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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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