First UPC Barcode Retail Scan

On June 26, 1974, the first retail scan of a product marked with a Universal Product Code (UPC or barcode) was made in the checkout line of Troy’s Marsh Supermarket located at 982 N. Market Street. A ten-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum was scanned to simulate the purchase of a product. The barcode was scanned on the NCR 255 computerized check-out system developed by National Cash Register (NCR). The system featured a Spectra Physics Model A scanner and an NCR 726 in-store computerized cash register. The Troy grocery store, considered a “typical” American grocery, was conveniently located near NCR and Hobart facilities. Spectra Physics and NCR later donated one of the original scanners and cash registers used at Marsh’s to the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian. (Continued on other side)

[Side B]: (Continued from other side) The Hobart Corporation developed the system for creating, printing, and applying UPC labels in-store on such variable weight, non-packaged items as meats and produce. The Hobart Model 3000 automatic scanning system – designed at Hobart’s Dayton Scale plant – was used to make the first variable weight retail scan at Marsh Supermarket in June 1974. These first barcode labels were printed on a printer made by Intermec Corporation of Seattle, Washington. Hobart later perfected their Model 5000 impact printer. Although the barcode was patented in 1952, it wasn’t until universal grocery products identification codes were standardized in the early 1970s that retail grocery scanning and computerized cash register systems became practical in-store. The collaboration of NCR, Hobart, and a Troy supermarket revolutionized the way the world shopped and stores tracked inventory.The Hobart Corporation developed the system for creating, printing, and applying UPC labels in-store on such variable weight, non-packaged items as meats and produce. The Hobart Model 3000 automatic scanning system – designed at Hobart’s Dayton Scale plant – was used to make the first variable weight retail scan at Marsh Supermarket in June 1974. These first barcode labels were printed on a printer made by Intermec Corporation of Seattle, Washington. Hobart later perfected their Model 5000 impact printer. Although the barcode was patented in 1952, it wasn’t until universal grocery products identification codes were standardized in the early 1970s that retail grocery scanning and computerized cash register systems became practical in-store. The collaboration of NCR, Hobart, and a Troy supermarket revolutionized the way the world shopped and stores tracked inventory.