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Heard the woman from Louisville talking about calling a shoping cart a Bascart. We never referred to them as Bascart, but I have a vague memory of seeing this word in print on a cart. My recall is that it was spelled Bas-Kart. It seems like I remember stickers on the carts. I'm guessing it was a brand name. I grew up in North Vernon, Indiana which is about an hour north of Louisville. We shopped frequently at Kroger. This would most likely have been in the 60's.
I heard on your show today the discussion about the word Bas-cart (Bas-Kart?). This was, indeed, a brand name for shopping carts made in the 60's and/or 70's.
Kroger's used them for sure but do not now (I confirmed this fact with my local Kroger manager who remembered the brand immediately.
I haven't seen the name for years, so I cannot say whether they are still selling carts.
Perhaps they are a part of this company:
Unarco Company History
1937--Founded by Sylvan Goldman, the inventor of the shopping cart as Folding Carrier Corporation in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1962--Purchased by UNR Industries, a Chicago based manufacturing conglomerate who changed the name to Unarco Commercial Products.
1986--Moved manufacturing facility to Wagoner, Oklahoma.
1992--Added plastic basket shopping carts to product line.
1996--Purchased by Richards Investment Capital of Atlanta Georgia.
1998--Developed "Pro-Shield" powder coat finish to replace Nickel Chrome.
1999--Purchased by The Marmon Group of companies and changed the name to Unarco Industries, Inc.
2003--Developed cart restoration program.
2004--Developed distinctive "Granite Pro-Shield" powder coat finish.
2006--Opened Danville, Virginia cart manufacturing and cart restoration facility.
You may well be on the right track; a bit of Googling found this paper: "Wheeling food products around the store… and away: the invention of the shopping cart, 1936-1953". The Folding Carrier Corporation is mentioned as introducing the "New Triple-Plus Capacity Nest-Baskart" in 1947.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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