The Supermarket Scanner Changed the Way We Buy Groceries Forever

Image caption: A Spectra Physics Model A supermarket scanner—one of the first ten ever produced. A laser within the unit projects a beam onto a mirror that redirects it through the glass plate on the top. Image credit: Cade Martin and POP Creative. Article by Kovie Biakolo. Smithsonian Magazine – June 2024.

On the morning of June 26, 1974, an unremarkable pack of chewing gum in Ohio made history. At the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, as in major grocers throughout the country, cashiers would ring up items by manually entering the price of each on a cash register before computing a final tally. […]

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