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Troy in Miami County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
 

First UPC Barcode Retail Scan

 
 
First UPC Barcode Retail Scan Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Michael Baker
1. First UPC Barcode Retail Scan Marker
Inscription.
On June 26, 1974, the first retail scan of a product marked with a Universal Product Code (UPC of 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.

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 paint- was used to make the first variable weight retail scan at Marsh Suprmarket in
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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 1970's 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.
 
Erected 2024 by The Troy Historical Society ITW Food Equipment Group-Hobart; The Troy Foundation Sherwood of Troy LLC; Ohio History Connection. (Marker Number 33-55.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: CommunicationsIndustry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 26, 1974.
 
Location. 40° 3.077′ N, 84° 11.653′ W. Marker is in Troy, Ohio, in Miami County. It is on North Market. Marker is in a parking island in front of the plaza where the
FIRST UPC BARCODE RETAIL SCAN Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Michael Baker
2. FIRST UPC BARCODE RETAIL SCAN Marker
Marsh store had been located. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 982 North Market Street, Troy OH 45373, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s Dayton Metro, in the Miami Valley, and in the Till Plains. It is also in the American Midwest and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Riverside's Black Civil War Burials / Ohio's Black Civil War Soldier's (approx. half a mile away); Troy Civil War Monument (approx. half a mile away); Rose Hill Cemetery 1849 (approx. half a mile away); Buffalo Soldiers Memorial (approx. 0.6 miles away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.6 miles away); Veterans Memorial Tree (approx. 0.6 miles away); Troy Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.6 miles away); a different marker also named Veterans Memorial (approx.
First UPC Barcode Retail Scan image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Michael Huelsman, August 24, 2024
3. First UPC Barcode Retail Scan
The existing HMdb post displays the front side of the marker twice. Attached is the correct reverse side.
0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Troy.
 
First UPC Barcode Retail Scan Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Michael Baker
4. First UPC Barcode Retail Scan Marker
First UPC Barcode Retail Scan Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Michael Baker
5. First UPC Barcode Retail Scan Marker
First UPC Barcode Retail ScanN Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Michael Baker
6. First UPC Barcode Retail ScanN Marker
Inside Needler's Liquor & Spirits image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Ian Lefkowitz, May 30, 2025
7. Inside Needler's Liquor & Spirits
A proclamation inside the store honors the employees of the former Marsh Supermarket and the inventors of the UPC bar code label.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on July 24, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 11, 2024, by Michael Baker of Lima, Ohio. This page has been viewed 788 times since then and 318 times this year. Last updated on July 26, 2024, by Michael Baker of Lima, Ohio. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on July 11, 2024, by Michael Baker of Lima, Ohio.   3. submitted on August 25, 2024, by Michael Huelsman of Miamisburg, Ohio.   4, 5, 6. submitted on July 11, 2024, by Michael Baker of Lima, Ohio.   7. submitted on July 24, 2025, by Ian Lefkowitz of New York, New York. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
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Jul. 5, 2026