A self-winding electromechanical stock ticker manufactured by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. for the Western Union Telegraph Company, circa 1915, with a brass-and-steel mechanism, stamped MFD. BY T.A. EDISON, INC., enclosed beneath its original glass dome on a japanned base carrying the period service inscription "QUOTATIONS FURNISHED BY THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH CO. APPLY TO LOCAL MANAGER."
The self-winding mechanism, the defining advance of this ticker generation, was developed by George B. Scott and W. P. Phelps and refined in 1903 by J. C. Barclay and Jay R. Page, producing a more compact and efficient instrument than its predecessors. The present machine incorporates the later dual-roller ink system within a hinged enclosure, replacing the earlier single-roller arrangement. Nine principal variants were produced across the series: 1-C, 21-C, 22-A, 30-A, 31-A, 32-A, 34-A, 35-A, and 41-A, though machines were routinely modified during active service, and surviving examples frequently combine later components without corresponding changes in designation.
The Edison stamp denotes manufacture by his incorporated company rather than personal invention, Edison's direct involvement in ticker design having ended decades earlier, though the association with his name remained commercially significant.
Operating within Western Union's nationwide quotation network, the instrument received telegraphic impulses from centralized exchanges and printed company abbreviations and prices on a continuous paper tape, delivering near real-time market information to subscribers across the country. Service inscriptions of this kind were applied to instruments placed in client premises and were routinely removed, painted over, or lost as machines passed through service and storage; the survival of the full inscription here is notable.
For the broader history of these instruments and their role on Wall Street, see our article "The Pulse of Wall Street”
Condition”
Condition: Excellent original condition throughout. Mechanism complete, with rich original patina. MFD. BY T.A. EDISON, INC. stamp clearly legible.
A self-winding electromechanical stock ticker manufactured by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. for the Western Union Telegraph Company, circa 1915, with a brass-and-steel mechanism, stamped MFD. BY T.A. EDISON, INC., enclosed beneath its original glass dome on a japanned base carrying the period service inscription "QUOTATIONS FURNISHED BY THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH CO. APPLY TO LOCAL MANAGER."
The self-winding mechanism, the defining advance of this ticker generation, was developed by George B. Scott and W. P. Phelps and refined in 1903 by J. C. Barclay and Jay R. Page, producing a more compact and efficient instrument than its predecessors. The present machine incorporates the later dual-roller ink system within a hinged enclosure, replacing the earlier single-roller arrangement. Nine principal variants were produced across the series: 1-C, 21-C, 22-A, 30-A, 31-A, 32-A, 34-A, 35-A, and 41-A, though machines were routinely modified during active service, and surviving examples frequently combine later components without corresponding changes in designation.
The Edison stamp denotes manufacture by his incorporated company rather than personal invention, Edison's direct involvement in ticker design having ended decades earlier, though the association with his name remained commercially significant.
Operating within Western Union's nationwide quotation network, the instrument received telegraphic impulses from centralized exchanges and printed company abbreviations and prices on a continuous paper tape, delivering near real-time market information to subscribers across the country. Service inscriptions of this kind were applied to instruments placed in client premises and were routinely removed, painted over, or lost as machines passed through service and storage; the survival of the full inscription here is notable.
For the broader history of these instruments and their role on Wall Street, see our article "The Pulse of Wall Street”
Condition”
Condition: Excellent original condition throughout. Mechanism complete, with rich original patina. MFD. BY T.A. EDISON, INC. stamp clearly legible.
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