Your Receipt – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow!

Back in the old days of Woolworth, the receipt was made of REAL paper and the cash register required a ribbon to make it work.  Along with a customer receipt, the register also generated a journal receipt that was wound around a second spool that was locked in the register.  When either of the rolls turned red or green along the edges (depending on the manufacturer of the rolls), it was near time to replace that particular receipt roll.  The customer receipt roll was easy enough to install, but the journal roll required a manager to open and change that one.  The manager would then take that roll and label it with the current date, register number and their initials.  It was then placed in a bag which was taken to the office at the end of every day.

When the registers were upgraded, the old fashion dual spool system was replaced with a cartridge system that was just snapped into place.  Otherwise, the same procedures still applied and the receipt rolls were in fact still real paper.

Staples started out on real paper rolls, but was simplified by being a single roll system.  The journal was kept on record in the main office on the computer instead of a physical tape roll.  When the company swapped to the modern touch screen system, the paper rolls disappeared and was replaced with thermal paper rolls. 

Unlike regular paper, thermal paper have a waxy-like feel to it and over time, it fades.  Not only does it fade, but sometimes the print disappears completely and the customer is left with a blank paper.  It seems that the sun causes this fading and can also cause the paper to look burnt along the edges to make it look like an old fashioned colonial document.  Certainly this is not good for either the employee or the customer as the receipt is effectively garbage after a period of time.

Sadly, most all companies use thermal paper nowadays as it is cheaper and doesn’t require a ribbon.  The downside is that the receipt becomes crappy after a few days and really isn’t good for any tax records.  I really would like to see real paper come back, but I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.

Up Next:  Credit Card Sign-Ups