Park - O - Meter Model N

Park - O - Meter
Model N
POM Inc.

I have wanted one of these for a long time and yesterday I got one for the right price. This one has a little damage on the front..perhaps someone tried to pry it open? I think it adds to the character of the piece.

I used some Mother's headlight restorer on the lenses and it worked pretty good. Before they were cloudy and you could barely see through them. And I wiped the meter with some goof off cleaner..there's a few spots that need more cleaning.

DOES IT WORK?
Amazingly I inserted a coin and the clock mechanism works perfectly. There's 2 small round windows that show the coins in the mechanism. The coins are held there until more coins are inserted, then they will fall to the coin box. There's a access hole in the back for a key to wind the mechanism when necessary. The mechanism is calibrated for 60 cents an hour.

WHERE ARE YOU?
You can see there's an address on all sides of the meter. This is downtown Seattle in the U district. "U" refers to university district because The University of Washington is near by. If you Google 4716 15th ne Seattle,WA you will see one electronic pay station there on the street.

POM INCORPORATED, THE FIRST
The first parking meter was installed in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935. Invented by Carlton C. Magee who was a lawyer and newspaper editor.

WHY DO WE NEED TO PAY TO PARK?
In the early 1900s the world was transitioning from horses and buggys to automobiles.

A new Oklahoma City Oil Field opened in 1928. With the oil came people, and with people came cars — lots of cars. Between 1913 and 1930, the number of cars registered in Oklahoma rose from 3,000 to a staggering 500,000, with most emanating from Oklahoma City and the surrounding area.

As with any prosperous area many other businesses and stores popped up. But the streets were lined with parked cars of people working in the fields all day. There was no place to park for people wanting to shop and store owners were loosing their livelihood.

"By January 1933, the problem had come to a head. At the request of downtown retailers, the local government and chamber of commerce formed a joint traffic committee and appointed Magee, then editor of the Oklahoma City News, as its chair.

Magee decided the best solution was to charge for parking using a small, mechanical timer in each space. He soon built a crude prototype and applied for a patent on December 21, 1932."

**The story goes on..I'll add some history links in the comments.