Give thanks for the Shovel!

For those of us on the east, it is no secret that the shovel has a very special meaning to us. Could you imagine moving all three feet of snow we’ve gotten in the past few weeks? And although we use this wonderful tool to get snow out of the way that was not what it was originally created for.

We first see the shovel in Neolithic times, or better said the New Stone Age, when a large animal’s shoulder blade was used as a crude shovel. But it wasn’t until the late 19^th and early 20^th century that shoveling was looked upon as a science by scientific managers such as Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor saw the potential that the shovel had for the industrial era, and so, he studied the most efficient ways to use the shovel.

If you are looking for someone to thank for the miraculous invention of this life changing tool, I would give thanks to those in the New Stone Age, but also to Taylor. When other managers looked away from the potential the shovel had, Taylor focused on and made the world see how much easier it would be to move things around, including the three feet of snow in your driveway.