Manufacturing and Printing: The Barcode That Changed Retail

At 8:01am on 26 June 1974, a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum was scanned at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio — the first product ever sold using a barcode. It's one of the most consequential printed marks in modern manufacturing, and it started with something as small as a stick of gum.

The First Scan

Clyde Dawson, Marsh Supermarkets' head of research and development, deliberately chose the Wrigley's gum as a nod to the company's own role in helping develop the new Universal Product Code standard. The barcode itself, a rectangular pattern of vertical stripes with a 12-digit number, was designed by IBM engineer George Laurer, chosen over a circular "bull's-eye" design because it printed more reliably. Reaction wasn't immediately positive — some shoppers worried it would let stores hide or inflate prices, and adoption was slow through the rest of the 1970s.

Why a Printed Mark Changed Manufacturing

The barcode's real significance wasn't the checkout beep, it was what it made possible behind the scenes: automated inventory tracking, just-in-time stock replenishment, and a supply chain that could actually see, in real time, what was selling and what wasn't. None of that was possible until a printed code could be read by a machine reliably and cheaply.

Printed Marks Are Still Doing This Job

Barcodes, QR codes and printed labels remain the physical link between a manufactured product and the digital systems tracking it — stock control, traceability, and increasingly, a scannable link to more product information than a label could ever print. It's the same basic idea from 1974, just with more layers on top.

Where This Shows Up in What We Print

We print stickers and labels for product identification, packaging and branding through our business stationery & publications range.

Frequently asked questions

What was the first product ever scanned with a barcode?

A pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum, scanned at 8:01am on 26 June 1974 at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

Who designed the barcode?

IBM engineer George Laurer designed the rectangular Universal Product Code, chosen over an earlier circular design because it printed more reliably at small sizes.

Do you print labels and stickers?

Yes, in circle, square and rectangle formats, through our business stationery range.