While it may seem like barcodes have been with us forever barcodes didn’t really make an impact until the 1970’s. It wasn’t until 1974 that the first barcode scanner was employed and the first product barcoded

But the idea had been around for quite awhile. In 1932 Wallace Flint suggested that an automated retail checkout system might be feasible. While his concept was deemed unworkable Flint continued to support the idea of automated checkout throughout his career. In fact Flint who went on to become the vice-president of the association of food chains some 40 years later was instrumental in the development of the UPC code.

During the 40’s 50’s and 60’s several code formats were developed including a bull’s-eye code numeral codes and various other formats. Retail applications drove the early technological developments of bar coding but industrial applications soon followed.