What Is Ticker Tape?

By Kristi Waterworth – Updated Jun 3, 2025 at 11:13 AM EST

Key Points

Ticker tape machines, created in 1867, transmitted stock data before real-time electronic tickers in 1996.
Electronic tickers display stock details like symbol, shares traded, and price changes in real-time.
Ticker tapes used for parades are now recycled paper, shifting from their original stock-reporting function.

If you love a parade and the history of stock investing, there's no more iconic item to become more familiar with than ticker tape. Ticker tape was once arguably the most fundamental office supply on Wall Street. You can learn more about it here.

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Antique stock ticker machine. — Image source: Getty Images.

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About the Author

Kristi Waterworth has been a contributing real estate and financial expert at The Motley Fool, covering real estate, investing, and personal finance topics, since 2020. Kristi has been interviewed by various TV media outlets and podcasts for her real estate investing expertise – from residential real estate to digital real estate and everything in between. Kristi’s journalist career spans over 25 years, and she has written about real estate investing, homeownership, and home construction specifically for the last decade. She was also previously a licensed Realtor and general building contractor before the Great Recession and housing market collapse. She holds a bachelor’s degree in American history from Columbia College in Missouri.

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