1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,680
Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

2
00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,640
Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a

3
00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,360
Speaker 1: show that discovers something new about history every day of

4
00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:18,200
Speaker 1: the week. I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're

5
00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:21,479
Speaker 1: looking at one of the least popular breakthrough inventions of

6
00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:28,520
Speaker 1: all time, the undeniably practical, yet endlessly annoying parking meter.

7
00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:38,120
Speaker 1: The day was July sixteenth, nineteen thirty five, the first

8
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:43,559
Speaker 1: mechanical parking meters were installed in downtown Oklahoma City. A

9
00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,520
Speaker 1: total of one hundred and seventy five of these so

10
00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:51,360
Speaker 1: called parcometers were placed and tested along fourteen blocks in

11
00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,680
Speaker 1: the city's business district. Simple and easy to use, the

12
00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,600
Speaker 1: meters consisted of a metal post with a built in

13
00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,600
Speaker 1: coinslot and a showing the amount of parking time remaining.

14
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,800
Speaker 1: When first installed, a single nickel would buy the driver

15
00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,960
Speaker 1: a full hour of parking, and when the paid four

16
00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,000
Speaker 1: time ran out, a little flag would pop up to

17
00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,640
Speaker 1: indicate the meter had expired. Instead of running on electricity

18
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,199
Speaker 1: or solar power, the initial design worked like a wind

19
00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,679
Speaker 1: up clock. Once a week, a city employee had to

20
00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,640
Speaker 1: wind each meter by hand to make sure it functioned.

21
00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:32,280
Speaker 1: Properly for the week ahead. Although never embraced by the public,

22
00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,200
Speaker 1: the paid to park system proved successful from a logistical

23
00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,600
Speaker 1: and financial standpoint, and the city was quick to add

24
00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,840
Speaker 1: more meters all over downtown. The man most responsible for

25
00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:49,200
Speaker 1: the parka meter was Carl C. McGhee, an Albuquerque reporter

26
00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,800
Speaker 1: who had risen to fame in the early nineteen twenties

27
00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:57,120
Speaker 1: by uncovering the infamous Teapot Dome oil field scandal. In

28
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,280
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty seven, McGee moved from New Mexico go to

29
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,560
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City in order to start up his own newspaper,

30
00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,520
Speaker 1: the Oklahoma News. The paper took off, and by the

31
00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,160
Speaker 1: early nineteen thirties, the editor had become a prominent figure

32
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,919
Speaker 1: in his adopted hometown. He even served as a member

33
00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,960
Speaker 1: of the Chamber of Commerce's Traffic Committee, a body tasked

34
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,400
Speaker 1: with finding a solution to the city's worsening traffic congestion problems.

35
00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,480
Speaker 1: Like many other urban areas at the time, Oklahoma City

36
00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,480
Speaker 1: was struggling to keep pace with the ever growing number

37
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:36,120
Speaker 1: of automobiles crowding its streets. The city's downtown had a

38
00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,760
Speaker 1: limited supply of parking spaces, and there simply weren't enough

39
00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:44,040
Speaker 1: to accommodate business owners, their employees, and a steady flow

40
00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:48,560
Speaker 1: of paying customers. The city tried to combat this problem

41
00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,679
Speaker 1: by placing time limits on parking. Traffic police would mark

42
00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,880
Speaker 1: tires with chalk, note the time, and then dole out

43
00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:58,760
Speaker 1: tickets to any car left in a space for too long.

44
00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,400
Speaker 1: Worked well enough, but it required officers to make hourly rounds,

45
00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,840
Speaker 1: which pulled them away from their regular beats. After receiving

46
00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,120
Speaker 1: numerous complaints from downtown business owners and ticketed drivers, the

47
00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,400
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce agreed to look into the

48
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,880
Speaker 1: parking problem. In nineteen thirty two, Carl McGee was appointed

49
00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,600
Speaker 1: chairman of the Traffic Committee, and after a good deal

50
00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,120
Speaker 1: of thought, he came up with a revolutionary idea, a

51
00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:32,640
Speaker 1: machine that charges drivers money to park. McGee champion the

52
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,560
Speaker 1: parking meter is a win for everyone. The machine enforced

53
00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,680
Speaker 1: time limit would prevent people from occupying a space all

54
00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,400
Speaker 1: day long. Either a driver would pay more in order

55
00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,520
Speaker 1: to park longer, which earned money for the city, or

56
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,040
Speaker 1: else they would move along once their time was up,

57
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,160
Speaker 1: thus clearing the way for another customer. And if a

58
00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,080
Speaker 1: driver didn't leave when their time expired, they risked getting

59
00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:00,440
Speaker 1: a twenty dollars ticket, which of course would also put

60
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,520
Speaker 1: money in the city's pocket. The Chamber of Commerce signed

61
00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,320
Speaker 1: off on the idea, and McGee spent the next several

62
00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,600
Speaker 1: years trying to bring it to fruition. He rigged up

63
00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,520
Speaker 1: a crude model in nineteen thirty two and filed for

64
00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,479
Speaker 1: a patent, but since he wasn't an engineer himself, McGee

65
00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:21,680
Speaker 1: partnered with the Oklahoma State University Engineering Department to help

66
00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:26,719
Speaker 1: refine his concept. Together, they organized a design contest and

67
00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,839
Speaker 1: offered a cash prize to any student who designed a

68
00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,440
Speaker 1: workable parking meter. The challenge proved to be a tall order, though,

69
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,400
Speaker 1: thanks to the project's strict requirements. The device had to

70
00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,920
Speaker 1: be cost effective for mass manufacturing, but it also had

71
00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,840
Speaker 1: to be durable enough to hold up to vandalism and

72
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,360
Speaker 1: harsh weather. In the end, none of the student's entries

73
00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,360
Speaker 1: were deemed viable, so in nineteen thirty three, McGee enlisted

74
00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,599
Speaker 1: the help of Oklahoma State professor Holger George Thusen and

75
00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:02,720
Speaker 1: an OSU engineering graduate name Samed Gerald A. Hale. The

76
00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,479
Speaker 1: pair created all the interior parts for their prototype meter,

77
00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,440
Speaker 1: which they dubbed the Black Maria an old slang term

78
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,120
Speaker 1: for a police wagon. They hired a local plumber to

79
00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,200
Speaker 1: fashion the meter's exterior casing, and by the end of

80
00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:22,039
Speaker 1: the year, thusen Hale and McGhee began hunting for a manufacturer.

81
00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,200
Speaker 1: They eventually found one in Tulsa, and in early May

82
00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,599
Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty five, the first working model was put

83
00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:34,720
Speaker 1: on public display. People's reaction to the concept was divided,

84
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,680
Speaker 1: to say the least. Merchants and city officials praised what

85
00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,320
Speaker 1: McGee was now calling the parcometer, but local residents denounced

86
00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,200
Speaker 1: the idea of paid parking, calling it un American and

87
00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,040
Speaker 1: arguing that it was effectively an unapproved tax on owning

88
00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:56,039
Speaker 1: a car. Despite this pushback, Oklahoma City moved forward with

89
00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,920
Speaker 1: its plans to install the meters on a trial basis

90
00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,560
Speaker 1: in the downtown area. The first batch was installed on

91
00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,080
Speaker 1: July sixteenth of that year on the southeast corner of

92
00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,120
Speaker 1: First Street and Robinson Avenue. The meters were placed at

93
00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,799
Speaker 1: twenty foot intervals along the curb and corresponded to painted

94
00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,479
Speaker 1: spaces on the pavement at a rate of just five

95
00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,200
Speaker 1: cents per hour. The parking meters were fairly affordable and

96
00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,239
Speaker 1: an absolute bargain by today's standards. Still, there were plenty

97
00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,120
Speaker 1: of complaints in even a few strange protests against them.

98
00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,520
Speaker 1: For example, one man rode his horse into town and

99
00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:34,599
Speaker 1: proceeded to tie it to the pole of one of

100
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,520
Speaker 1: the meters, though he did pay a nickel. Others made

101
00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,880
Speaker 1: the most of their rented space by setting up a

102
00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,080
Speaker 1: table in a parking spot and playing cards for an hour.

103
00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,839
Speaker 1: Most folks never came around the idea of paying for

104
00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,320
Speaker 1: parking spaces that had once been available for free, but

105
00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,040
Speaker 1: it was hard to argue with the improved traffic flow

106
00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,279
Speaker 1: or the new source of revenue for the city. In

107
00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,360
Speaker 1: the first year alone, Oklahoma City's parking meters generated more

108
00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,600
Speaker 1: than thirty five hundred dollars, enough to pay for a

109
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,960
Speaker 1: new radio system for the police department. Soon after, other

110
00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,480
Speaker 1: cities plagued by parking challenges were looking to invest in

111
00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,560
Speaker 1: meters of their own, and Carl McGee's newly formed Parcometer

112
00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,160
Speaker 1: Company was more than happy to supply them. By nineteen

113
00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,000
Speaker 1: thirty six, parking meters had spread to a dozen cities

114
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,080
Speaker 1: across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, and by the early nineteen

115
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,000
Speaker 1: forties there were more than one hundred and forty thousand

116
00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:38,000
Speaker 1: of them operating nationwide. Over the years, the design of

117
00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,800
Speaker 1: parking meters has changed to varying degrees depending on the

118
00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:46,320
Speaker 1: town or city. Most physical meters now accept credit card

119
00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,400
Speaker 1: payments in addition to coins, though in either case their

120
00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,640
Speaker 1: rate is going to be much higher than a nickel

121
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:57,000
Speaker 1: an hour. Many cities, including Oklahoma's capital, have retired their

122
00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,920
Speaker 1: mechanical meters altogether in favor of a diday'll pay by

123
00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,960
Speaker 1: plate system. So while parking meters themselves may soon disappear

124
00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,840
Speaker 1: from the urban landscape, the original intent behind them is

125
00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:16,400
Speaker 1: here to stay, much to the disappointment of drivers everywhere.

126
00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,960
Speaker 1: I'm Gay, Blues Gay, and hopefully you now know a

127
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:25,240
Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. If

128
00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,040
Speaker 1: you'd like to keep up with the show, you can

129
00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:32,280
Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show,

130
00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,440
Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free

131
00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,880
Speaker 1: to send them my way by writing to this day

132
00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,960
Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Kasby Bias for producing

133
00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,640
Speaker 1: the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see

134
00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,120
Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in History.

135
00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:59,079
Speaker 1: Class