"Where the Common People Could Speculate": The Ticker, Bucket Shops, and the Origins of Popular Participation in Financial Markets, 1880-1920.

The article examines factors that led to the broadening of stock ownership between 1880 and 1920 in the United States and discusses the role technology played in opening stock and commodity markets to the middle and working classes. With the introduction of the stock ticker came the rise of "bucket shops," places where would-be investors wagered small sums on the price of stocks and commodities. The money placed on a stock conferred no ownership and bucket shops were essentially betting parlors, but the author states that they did provide an inexpensive and easy way for people of modest means to speculate, even if only in their imagination, in the financial markets. The bucket shops, which ended up being illegal in almost all states, were deplored by actual brokers and investors because they gave the impression that legitimate financial exchanges were nothing more than gambling dens wrapped in the trappings of respectability. However, according to the author, bucket shops were a factor in the huge percentage increase in American stock ownership between 1900 and 1922.