Electric stock tickers were invented in the 1860′s as an extension of existing telegraph services. The early models were much improved by Thomas Edison but continued to be manufactured by several different companies. Typically the tickers were provided to subscribers who paid approximately $6.00 per week to receive updated quotes on the stock and gold markets. The tickers were widely used, with over one thousand at the New York Stock Exchange alone by 1880. The usefulness of stock tickers declined as other forms of communication were developed, but they remained fixtures of the investment world until the World War II era.

Reference note by p4A editors, 2011.