The automation of the parking attendant
04/19/2014
Yes, around 50 years ago, parking spaces were usually still guarded by people and anyone who wanted to use them had to pay a fee to the parking attendant. But as early as 1961, consideration was given to how this could be done more cost-effectively, and the automatic parking attendant was replaced by a machine, at least on a trial basis.
The Automobil Revue described this in issue 48/1961 as follows:
"The driver throws a coin into the machine from his seat, whereupon the barrier rises and the <parking ticket> is acknowledged with a time stamp. The second payment is made when leaving the parking lot according to the time indicated. At the top, illuminated lettering indicates that the parking space is occupied."
A wonderful time when coins were still sufficient to pay for a parking space or as Peter Sellers (according to "Fast Alles Über Autos" by Jürgen Pander) is said to have said: "The final stage of motorization is reached when parking costs more than driving". We're not far away from that now ...
