Abstract: A tape display device comprises a housing supporting a pair of parallel rollers between which a tape is adapted to be wound back and forth to display different visual information contained on the tape. The rollers are driven by a continuous belt via an electric motor. One of the rollers is a tension roller which maintains tension in the tape as it is wound back and forth between the rollers. The tension roller consists of a cylinder having end caps for providing bearing surfaces which bear on respective bushes in the housing to provide rotational mounting of the roller. A drive pinion on the outside of the housing has a stub-axle which extends through the bush and end cap and into the cylinder. A spiral tension spring is attached between the end of the stub-axle and a flange of the end cap.