950, Oklahoma Highway patrolman Clinton Riggs created the yield sign. And Arthur Jones, a guy who grew up in Seminole developed nautilus equipment. But many folks weren't too excited about one Oklahoma invention. Carl Magee of Oklahoma City got the patent for the coin controlled parking meter in 1935. "There were so many oil companies headquartered in downtown Oklahoma City that their employees were taking up all the parking spaces where people would normally park who were coming downtown to shop," Dean said. "The retail merchants were up in arms over that." The solution was to charge people to park and the parking meter was born.
Some of the Oklahoma inventions are part of an exhibit at the Oklahoma History Museum.
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http://www.oklahomainventors.com/