Pneumatic Tube Transport, or PTT, allows the users to put solid objects into a network of tubes for transportation along those tubes by compressed air or by partial vacuum.
These tubes became popular with retailers in the late 19th and early 20th Century, who used them to send messages or money over short distances within their stores, or in rare instances, across the City.
Early pneumatic post or mail systems were invented by the Scottish engineer William Murdoch, in the 19th century. The London Pneumatic Despatch Company’s postal systems were said to be powerful enough to transport humans during trial runs (but they never actually put a person inside).
In July 1875 D. Brown patented a pneumatic tube system called the ‘Cash Carrier’. Designed for in-store use, the cash carrier transported cash and coins through large department stores and was used to great effect for many decades. One of the earliest retail adopters of the PTT system was Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia, which installed the system in 1880, just a year after installing electric lighting.
Its use as a mail and message carrier was also effective. For nearly sixty years (1897 to 1953), the New York City Post Office used PTT (operated by the Tubular Dispatch Company) to distribute mail. In 1914 almost a third of New York City’s first class mail was distributed via this method.
While email has superseded the use of pneumatic tubes for delivering messages, they are still widely used by banks, hospitals, factories and larger department stores for transporting small items and money. For retailers, the tubes offer a way to move cash from the checkout to the back office, and send change back to the cashiers.
Contribution to Retail History
Transporting cash and till receipts via the PTT had a big impact on the safety and efficiency of money handling within the retail environment. Cashiers finishing a shift could send their takings and corresponding till roll direct to the accounting office, enabling the office to differentiate and account for takings across cashiers and shifts. A much safer way of transporting cash, it reduced theft and store ‘shrinkage’ by removing the risk of takings being intercepted on the journey from till to accounts and ensured the tills never held too much money at any one time. As a genius invention that customers could see being put to work, the PTT system also created a bit of ‘theater’ in the store.