The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification

by Julian Montague

A taxonomy we didn’t know we needed for identifying and cataloging stray shopping carts by artist and photographer Julian Montague.

Abandoned shopping carts are everywhere, and yet we know so little about them. Where do they come from? Why are they there? Their complexity and history baffle even the most careful urban explorer.
 
Thankfully, artist Julian Montague has created a comprehensive and well-documented taxonomy with The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America . Spanning thirty-three categories from damaged, fragment, and plow crush to plaza drift and bus stop discard, it is a tonic for times defined increasingly by rhetoric and media and less by the plain objects and facts of the real world. Montague’s incomparable documentation of this common feature of the urban landscape helps us see the natural and man-made worlds—and perhaps even ourselves—anew.
 
First published in 2006 to great perplexity and acclaim alike, Montague’s book now appears in refreshed and expanded form. Told in an exceedingly dry voice, with full-color illustrations and photographs throughout, it is both rigorous and absurd, offering a strangely compelling vision of how we approach, classify, and understand the environments around us. A new afterword sheds light on the origins of the project.
 

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Art, Photography, Reference, Anthropology, American

184 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Julian Montague is a Buffalo, N.Y.-based graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, and installation artist. He employs his design, illustration, and photography skills in a series of art projects that explore the peripheral features of the domestic and urban environment. He is best known for a project in which he developed a system of classification for stray shopping carts. His book, The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification, was published in 2006 by Abrams Books. His work has also received attention from Artnews, Art in America, Frieze, New York Magazine, The New York Times, The Toronto Star, the BBC World Service, and many others. He has pieces in the collections of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Martin Z. Margulies and the Progressive Insurance Company, as well as numerous private collections.

Montague has been working in graphic design since 1998. From 2001 to 2006 he served as art director for First Hand Learning, Inc., a company that develops and markets science education materials. His decade long freelance practice has allowed him to work on a wide range of projects. He has designed logos, posters, brochures, packaging, books, catalogs and websites. His work has been featured in several books including design historian Steven Heller’s The Design Entrepreneurs (Rockport Press, 2008), Typography Sketchbooks (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011) and Gestalten’s Fully Booked: Ink on Paper (2013). He is also the winner of a 2013 National Silver Addy Award for his State of America print series.
From http://www.montagueprojects.com/bio/

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mock field guide, not to birds or wildflowers, but to the thing you find everywhere in the city or the wild, all over the planet: Shopping carts. Montague keeps a consistent mock-scholarly tone throughout as he develops an elaborate taxonomy based on hundreds of photographs he takes of usually broken down, smashed carts. I smiled throughout, but I also winced at photos he includes of carts in the most idyllic settings, such as lakes or flowing fields, so there's an underlying sad environmental message, too. Shopping carts as disposable trash. Overall, pretty funny.

Here's a sample:

https://www.citylab.com/design/2016/0...

[❀Aimee❀ Just one more page... · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure exactly what I was expecting. Something a bit funny, a fun "fake" field guide with funny pictures of stray shopping carts.

Instead, the field guide portion was too involved and I didn't care to memorize the "code" for different cart classification subtypes. 33 subtypes. And they weren't all that humorous.

I yearned for something a bit more whimsical. Carts doing funny things or ending up in interesting places. Instead, it was a lot of pages of similar type, sad looking carts with a too long explanation. Carts in between buildings, on property but drifting, sad broken carts, carts partially or fully submerged. In other words....depressing.

I took a chance and just google image searched "funny shopping carts" .

You get such a fun array already online! Let me give you some fun examples that COULD have been in an off the wall shopping cart book!
FIRE Propelled Shopping Cart!

Bicycle/Cart Hybrid!

Giant Motorized Cart!

Re-purposing as a Grill Cart!

Practical Joke Carts!

Basketball Cart!

Lounger Cart!


I feel better now...got my fix of funny shopping carts.

[melydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books shelved in the humor section only because most bookstores don't have a WTF section. It is, in short, exactly what the title suggests: a study of shopping carts that have escaped their shops and parking lots. The subject matter is taken so seriously and each cart categorized so meticulously that it's difficult to accept that this is all truly meant as a joke. I read the entire thing, though, and actually quite enjoyed the photography. There's a certain beauty to the urban decay represented here. My favorite category, of which there was far too little, was "complex vandalism" - and more specifically, the cart somehow launched atop a street sign. I don't know that I would necessarily recommend this book to anyone, but I suppose there is a certain sort of person whose book collection would be incomplete without it. Find them, and give them this book.

[Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of tongue in cheek parodies of naturalist field guides, and this one I found to be among the most elegant, funny, and thought provoking entries in the genre I've read. The author constructs a detailed, elaborate methodology behind tracking and analyzing stray shopping carts as though they were a mysterious and little known species of urban wildlife.

In order to track the habitat and lifecycles of shopping carts in the urban and suburban landscapes of eastern North America, the author details a complex system of classification, differentiating "true" stray carts, long having traveled from their source stores, from "false strays," those that have strayed, damaged or lost, onto the margins of their home habitats while still being part of the system. I really enjoyed the photographs illustrating various specimens, hidden in plain sight in the woods, marshes, streams, bridge underpasses, and parking lots of a landscape both natural and constructed. A fast read, it really is almost a treatise on its own, including the final analysis of a common site of shopping cart vandalism, Niagara Falls, as we watch shopping carts, the very conveyor of consumerism, slowly be taken into the environment. Recommend for those interested in a funny take on urban photography, science, and nature.

[J & J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an earnest attempt at giving dignity to lost, stolen and/or stray shopping carts. The seriousness in which the author creates an intricate classification system deserves accolades. Prior to reading, I thought this book would give me a chuckle but by the end of it, I couldn’t help but feel a strange metaphorical connection to each shopping cart.

[Luis Urrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stewart O'Nan and I share a fascination with empty lots, abandoned places, melancholy gravel pits. So for Christmas, O'Nan sent me this hilarious/eerie book, a field guide to identifying abandoned supermarket shopping carts. Yay Stewart! I started going through the book laughing, but to be honest, it started getting under my skin. It could be a photo installation by David Byrne. Or David Lynch. If you're like me, this book will amuse you but it might make you write some poems.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally brilliant. Montague developed a whole system for classifying stray shopping carts and includes numerous photographic examples of each kind. My favorite classification is "plaza drift," which he defines as "a cart situated in a foreign lot connected to the source lot by the continuous pavement of a shopping plaza." Ha! This is really an art project in book form. Love it!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

You will not look at stray shopping carts the same way again. But more importantly, you will not think about identification systems the same way again. Julian has raised the bar very, very high. This is not, as you might think, a funny ha-ha book. In fact, it walks the line between banal and astute so weirdly, you will come away moved. Unsure how.

[Benjamin Allee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unironically--a great little book that reaches both hilarious absurdism and genuine inquiry with panache and detail.

If I had to relate my life to its content, these days I find myself feeling very much like a Class B Type 7 Transient Imposter (true stray) with a B/17 Remote Group subtype, Source Unknown.

But it's not about me, of course.

It's about the carts.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It makes me happy that our Dallas public library stocks books such as this. Here's a thoroughly researched, well illustrated, and serious field guide to a ridiculous subject. Pure genius.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mock guide to shopping carts found in the "wild:" streets and creeks and parks and everywhere except stores and parking lots. The book is similar in structure to field guides to birds or insects, and meant to be satire, though I think it takes itself a little too seriously. The photographs were primarily of the Buffalo / Niagara Falls region of New York state, which I found interesting.

[Orsolya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in Ohio, I experienced a multitude of rare shopping cart experiences such as seeing them on large snow banks, in woods, and even in bodies of water. Julian Montague explores and scientifically categorizes these specimens in “The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification”.

Initially, I thought “The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America” was simply a clever, artistic, coffee table book which would feature photos of shopping carts in various locales and states of disrepair. Although the book does contain hundreds of full-color, glossy photos of shopping carts; it is much more than a book only worth a chuckle. Montague’s work is surprisingly scientific and is comprised of six years of research.

Beginning with an introduction which explains the field guide’s distinctions of identifying specimens based on situations/conditions (as opposed to lineage), concepts/terminology, examples, and the geographical habitat of the specimens studied; “The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America” then divides into two sections of shopping cart classes: (1) False Strays (2) True Strays. Montague then dives deeper and explains the various types under the classes. Supplemented by photos, Montague’s system is clear, direct, and based on scientific methods. The distinctions make sense logically for those who have lived/currently live in these habitats. Again, “The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America” is not just a book you will find in ‘Urban Outfitters’ stores.

Although the guide targets the Eastern United States, it can be applied to any region (give or take certain types such as those involving snow). Montague inspires readers to utilize the guide for their own habitat and will result in readers never “looking at shopping carts the same again”.

After Montague describes the various specimen types, photos of the specimens with the type symbols fill the next section. Some of the specimens are common while others are very unique shopping cart situations. The negative characteristic of this section is that the reader is inclined to flip back and forth between the ‘type’ pages because otherwise the symbols are not understood (unless the reader takes the time to memorize them). This can become inconvenient and break concentration. On the other hand, if the symbols are learned, “The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America” allows the reader to be able to seek out specimens based on source locations versus seeing a shopping cart first and then identifying it in a secondary step.

The conclusion of “The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America” is somewhat choppy and unrelated, without necessarily synching with the rest of the field guide. It almost appears that Montague wanted to include other notes and findings without a clear way to do so.

“The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America” is a “fun” read but also one which makes standard viewing of the urban world more artistic and filled with depth. Art mixed with science; Montague’s book will inspire one to re-think shopping carts.

[Sheherazahde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly dry and academic book.
I have to imagine that the author took pictures of stray shopping carts for several years and then had to come up with some premise to make them interesting to other people. The result is a detailed and meticulous system for classifying shopping carts, first by their relationship to their source store, then by what has happened or been done to them to make them something other than simple shopping carts.
A non-stray shopping cart is one that is in the store, or in the store parking lot, and being used by customers to transport goods. A false stray is a shopping cart that on store property but being used for some other purpose, damaged, or a cart that is just outside of store property and will soon be returned to normal use.
True strays are not on, or near, their source property.
The author has come up with a detailed system of classifying carts depending on their condition, use, and location relative to their source.
The book has five sections and an appendix. The first section is the introduction which explains the classification system. The second section illustrates and explains all the class A types. The third section illustrates and explains all the class B types. The fourth section is a collection of photographs of stray shopping carts tagged with their classifications. Section five is a detailed photographic essay of a stray shopping carts that have been dumped down a particular cliff in the Niagara Falls River Gorge. It is a very professional analysis of the vandalism of this particular site, with site diagrams and explanations of where the carts come from and why they end up there. The Appendix is one page discussing the related phenomena of plastic bags, discarded tires, and stray traffic cones.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julian Montague has taken the stray shopping carts of Eastern North America and classified them according to different factors, the two main differences being whether they are true or false strays. One is tempted, while reading this, to memorize Montague’s classification system and apply it to carts one encounters in one’s own environment. However, this would be silly. [But briefly entertaining.] After explaining how carts are classified, the remainder of the book is made up of examples – photographs of the carts as they were found (with classifications applied). It’s not quite a field guide – at least not in the tradition of the Peterson’s guides to birds (there are no identified field marks!). This is an odd book whose premise tugs at the corners of your mouth, but ultimately it’s a little sad to see all of these abandoned, derelict carts – many of which have been destroyed almost beyond recognition.

Note: I had an idea like this once – to photograph all of the abandoned cardboard boxes I was seeing in my daily walking mile-long commute to the bus stop. I also considered a photo-treatise on dilapidated garages. Similar concepts. I wonder if Harry N. Abrams, Inc. publishers would be interested in my work? *grin*

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only question is did Julian have a large collection of shopping cart photos that he needed to do something with OR did he start taking all those photos with an intention to publish a book? Pondering that was almost as amusing as paging through all these pages of poor, pathetic carts.

The classification system was the best part of the book. Heh, so much fun, I snickered every time I saw a class "Rarely occurs in the southern regions of the United States" e.g. A/6 Plow Crush at Source. The classes plus the analysis of the Niagara Falls River Gorge complex vandalism super site had me chuckling out loud.

Pure fun!

[Rebecca Davenport · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! A copy of this book should reside on every coffee table!

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazingly comprehensive treatment of this overlooked area of study.

[Rennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed, I cried. The book on shopping identification..

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The librarian in me really appreciated the classification system!! Very amusing.

[Karrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this was an art book, which is interesting. This is a complete hypothetical fever-weed-dream categorization of what garbage-teens and other terrible people do with stolen shopping carts and the obvious functioning of shopping carts of car-less people (which is a basic need, they aren’t the garbage people throwing them in fresh water for fun).

Imagine working this hard on something actual useful instead of an academic dissertation on a specific discarded piece of trash that will be here long after humans are not, for the next creatures on Earth, given that they know English. 🤨 Does it *really* matter how far they were found from where they go? Or that people break them up to make better/useful carts?

Find solutions FROM that trash and study how to FIX it.

[kerrycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does anyone understand the author's complex identification system? I didn't think so. Does it matter? Not at all! This is spectacular and sad at the same time - all these lonely, often damaged (sometimes purposefully!) carts just out there, somewhere . . . but I must say that I am impressed with the 'complex vandalism' involving an empty swimming pool surrounded by six foot fence on page 42. Some people have way too much free time. Not talking about the author - but the people who do this stuff. Some of it takes quite a bit of effort, creativity, and teamwork. And snow plow operators who need to pay more attention.

[Isaac Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a fun art book! this person really likes categorize. I also want to collaborate, there should be an open source website, questions we could work on include:

-whats the oldest shopping cart in this collection
-relatedly, some shopping cart history would be great
-i want to know the mappings between categorization As and Bs, and understand the web and most complicated and rare groupings. Ideally, also can be understood by geographical area
-whats the cost of a cart? how often do stores expect to lose carts
-longitudinally, how did this change (especially given B20, and this book is 15 years old)

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This caught my eye at our library and I took it out without really looking at what the book was about. Who hasn't seen a rogue shopping cart and wondered where it came from...and if you live in a city...they're off standing all over the place where they shouldn't be. Anyway...back to the book. I have to say I did expect it to have a little humor to it...but it was more of a facts type book. There were pictures of various shopping carts in different habitats than where they were meant to be and put into their various catagories. An interesting book that didn't take up a whole lot of my time. 3 stars for the read, but 5 stars for the work the author put into the book.

[elstaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only wish is that all the images had included the full names of the cart types, not just the letter/number designation. Although maybe that would defeat the purpose of having an alphanumeric designation. Plus, constantly flipping back and forth as I was reading ended up being equivalent to studying and I now feel like I accidentally memorized and internalized this taxonomy of shopping carts. No regrets.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this "gem" on Goodreads so CLEARLY I needed to investigate. While this is obviously a peculiar subject, I expected the book to be far more amusing. The author took the field identification VERY SERIOUSLY. There are several amusing pictures. However, I suggest this title only if you have a serious interest in the study of shopping carts.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essential guide to shopping carts and their complex ecology. Although this is a guide to the shopping carts of Eastern North America, it is clearly useful in Western North America as well. No other book is as comprehensive in it's treatment of shopping cart natural history. Never go into the field without it.

[Lynn Pauly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly read this book because I'm nearing the end of the year and need 6 books to meet my challenge. It was interesting; I didn't read every single word because it was a bit too precious for my taste. But the author did put a lot of work and thought into it, and so for that alone 4 stars for effort.

[James Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a quick laugh. Instead, I found an incredibly thorough, oddly sincere field guide complete with classifications, diagrams, and thoughtful analysis. It’s still funny—but not because it’s silly. The humor comes from how meticulously serious it is about something so mundane. Also +1 for the author being from Buffalo.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an essential guide for all who love shopping carts and want to observe them in the wild. No other shopping cart guide comes close to the perfection of this volume. After reading it I now feel confident that I can categorize most shopping carts located off-site (away from the SOURCE) - barring, of course, the inherent complexity of ascertaining if a cart is an A9 or a B1.

Extremely detailed with informational charts and many, many full-color photos of shopping carts in situ.

Highly recommended, though I confess I found it a very melancholy book. To see such valiant shopping carts reduced to such ignominious ends depressed me deeply.