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Compiled by "Smart Mouth" columnist Amelia Robinson, Seen and Overheard is fueled by juicy tidbits, oddball tales and strange sightings.
Home > Blogs > Seen and Overheard > Archives > 2009 > October > 07 > Entry
Barcode’s 57th anniversary today, Troy played a major role
Barcodes have come a long way since June 26, 1974, the day the very first one was scanned at a retail store - Marsh Supermarket in Troy.
Google is celebrating the 57th anniversary of the first bar code patent today, Wednesday, Oct. 7.
The search engine is using the black-and-white bar code design as its logo.
The Miami Valley’s influence on the barcode’s history can’t be overlooked.
Then Dayton-based, NCR made and installed the first ever retail store scanner used for retail at Marsh’s in 1974.
A 10-pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum was the first product ever scanned in a retail store.
That pack of gum is now at the Smithsonian Institution.
What do you think?
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Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Good to Know
Comments
By was there
October 7, 2009 5:11 PM | Link to this
the first bar code in a grocery store in the area was at the beavercreek food gallery owned by the Spicer’s in the late 70’s it later became eavey’sBy Skeptic
October 7, 2009 6:15 PM | Link to this
Tested in Troy, but made right here in Dayton. With everything going on at Tech Town and the Base, technology research is coming back to where it all began!By null
October 8, 2009 1:04 AM | Link to this
?? Am I missing something?? Since when did 1974 become 57 years ago? Is 35 the new 57?By R Hastings
October 8, 2009 5:54 PM | Link to this
Not quite factual article. The first scanner, born in 1974 at the Spectra-Physics company in Mountain View, California (now Datalogic Scanning of Eugene, OR) weighed 112 pounds and was 32 inches high. Many people know that the first scan of a product in a retail checkout was at a Marsh Supermarket in Ohio of that year. Spectra-Physics showed their new Model-A scanner at a tradeshow in 1974 and it is displayed in over 10 other companies’ booths. Orders for 28 scanners are secured. The first is delivered to Singer in January of 1974. Seventeen of the scanners are destined for then strategic partner NCR Corporation. NCR orders a “feasibility” model for $55,000, six engineering prototypes at $10,000 each and ten production prototypes at $4,000 each. Only two of these original Spectra-Physics Model-A scanners are known to exist. One is in Datalogic Scanning headquarters in Eugene, Oregon and the other is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.By Don't steal the scanner like you took the plane
October 9, 2009 8:16 AM | Link to this
From NCR’s website: “NCR Corporation first demonstrated its scanning system in 1974 to an overflow crowd that attended the Super Market Institute convention to view the then-revolutionary technology. Less than two months later, on June 26, 1974, history was made when a 10-pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum became the first product ever scanned in a retail store setting — with an NCR scanner in a checkout lane at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.”