The Contemporary Night Owl

In our modern world, fast transmission of news headlines and other information, such as stock quotes, is essential. For over 146 years, the same medium of transmitting these news headlines has been used and that is the ticker format. News and stock tickers are used in both the virtual world and in the real world. Cell phones and computers have ticker apps, and real-time tickers can be found in and on the outside of buildings. Many of the famous real-world tickers can be found in New York City, but there are some in other cities as well. Here are five of those tickers from both the past and the present:

A Russian Hughes telegraph machine on display at a museum in Finland.

1.) Edward A Calahan's Ticker Tape Machine
The great-great grandfather of all tickers is Edward A. Calahan's (1838-1912) stock ticker telegraph machine. This telegraph machine was invented by Edward A. Calahan in 1863 and was derived from the earlier telegraphic printer created by David E. Hughes in 1856, which was a revolutionary machine for the early telegraph industry in the 1850s-1860s. Prior to its invention, the only way to pass on the latest quotes was to dispatch a courier with a handwritten note, who would make a daily trek across town to deliver the quotes to their destination. Calahan took quote reporting to the next level by using the Hughes machine to print the quotes up via small ribbons of paper - or 'ticker tape' (now you know where ticker tape has its beginnings!) via a telegraph transmitted at a sending station at another location.

Calahan premiered his invention in New York City in 1867 and over the next decade, it would be found in banks and stockbrokers' offices all over the city. This machine gave banks, stock brokers, and more the ability to instantaneously transmit the latest stock quotes over a long distance. Gone were the days when couriers would have to run across town with the latest quotes, hoofing it to get the quotes to their destination before the work day ended! Over time, the ticker tape machine was used worldwide for transmitting the day's stock quotes, until newer stock ticker machines based on the same technology began to supersede it beginning in the 1930s.

The ticker tape machine was an early example of a printer, and in particular the ribbon printers of the late 20th century. The name is onomatopoeic and comes from the sound of the ticking telegraph reels and the operators ticking away at their telegraph keys! This telegraph machine was also an even earlier example of information being transmitted or broadcast in real-time. As a matter of fact, real-time stock quote tickers would not become a reality until 1996, some 129 years after the invention of the Hughes telegraph!


2.) The One Times Square Ticker

The One Times Square ticker circa 2005.

No listing of famous tickers would be complete without the world-famous One Times Square news ticker!

The One Times Square ticker (also known as the "zipper") was unveiled to the world in 1928 by The New York Times newspaper to announce the results of the US presidential election. When it was first created, the ticker was powered by 14,800 lamps!

On the evening of August 14, 1945, the ticker was used to relay news about Japan's surrender to crowd waiting in Times Square. When the headline "Official - Truman Announces Japanese Surrender" came scrolling over the ticker, over 750,000 people waiting in the square cheered. War was over. This image - and the iconic image of the sailor kissing a nurse - were immortalized by Life magazine when they were displayed on the cover the following week.

With the exception of five years (1975-1980) when it was turned off, the ticker has been used to announce many of the major news headlines of the 20th and 21st centuries, ranging from the end of World War II to Apollo 11 landing on the moon, the Apollo 13 disaster (images of people anxiously watching the ticker for the latest news about Apollo 13 are famous), and the many events that have happened in the US since 9/11.

Today the ticker is owned by Dow Jones, who also own and operate The Wall Street Journal.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Market Center.

3.) The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Market Center
Chances are you've seen it while watching a report on the day's financial news headlines, in particular financial news pertaining to the Asia-Pacific region. It's not very historic or groundbreaking, but the ticker at the Tokyo Stock Exchange is famous in its own right!

The ticker surrounds the Market Center, which was the trading floor of the TSE until it went fully electronic in late 1998 and the floor was closed. During the heyday of the Japanese economy from the 1970s-early 1990s, this was the place where stock traders buzzed with excitement over Japan's juggernaut of an economy. These days, the Market Center is the place where reporters from around the world report financial news stories from Japan and Asia in general.

In the background behind the Market Center is the Tokyo Stock Exchange's state of the art ticker board, which displays all the latest stock quotes from around the world.

Girls operate a stock ticker at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC.

4.) The Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Another famous NYC ticker is the stock ticker that runs along the wall of the Bull and Bear Pub located inside the hotel! This ticker comes in handy for the patrons who want to know the latest stock quotes while they eat, and celebrate gains....or a rival company's losses!

In the days of old, another stock exchange board could be found at the hotel. That board has been made famous in the picture on the right, taken by Underwood and Underwood in 1918.


5.) The US and Cuban News Tickers in Havana
During the 2000s, a curious propaganda war broke out between the US and Cuban governments. At the US interests section in Havana, a news ticker was erected which displayed the latest news headlines from around the world, as well as headlines which vilified the Cuban government. Not long afterwards, the Cuban government erected billboards and flags displaying anti-American slogans, pictures, and so on which blocked the ticker from view by the Cuban public.

In 2009, the American ticker was turned off after the Obama administration came to power in the US. The propaganda feud seems to have died out since then.


Ever since the first ticker machines came into existence, building tickers have been a way to quickly relay information to passers-by. Most importantly of all, some tickers, suck as the One Times Square ticker, have become historical landmarks in their own right! Over time, these tickers will continue to relay news and information to future generations to come.

(Image Attributions: Hughes telegraph machine: Olaf. One Times Square: interrupt. TSE Market Center: ehnmark. All images used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

First off, if this is your first visit to this blog, I'd like to wish you a warm welcome and hope you enjoy your visit! Now for a little info about this little blog of mine.....

The Contemporary Night Owl was a blog created by me a little over a year ago, but has sat in mothballs ever since. At the time, I had a whole different purpose and scope in mind for it as well as a whole different topic. However, those original plans fizzled out and I've been contemplating what to do with this blog ever since. That is, until now.

I've now relaunched TCNO in the hopes of creating an entertaining and informative blog that explores pop culture and contemporary trends and events around the world, both past and present. Hopefully I'll succeed in my endeavors and if so, the late-night hours I've sat up writing these blog posts just might be worth it.:-D

Anyway, feel free to read any of the posts here and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them wherever appropriate. I always appreciate a little feedback!

For the night owl traveling around the globe (particularly in the Asia-Pacific region), one of the most frequented destinations is the night market. These markets can be found all around the world, particularly in Asian communities. Night markets are the perfect place to go and do some late-night shopping, or just stroll around, look at some goodies, and observe all the hustle and bustle among all the other night owls who would rather do anything but sleep!

Here are five of Asia's most famous night markets:

Namdaemun Market at night.

1.) Namdaemun Market. Located in Seoul, South Korea, the Namdaemun market is Korea's oldest and largest market.

Dating back to 1414, Namdaemun Market is located by the city's historical southern gate. From the time of its inception, the market has been a place where food, everyday items, fruit, clothing, and much more can be bought (mostly bought nowadays) or traded. The market boasts over 400,000 shoppers a day and has over 10,000 stores located along its alleyways!

Namdaemun Market is open 24 hours and at any given time of the day, the market is bustling with shoppers! The market is famous for its restaurants, clothing stores, cosmetics shops, luxury item shops, food shops, household item shops, and even eyeglasses shops!

A scene at the "temporary" Shilin Night Market circa 2006.

2.) Shilin Night Market. The largest market and biggest nighttime hotspot in Taipei, Taiwan, is without a doubt the Shilin Night Market.

This market, which opened in 1909, is famous for its food court, which contains over 500 different food stalls and restaurants! The market itself consists of two areas: The market itself, and all the neighboring businesses such as stores, theaters, and karaoke bars. Shilin Market is most famous for its street food and traditional food such as "frog eggs" (a type of dessert that resembles frog eggs. No actual frog eggs are used as ingredients in this dessert!), Chinese baozi, fried chicken, and sausages.

The original Shilin Market building underwent renovation beginning in 2006 and in December 2011, the newly-renovated market building opened to the world.

For anyone in Taipei looking for a good late-night snack, this is the place to find it!

A row of stalls in Temple St. Night Market.

3.) Temple Street Night Market. For the night owl living in or visiting Hong Kong who wants a good nightly dose of late-night Cantonese opera, men's fashion, traditional Chinese medicine, odd trinkets and antiques, old video tapes, Canto-pop karaoke, and Chinese fortune-tellers, they can find all this and more at the historic Temple Street Night Market in the Yau Ma Tei and Jordan areas of Kowloon.

This market is one of the busiest in Hong Kong. Over the years it has earned the nickname "Men's Road" because of the large number of vendors and stalls selling men's fashion and fashion accessories. It is also famous for its seafood restaurants and street food, antique and household accessory stalls, fortune-telling booths, and masters of traditional Chinese medicine who practice in this market.

Temple St. Night Market is also famous for being shown in a number of HK blockbuster films such as the Temple Street series of movies from the early 1990s and the 1996 Stephen Chow movie The God of Cookery.

The Liuhe Night Market.

4.) Liuhe Night Market. Another famous night market in Taiwan is Kaohsiung's Liuhe Night Market. This market is famous nationwide for its seafood and exotic food, as well as other Chinese foods.

The first food stalls opened at Liuhe in the 1940s and in 1987, it became a full-fledeged tourist-oriented night market.

Liuhe has 138 food stalls and the market itself opens at night. During the day, the market vanishes and the street is just another one of Kaohsiung's streets!

Lau Pa Sat in the daytime.

5.) Lau Pa Sat. While the old Telok Ayer Market - or Lau Pa Sat as it's more popularly known among Singaporeans - isn't quite a night market anymore, it is a popular food court and "hawker centre" that stays open through the night!

Established in 1825, Lau Pa Sat has been an integral part of Singapore's history throughout its existence. Until 1973, Lau Pa Sat was a "wet market" where seafood was sold. Nowadays it's a food center where many food stalls can be found selling dishes from all over Asia and the West.

Lau Pa Sat can also be a very lively place at night. During the weekends, jazz bands perform in the center of the market after dusk and throughout the week, hawker stands selling  a southeast Asian shish kebab-like dish known as satay pop up all around the building.

All in all, Lau Pa Sat is a lively place to have a good meal and enjoy the Singapore nightlife on a sleepless night!


These are just five of the famous night markets in Asia where a person can whittle away the nighttime hours shopping, eating, or just soaking up the atmosphere. If you know of any other night markets (or any other markets such as Pasar malam or hawker centres) in the Asia-Pacific region that are a good place to shop or just hang out in the wee hours of the morning, please tell us more about them in the Comments section below!  

For more info about these markets, here are some sites for you:
-http://www.thatfoodcray.com/2012/05/03/taipei-cray-night-market-madness-part-two-shilin/ (An excellent entry from the food blog That Food Cray about the Shilin Market. Includes a multitude of pictures.)
-http://mykafkaesquelife.blogspot.com/2011/07/liuhe-night-market-kaohsiung.html (A blog entry from My Kafkaesque Life about the Liuhe Night Market. Chock full of photos and info about the market!)


(Image of Namdaemun Market copyright: d'n'c. Shilin Market image: Senkang. Temple Street Night Market image: deror_avi. Liuhe Night Market image: Henry M. Trotter. Lau Pa Sat image: mailer_diablo. All images used via Wikimedia Commons.)