The First Parking Meter –B1

The first parking meter was installed in 1935 in Oklahoma City. Before that, parking on the street is free in cities. However, as more cars pouring in, it’s becoming chaotic. Finding a parking space on the street is often impossible. Some merchants deliberately parked their cars in front of competitors’ stores to stop costumers dropping by. Large cities began banning street parking at downtown areas. But the regulation brought severe damage to the business district. Shoppers wouldn’t even walk a few blocks from their cars to a store. In 1932, the Oklahoma City tried to figure a way out this chaos. A local newspaper editor, Carl Magee invented the park-o-meter. First meter was installed in July, 1935. People found it hard to believe that they had to pay to park on the street, after they had paid all kinds of taxes to the government. Probably for fun and to protest, two couples set up a folding table and four chairs in a parking space, deposited a nickel in the meter and played a rubber of bridge.