Why a Parking Meter Page?

First of all, because my father, the late Ronald B. Luttrell Sr., worked in the parking meter industry for almost 35 years. I grew up around parking meters. There were always parking meters around the house; I used them as piggy banks. Dad even made lamps out of the silly things! I was taking them apart and putting them back together by the time I was six or eight.

Dad started his career as a parking meter repairman for The City of Oklahoma City in the mid-fifties. At that time, parking meters had only been in existence for about 20 years. He learned the trade, and was hired by Rockwell, then manufacturers of Park-O-Meter parking meters, in the mid-sixties as a field representative. He sold them, and acted as "factory rep," to cities, universities, and anyone else that had a need for them. He returned to The City of Oklahoma City in the late sixties, eventually promoted to supervisor of the city's parking meter operation, and retired in 1987.

Second, because the parking meter was invented and the world's first was installed in Oklahoma City, where I grew up and still live today.

Third, and most important, is because my father's involvement in the industry sparked an early interest in me about parking meters, and there doesn't seem to be a great wealth of books about the subject. Most of the historical information available is in newspaper archives, patent records, and with the existing manufacturers of parking meters. This situation may eventually change though, as I hope to gather enough information to write a book about the history of parking meters.

So that's why a parking meter page . . . aren't you glad you asked?