This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 6/30/2005.
Perhaps no other invention captures the spirit of America's unprecedented growth in the 20th century like the ticker tape machine. Five years after completing the first transcontinental telegraph line, Western Union introduced the first stock ticker in 1866, and within a few decades it was perfected by Thomas Edison. Evolving from these first bubble-topped machines were the teletype and news ticker. Financial copy from reporters arrived on these machines, copy editors marked up paper with pencils, rewrote paragraphs on manual typewriters, used rulers to tear out sections of copy and then taped everything back together. Conveyor belts carried copy around the newsroom, and pneumatic tubes transported articles between floors. This is a fine and very rare example of a Dow Jones news ticker, dating from the 1940s-1950s. Standing four feet tall and made of copper colored metal, the side opens up for the insertion of paper. On the front is a black and gold plaque that reads "Dow-Jones, The Wall Street Journal." The felt-lined glass and metal domed lid through which the news stories fed is removable, and you can still smell the ribbon ink and gear oil remnants! The wire on the back has been clipped. These machines became obsolete in the late 1960s. In fantastic condition, the machine shows light, even overall wear, with some scuffing on the base. This item will be expensive to ship.