The TelePrompTer Corporation was founded in the 1950s by Fred Barton , Jr. , Hubert Schlafly and Irving Berlin Kahn . Barton was an actor who suggested the concept of the teleprompter as a means of assisting television performers who had to memorize large amounts of material in a short time . Schlafly built the first teleprompter in 1950 . It was simply a mechanical device , operated by a hidden technician , located near the camera . The script , in inch-high letters , was printed by a special electric typewriter on a paper scroll , which was advanced as the performer read , and the machines rented for the then-considerable sum of $ 30 per hour . In 1952 former President Herbert Hoover used a Schlafly-designed speech teleprompter to address the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago . U.S. Governor Paul A. Dever spoke at the 1952 Democratic National Convention , also held in Chicago , using a mechanical-roll teleprompter on a long pole held by a TV technician in the convention audience , while the 1952 Republican National Convention used a smaller teleprompter placed in front of the speaker 's rostrum . Mechanical prompters were still being used as late as 1992 , as was the case with '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''
1952 Republican National Convention
1952 Republican National Convention
Teleprompter