Information was originally disbursed by word-of-mouth. As our language evolved into writing and literacy, information started to be spread by written stories passed down by generations. As the government started playing a large role in people's lives, keeping people informed was becoming more and more important. Unfortunately the only way to make copies back then was to hand write it multiple times. The woodblock printing method how to speed up this process but everything changed when the printing press was invented in the mid 1400s. This invention revolutionized the way and speed information traveled.
Skipping ahead almost 5,000 years, the newspaper box was one of these inventions that helped people get access to information. George Thiemeyer invented the newspaper box in 1947 with his company named Servin Vendor, based in California. Newspaper boxes were also referred to as newspaper vending machines or newspaper racks, because the machine had the ability to accept a variety of different valued coins. The customer was able to use one hand, insert coins, and roughly 30 seconds later receive a newspaper. Originally, there were two models available. A 1,250 page capacity machine, and a 2,500 page capacity machine. Both worked identically, except that one could hold more pages. The newspaper box was blowing up and over one million machines were dispersed by 1987. This massive success continued until the digital world entered the scene. This technological advancement massively reduced the amount of print copies being sold.
Vending machines were starting to become electronic, and print newspaper prices were getting more expensive. But since newspaper boxes were completely mechanical, they were still only able to accept coins. Newspaper prices were roughly 3-6 dollars, which meant customers had to insert a lot of quarters, or find dollar coins. This was impractical, and thus this invention started to die out. In addition to mechanical flaws, theft, and other design imperfections, artists began to repurpose these machines, but the impact that newspaper boxes had on our society is still not forgotten today.
Not only did this invention make information available to the general public, it led to a court case that ruled on an issue we still talk about today, the peoples rights in the constitution. In Lakewood, Ohio, 1983, a law was passed to give the city mayor absolute control of where newspaper boxes were located and which company’s paper was inside. Publishes claimed that “distribution of newspapers by means of street racks is ‘an essential method of conveying information to the public.” Because of this, the government having this power, infringes the peoples first Amendment of the Constitution. On June 17, 1988, this law was overturned by the Supreme Court. The 4-3 verdict said this law might lead to populations getting restricted from certain information, or “penaliz[ing] papers that criticize the local government.” Although Newspaper boxes are almost completely retired today, they taught us two important lessons. The first about how important access to information is, and the second, about another way an infringement to our first amendment right can look.
https://www.livescience.com/43639-who-invented-the-printing-press.html
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