The Automatic Newsie: Seattle’s 1892 Vision of the Future
Before the digital age, Seattle inventors attempted to automate the news industry with a coin-operated machine that could sell papers, make change, and handle varying formats.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
None of the modern labor-saving inventions has been more successful or come into more general use than the automatic vending machine. But hitherto one field has remained unoccupied: selling newspapers. Newspapers abhor uniformity, varying in size, thickness, and price. Many machines have been made to take the place of the human news vendor, but this difficulty has been found insurmountable. It has been reserved for a Seattle company—the Durie-Begg company—to solve these problems. Their machine, a handsome oak cabinet with nickel-plated fittings, is the result of the joint efforts of ex-Mayor Robert Moran, David E. Durie, and Alexander Begg. These gentlemen have spent thousands of dollars and years of labor, making twenty working models before achieving perfection. The machine is absolutely honest; it delivers the paper and, if necessary, makes correct change with unerring accuracy. It can't be 'flim-flammed' and will not attempt to 'flim-flam' its customers. The effect of the introduction of this machine will be to immensely increase the sales of the newspapers. It can be put where newsboys can't go—on trains, in hotels, or on street corners—always keeping papers dry and clean. Mr. Moran is now in the East and will be joined by Mr. Durie in Chicago to begin organizing companies for its operation in all sections of the country.
“It can be put where newsboys can't go. It will always keep its papers dry and clean in spite of weather, while the newsboy often gets them wet and muddy.”
This 1892 endeavor to 'automate' news distribution echoes the modern pivot toward digital kiosks and self-checkout, reflecting Seattle's long-standing obsession with high-tech solutions to labor and retail inefficiencies.
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