In the early 20^th century, there were machines that transmitted stock information via telegraph wires. These machines were called "stock tickers." The stock tickers printed the stock information on thin continuous ribbons of paper called "ticker tape." ("Ticker" refers to the ticking sound the machines made while printing.) The stock ticker machine was invented in the late 1800s. By the 1960s, stock tickers were replaced by computer-based transmission of electronic data.