The invention of the shopping trolley and the Calais 'Jungle'

The History Hour

BBC

History, Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.4 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.

We find out how Sylvan Goldman’s invention of the shopping trolley in 1930s America turned him into a multi-millionaire.

Our expert is Rachel Bowlby, Professor of Comparative Literature at University College London, who is also the author of two books on the history of shopping.

We hear about Toyota’s military pick-up trucks that transformed the 1987 north African conflict between Chad and Libya.

The 2015 migrant crisis in Europe which led to thousands of people setting-up camp in the French port of Calais.

Next, how US forces invaded the Central American state of Panama in 1989 to depose General Manuel Noriega.

And finally in 1965 at the height of the USA’s civil rights struggle, the landmark legislation that was brought in to guarantee the rights of African Americans to vote.

This programme contains outdated language which some people might find offensive.

Contributors: Charles Kuralt – a journalist for CBS News Sylvan Goldman – inventor of the shopping trolley Rachel Bowlby - Professor of Comparative Literature at University College London Mahamat Saleh Bani - former officer in the Chadian Armed Forces Enrique Jelenszky – lawyer Jean-Marc Puissesseau - former President and Chairman of the Port of Calais C T Vivian – US minister George Wallace – former Governor of Alabama Lyndon B Johnson – former President of the United States

(Photo: A woman pushing a shopping cart, 1949. Credit: Bettman via Getty Images)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	He tells her that she will be sent to France as a secret agent, and if she's got, she's
0:07.9	going to be shot.
0:09.2	I'm Helen Obalam Carter, and this is history's secret heroes, where I shine a light on
0:14.9	extraordinary stories from World War II.
0:17.6	What they wanted was someone to get themselves arrested and sent to Auschwitz.
0:22.0	Tales of deception, an incredible acts of resistance and courage.
0:26.2	She was a born soldier.
0:27.4	She's a freedom fighter in its widest sense.
0:29.8	The brand new series of History's secret heroes.
0:32.7	Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:39.2	Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Max Pearson,
0:45.3	the past brought to life by those who were there.
0:48.3	Coming up, the rugged trucks that transformed a North African conflict in the 1980s.
0:54.0	We installed 23mm guns, surface-to-surface missiles, and even 106mm cannons on them.
1:03.0	These vehicles gave us confidence.
1:05.0	Plus how US forces invaded Panama in 1989 to depose General Noriega,
1:10.0	the European migrant crisis that led to
1:12.6	thousands setting up camp on the French coast, and the passing of the Voting Rights Act into
1:18.0	law at the height of the USA's civil rights struggle.
1:21.5	You can turn your back now and you can keep the club in your hand, but you cannot beat down
1:26.2	justice, and we will register to vote.
1:28.8	That's all coming up later in the podcast. But first, with so much of the present and the past
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -20 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.