Grocer Clarence Saunders, who made and lost a fortune in the '20s with his Piggly Wiggly stores, had hoped to make a comeback with his "Keedoozle" store (TIME, Aug. 30, 1948). The Keedoozle ("Key does all") idea was fairly complicated, but it boiled down to shoppers punching a key in labeled keyholes, then picking up their groceries at the cashier's desk where they were carried by conveyors. Boasted Saunders: "In five years there will be a thousand Keedoozles in the U.S., selling $5 billion worth of goods."
Last month, Saunders' one and only...
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