Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
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Inventions & Innovation<br />
The needs and wants of<br />
consumers spawned ideas in<br />
<strong>Oklahoma</strong>. Scientists at Phillips<br />
Petroleum in Bartlesville invented<br />
the aerosol can and plastic.<br />
The idea for mud flaps to prevent<br />
the wheels of big rigs from kicking<br />
up mud and rocks came from<br />
Oscar March, a truck driver at<br />
Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest<br />
City. Perry machine shop owner<br />
Ed Malzahn created the Ditch Witch trenching<br />
machine to replace the pick and shovel.<br />
Now half the trenching machines in the world<br />
are made at the Ditch Witch plant in Perry.<br />
The shopping cart and the parking meter<br />
were invented in <strong>Oklahoma</strong> City.<br />
In 1932, Walt Disney chose Clarence Nash,<br />
a native of Watonga, as the voice of Donald<br />
Duck. For the next fifty years, Nash was the<br />
voice of the famous cartoon duck.<br />
NEXRAD (next generation weather radar)<br />
was invented by professors at the University of<br />
<strong>Oklahoma</strong> School of Meteorology. The National<br />
Weather Service Forecast Center is on the OU<br />
campus in Norman.<br />
Clinton Riggs designed the YIELD sign and<br />
first used it in Tulsa.<br />
The world’s first tornado forecast was<br />
issued by two officers at Tinker Air Force<br />
Base in Midwest City in 1948.<br />
Arthur Jones, a native of Seminole, invented<br />
Nautilus exercise equipment found in most<br />
gyms and health spas in the nation.<br />
The first Sam’s Club warehouse shopping<br />
store was built in Midwest City in 1983<br />
and opened by founder, Kingfisher native<br />
Sam Walton.<br />
<strong>Oklahoma</strong>’s State Capitol is the only<br />
such building located over a commercial pool<br />
of oil.<br />
America’s first Boy Scout troop was formed<br />
at Pawhuska.<br />
The first Girl Scout cookie was sold in<br />
Muskogee in 1917.<br />
Above: The National Weather Service<br />
Forecast Center is in Norman.<br />
S A M U E L M O O R E W A L T O N<br />
Kingfisher, <strong>Oklahoma</strong> is proud to claim Sam Walton as a native son.<br />
He was born there in 1918 to Thomas Gibson and Nancy Lee Walton,<br />
Even though the family moved when Sam was a boy he never forgot his<br />
Kingfisher roots and was a frequent visitor there throughout his life.<br />
With extensive retail experience behind him, Sam Walton and a<br />
brother opened the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, calling it Walmart<br />
Discount City. From that humble beginning, the worldwide chain now<br />
known simply as Walmart was born. One might wonder what Sam<br />
Walton would think of his stores today since his determination to<br />
market American-made products and find American manufacturers,<br />
has definitely been forgotten.<br />
Sam’s Clubs, membership only retail warehouse stores, operated by<br />
Walmart and named for Sam, was founded in 1983, nine years before<br />
his death, and as of 2014 had grown to over 600 stores in forty-eight<br />
states, 11 in Puerto Rico, 13 in Brazil, and 1 in China.<br />
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