The Birth Of The Parking Meter
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
The world’s first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City on July 16th, 1935.
Park-O-Meter No. 1 was the brainchild Carl C. Magee, who’d moved to Oklahoma after being acquitted of manslaughter in New Mexico. Indignant opponents of his system considered paying for parking to be un-American, as it forced drivers to pay what amounted to a tax on their cars without due process of law.
In this episode, The Retrospectors uncover the colourful past of another parking meter pioneer, Roger Babson; unpick the financial model still used by POM parking meters to this day; and get all hot-under-the-collar about penalty charges issued 90 years ago…
Further Reading:
• ‘16 July 1935: the world’s first parking meter is installed’ (MoneyWeek, 2014): https://moneyweek.com/329940/16-july-1935-the-worlds-first-parking-meter-is-installed
• ‘Gravity Research Foundation Monument – Atlanta, Georgia’ (Atlas Obscura, 2016): https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gravity-research-foundation-monument
• ‘The im parking meter celebrates 87th anniversary’ (CBS Saturday Morning, 2022):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-tB03VCOrw
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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.
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