Which product was the first to be sold using barcode markings?

A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines.

The barcode was invented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver and patented in the US in 1951. The invention was based on Morse code that was extended to thin and thick bars. However, it took over twenty years before this invention became commercially successful.

Barcodes became commercially successful when they were used to automate supermarket checkout systems, a task for which they have become almost universal. The Uniform Grocery Product Code Council had chosen, in 1973, the barcode design developed by George Laurer. Laurer's barcode, with vertical bars, printed better than the circular barcode developed by Woodland and Silver. Their use has spread to many other tasks that are generically referred to as automatic identification and data capture (AIDC). The very first scanning of the now-ubiquitous Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode was on a pack of Wrigley Company chewing gum in June 1974 at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. QR codes, a specific type of 2D barcode, have recently become very popular

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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17 Comments

Nicholas Miernicki

The first time I was made aware of barcodes predates the use on items in stores. It was an articles that explained how these barcodes were be placed on railroad cars. They would be scanned in rail yards and a computerized systems would then direct the railcar to the correct track for the train to its destination. When I saw them so time later on products in a store, it was an "Oh, wow!!" moment.

David Coe

Pat Wells, many gated communities use a barcode sticker on car windows to open security gates automatically.

Helga U. Williams

Hmm...of all cities in Ohio, a little town like Troy - compared to the bigger cities in Ohio. Interesting ! 👍

Char

Claudia Heilke, it can be run by as they do in the grocery or shopping stores for items in the cart to heavy of awkward to set on counters

Char

Pat Wells, they were first used in railroad cars so cars not too far fetched lol

Char

Nicholas Miernicki, thanks I knew the stores but not about the railroad cars..pretty nifty little item of many uses..

Howard Groopman

This is a VERY common trivia question, so I nail it whenever it's asked.

Pat Wells

Bar codes on cars--really?

Chris Braid

Standard pub quiz question!

Fred Keogh

It was a pack of Juicy Fruit Gum

Louise C.

So if I went to the local Toyota Dealership, and decided to purchase one, to find out the price they would need to find the bar code and use the scanner, maybe I should try this :)