Motorized Picnic Table: Great Idea?

The world’s first Motorized Picnic Table, aka Patent #663734, has a stated purpose. According to the inventor,

“It’s meant for transporting picnic-goers and the table simultaneously to a desired picnic location or for picnicking while in transport.”

So forget about finding that shady spot under that lovely tree and relaxing under a beautiful blue sky. Why settle for that when you can eat while racing on the road, insuring ulcers and indigestion not to mention potential accidents too messy to mention in polite company?

The Motorized Picnic Table is built on a 1972 Club Cadet garden tractor chassis. Why is anyone’s guess, especially considering the patent date was much later. (Perhaps a little voice in his head told him not to pursue this idea. If that was the case, he should have listened.) Food to go, if nothing else, has taken on a new although meaningless connotation.

According to the patent, the Motorized Picnic Table is comprised of a chassis including a frame, wheels and a drive mechanism having an engine. A table is provided on top of the engine and mounted to the chassis. Adjacent to and mounted to the chassis, there is a bench-seat that is set at a convenient height for an operator to use and a steering mechanism to direct the table into, out of, on the side of, sometimes underneath but usually oncoming traffic.
Food and the many ways to eat and prepare it is a fascinating topic Consider Toby’s “His Inventions Get You… Right In The Taste Buds” and Diane Eld’s fascinating piece on edible art “Have a Second Helping of This Food Art”

As for me, I would rather be sedentary when I eat and not in motion. Maybe the ants of the world would agree when they invade and conquer favored spot, as picnickers in motion detract from some of the magical je ne sais quois that ants and other of their ilk add to such moments.