The dedication of the Statue of Liberty on 28 October 1886 set the scene for the first ticker tape parade. New York City was in full carnival mode that morning with raucous crowds waving French and American flags. President Grover Cleveland led the procession through the streets of the city, passing jubilant spectators, vying with one another to catch a glimpse of the parade.
As the parade passed up Wall Street, out of the windows several mischievous "imps of office boys began to unreel the spools of tape that record the fateful messages of the ticker'", a journalist for The New York Times reported. "In a moment, the air was white with curling streamers".
The ticker tape was a reel of long, thin paper that fed into the stock ticker' a device connected to the telegraph system. It tracked the day's financial data, making a ticking sound as it printed hence the name. But of course, the office boys of Wall Street had found a far more inventive use for the tape that day.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Far from finding themselves in trouble, our reporter wrote that it "was altogether too much fun, and the office boys had to give way to their elders every window appeared to be a paper mill spouting out squirming lines of tape. Such was Wall Street's novel celebration."
New York took to the ticker tape parade as its own quirky style of celebration. Presidents, generals, aviators, astronauts and sporting champions have all been feted under a snow-storm of confetti, resembling a sort of modern-day Roman-style triumph' through the city. Although, these days, the ticker tape is mainly reserved for triumphs of a sporting nature (which says a lot about modern values).
And of course, Bloomberg terminals and electronic trading have long since replaced stock tickers on Wall Street. But find yourself on the Canyon of Heroes' on the right day, and you might still find yourself on the receiving end of several tonnes of paper.
-
House prices rise 2.9% – will the recovery continue?House prices grew by 2.9% on an annual basis in September. Will Budget policies and ‘higher-for-longer’ rates dent the recovery?
-
Nvidia earnings: what to expectNvidia announces earnings after market close on 20 November. What should investors expect from the semiconductor giant?
-
31 August 1957: the Federation of Malaya declares independence from the UKFeatures On this day in 1957, after ten years of preparation, the Federation of Malaya became an independent nation.
-
13 April 1960: the first satellite navigation system is launchedFeatures On this day in 1960, Nasa sent the Transit 1B satellite into orbit to provide positioning for the US Navy’s fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines.
-
9 April 1838: National Gallery opens in Trafalgar Square
Features On this day in 1838, William Wilkins’ new National Gallery building in Trafalgar Square opened to the public.
-
3 March 1962: British Antarctic Territory is created
Features On this day in 1962, Britain formed the British Antarctic Territory administered from the Falkland Islands.
-
10 March 2000: the dotcom bubble peaks
Features Tech mania fanned by the dawning of the internet age inflated the dotcom bubble to maximum extent, on this day in 2000.
-
9 March 1776: Adam Smith publishes 'The Wealth of Nations'
Features On this day in 1776, Adam Smith, the “father of modern economics”, published his hugely influential book The Wealth of Nations.
-
8 March 1817: the New York Stock Exchange is formed
Features On this day in 1817, a group of brokers moved out of a New York coffee house to form what would become the biggest stock exchange in the world.
-
7 March 1969: Queen Elizabeth II officially opens the Victoria Line
Features On this day in 1969, Queen Elizabeth II took only her second trip on the tube to officially open the underground’s newest line – the Victoria Line.
