Sylvan Goldman

Sylvan Nathan Goldman (November 15, 1898 – November 25, 1984) was an American businessman and inventor of the modern shopping cart. His design had a pair of large wire baskets connected by tubular metal arms with four wheels.

Early life Goldman was born Sylvan Nathan Goldman to a Jewish family, the son of Hortense (born Dreyfus) and Michael Goldman, in Ardmore, Indian Territory. His mother had emigrated from Scharrachbergheim in Alsace-Lorraine (today France) and his father from Latvia.

Kuralt: What would our country be like if you'd never invented the shopping cart?

Goldman: Oh, I'll tell you, it'd be just like it is now because somebody else would have.

Sylvan Goldman also manufactured the more familiar and more modern "nesting cart" under a license granted by Telescope Carts, Inc. In 1946, Orla Watson, co-founder of Telescope Carts, Inc. developed an innovative "nesting" shopping cart that did not require disassembly after each use as Goldman's designs did, and which allowed for the shopping carts to telescope, or "nest", by simply shoving the carts together. In a compromise solution, Goldman agreed to relinquish his rights on his existing patent and agreed to pay the sum of $1 for infringement damages. Monte took his own life in 1995 and Alfred died in 1997 following a long illness.