7) London Stock Exchange
In 1872, the London Stock Exchange adopted the Calahan Stock Ticker and formed the Exchange Telegraph Company of London. Mr. Calahan worked in London to establish the stock quotation system.
8) The "American Deer"
There is a story about the "American Deer" that is still told on Wall Street today. Between Christmas and New Year's in 1867, the first Calahan Stock Ticker was placed in the brokerage office of David Groesbeck & Co. When the first signals came across the wire and printed on the paper tape, there was a crowd around the ticker reading off the stock quotes. A tall, energetic broker, William Heath, would obtain quotes from the floor of the exchange then run to the brokerage, going from office to office yelling out the various quotes to the brokers. Because of his swiftness in getting the quotes from the exchange, he became known as the American Deer. The crowd around the Calahan Stock Ticker had a good laugh when Mr. Heath came running through the office yelling the price of stock quotes, because the ticker had delivered the quotes long before the American Deer could reach the brokerage office from the floor of the exchange.
9) Black Friday
By 1869, the popularity of the Calahan Stock Ticker spread to many of the prominent brokerage houses on Wall Street. During 1869, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk made an unsuccessful attempt at cornering the gold market, causing gold and stock prices to fluctuate widely during the week. When the government intervened by order of President Grant, the price of gold plummeted, resulting in Black Friday. A young Thomas Edison had just moved to New York City from Boston, and was in the Western Union booth overlooking the Gold Exchange floor during this time. He operated a Laws Gold Indicator as prices fluctuated and the volume of trades grew heavy. His technical skills were recognized by Laws' partner, Franklin Pope. Shortly after Black Friday, Pope and Edison would go into business together, and Edison would be introduced to Marshall Lefferts.
10) Marshall Lefferts
Marshall Lefferts became Edison's mentor and friend. Lefferts became the President of a newly formed company that acquired the patents to both the Laws Gold Indicator and the Calahan Stock Ticker. It was called the Gold & Stock Telegraph Company. Eventually Gold & Stock would acquire important stock ticker-related patents from Thomas Edison, Phelps, and others, including the Edison Printing Telegraph patent from Edison's Boston partners. Gold & Stock would become a competitor to Western Union and eventually (in 1881) lease its lines, instruments, and property to Western Union--guaranteeing it six percent per year on its capital stock of $5 million dollars.
11) Edison and Unger Stock Ticker
Edison started working on an improved stock ticker after gaining experience with the Calahan Stock Ticker and the Laws Gold Indicator. Several variations of stock tickers were manufactured in small numbers under partnerships that Edison established. Today the Edison and Pope Stock Ticker and the Edison and Unger Stock Ticker are available for viewing at Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village.
12) Private Line Printer
Edison and two other competing inventors, Elisha Gray and G.M. Phelps, also worked on a device similar to the stock ticker, which can only be described as the world's first Internet machine. They called these machines Private Line Printers. These devices had a keyboard to send a message, type wheels, and paper tape to receive the message. Thomas Edison and Elisha Gray Private Line Printers were in demand by the wealthy during their short period of popularity around 1870.