Today is an anniversary date that Leviathan might celebrate. For those familiar with the term, they may rightly guess that my political leanings are libertarian and that I have a dislike for government in general and their constant need for revenue which comes from your labour.


On July 16, 1935, the first parking meters were installed. In order to solve a parking “problem,” Oklahoma City decided to install parking meters and charge for parking on city streets.

According to The History of Parking Meters:

“Based on this number, if every parking meter collected only 25 cents per day, the gross revenues generated by parking meters in the U.S. for one day would be a staggering 1.25 million dollars ($1,250,000).

Although Magee’s mission was to solve parking problems, it is evident from his patent application that generating revenue was an important issue from the beginning. In the application, he stated that his invention related to “meters for measuring the time of occupancy or use of parking or other space, for the use of which it is desirous an incidental charge be made upon a time basis.” Some may argue whether or not 1.25 million dollars a day are “incidental.” Of course, I have no idea how much money parking meters actually collect in a day’s time, so that number may be meaningless; it could be lower, or it could be much higher. Suffice it to say that there is a lot of money being stuffed into parking meters every day. Mr. Magee probably had no inkling of the scale to which his invention would eventually be applied. “

Well, I know that the Big City near where I live charges a whole lot more than 25 cents per day for metered parking spots. The revenue collected is far from “incidental.”

Today, as you travel around in your car, park at parking meters, and put in your change, you can thank Oklahoma City and Carl McGee, the inventor of the parking meter.

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