Computers & Business Machines

Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.

The museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. Computers range from the pioneering ENIAC to microcomputers like the Altair and the Apple I. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers

This Electromatic brand typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines Corporation beginning in 1935. The Electromatic typewriter was first manufactured in 1924 by the North East Electric Company.
Description
This Electromatic brand typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines Corporation beginning in 1935. The Electromatic typewriter was first manufactured in 1924 by the North East Electric Company. The North East Electric Company produced the motor and base, and used a Remington model 12 as the typewriter. The North East Electric Company became the Electromatic Typewriter Company before being purchased by IBM in 1933. In 1935 IBM produced the Electromatic Model 01 for the first time. The Electromatic operated with a motor controlling all aspects of typing, from the type bar to the carriage returns, allowing the user to operate the typewriter without their fingers ever leaving the keyboard.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940
ID Number
1987.0544.01
catalog number
1987.0544.01
accession number
1987.0544
This is a Corona Special typewriter that was manufactured by the L. C. Smith Corona Company during the 1920s. The Corona Special came in a variety of different colors besides gold including lavender, light maroon, channel blue, mountain ash scarlet, cream, and bruce green.
Description
This is a Corona Special typewriter that was manufactured by the L. C. Smith Corona Company during the 1920s. The Corona Special came in a variety of different colors besides gold including lavender, light maroon, channel blue, mountain ash scarlet, cream, and bruce green. The typewriter had a three-row QWERTY keyboard, and the typewriter’s carriage could fold down onto the keyboard making it compact and portable.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920 - 1941
maker
L. C. Smith & Corona Typewriters Inc.
ID Number
ME.334780
catalog number
334780
accession number
314637
serial number
x646413
This electric typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation around 1935. IBM purchased Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. in 1933, taking over its Rochester, New York factory.
Description
This electric typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation around 1935. IBM purchased Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. in 1933, taking over its Rochester, New York factory. After a variety of improvements IBM issued the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 in 1935. The innovation of electric typewriters was that each type bar hit the paper with the same force, and that force was more powerful than manual typewriters. This was especially useful in business situations as multiple carbon copies could be produced. IBM continued producing typewriters, including the very popular Selectric model, throughout the 20th century until 1990.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1948
ca 1948
maker
International Business Machines Corp.
ID Number
ME.336753
catalog number
336753
accession number
1978.2227
serial number
156065
This Electromatic brand typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines Corporation beginning in 1935. The Electromatic typewriter was first manufactured in 1924 by the North East Electric Company.
Description
This Electromatic brand typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines Corporation beginning in 1935. The Electromatic typewriter was first manufactured in 1924 by the North East Electric Company. The North East Electric Company produced the motor and base, and used a Remington model 12 as the typewriter. The North East Electric Company became the Electromatic Typewriter Company before being purchased by IBM in 1933. In 1935 IBM produced the Electromatic Model 01 for the first time. The Electromatic operated with a motor controlling all aspects of typing, from the type bar to the carriage returns, allowing the user to operate the typewriter without their fingers ever leaving the keyboard.
This typewriter bears a label from the Rossford Ordnance Depot, a depot in Toledo, Ohio that was used to supply the military with jeeps and cars during World War II.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1941 - 1945
maker
International Business Machines Corp.
ID Number
ME.325366
catalog number
325366
accession number
254085
serial number
11293060
Date made
1947
maker
University of Pennsylvania
ID Number
COLL.ENIAC.000001
The Royal Typewriter Company manufactured this Royal Magic Margin typewriter around 1940. The typewriter’s patented Magic Margin design allowed the typist to set both the left and right hand margins with a simple push of a lever.
Description
The Royal Typewriter Company manufactured this Royal Magic Margin typewriter around 1940. The typewriter’s patented Magic Margin design allowed the typist to set both the left and right hand margins with a simple push of a lever. With easy margin-switching, the Royal KMM could easily address envelopes, tabulate figures, and create tables.
The Royal Typewriter Company was founded in 1906 by Thomas Fortunes Ryan and Edward B. Hess, with Ryan providing the capital and Hess providing the inventiveness. Hess owned over 150 patents, many of which were assigned to the Royal Typewriter Company. Hess’s most noteworthy patents related to increasing the ease of typing, including an accelerating typebar, anti friction roller escapement, Magic Margins, and selective touch control.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940
maker
Royal Typewriter Company
ID Number
ME.311904
accession number
156624
catalog number
311904
serial number
2557008
This metal badge reads "Cruft Laboratory, Staff No. 62, Harvard University", and was donated to the Smithsonian by Grace Murray Hopper (1906–1992).
Description
This metal badge reads "Cruft Laboratory, Staff No. 62, Harvard University", and was donated to the Smithsonian by Grace Murray Hopper (1906–1992). Hopper had joined the United States Naval Reserves in December 1943 and attended the Naval Reserve Midshipman’s School for Women through June 1944. She was then posted to the U.S. Navy’s Computation project that was housed at the Cruft Laboratory.
Hopper had a PhD in mathematics (Yale 1934) and her assignment was to write computer code for the Mark I computer, formally known as the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator. Hopper continued working at the Harvard Computational Laboratory until 1949 although she, along with other women in the Naval Reserve, had been released from active duty in 1946.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1944
ID Number
1989.0093.01
accession number
1989.0093
catalog number
1989.0093.01
This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer. It has a black bakelite frame with metal interior and side. There is a single coil in the frame. A single plug and sixteen prongs extend from one side.
Description
This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer. It has a black bakelite frame with metal interior and side. There is a single coil in the frame. A single plug and sixteen prongs extend from one side. The coil is wrapped with a white covering.
Compare 324282.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
1983.3006.02
nonaccession number
1983.3006
catalog number
1983.3006.02
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is black.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is black.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324283
accession number
248831
catalog number
324283
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is silver-colored.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is silver-colored.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324282
accession number
248831
catalog number
324282
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This twelve-pole double throw relay has a white double coil and two plugs.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This twelve-pole double throw relay has a white double coil and two plugs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324286
accession number
248831
catalog number
324286
This is the control panel and tape transport for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically.
Description
This is the control panel and tape transport for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The Mark I was one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight. Four drums carry punched tapes with programs.
References:
I. Bernard Cohen and Gregory W. Welch with the cooperation of Robert V. D. Campbell, Makin' Numbers: Howard Aiken and the Computer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
I. Bernard Cohen. Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer, Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 1999.
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323581
accession number
248831
catalog number
323581
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is black.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is black.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324281
accession number
248831
catalog number
324281
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is silver-colored.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is silver-colored.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324284
accession number
248831
catalog number
324284
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains a commutator with two plastic pieces, numbered around a circular opening to denote contacts.
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains a commutator with two plastic pieces, numbered around a circular opening to denote contacts. The numbers are the integers from 0 to 9. In addition the object includes a gear, contacts, a clutch and brushes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324287
accession number
248831
catalog number
324287
This machine has a metal case painted brown, and sits on top of eight cash drawers arranged in two columns of four drawers. It has four columns of plastic keys for registering dollars and cents ($10 to $90, $1 to $9, 10 cents to 90 cents, and 1cent to 9 cents).
Description
This machine has a metal case painted brown, and sits on top of eight cash drawers arranged in two columns of four drawers. It has four columns of plastic keys for registering dollars and cents ($10 to $90, $1 to $9, 10 cents to 90 cents, and 1cent to 9 cents). A column right of the number keys keys lettered A, B, D, E, H, K, L and M. A keyhole is right of each of the lettered keys. Right of these is a lever for setting the operation to be carried out and the motor bar.
Left of the keyboard are registers marked with the same letters as those in the column of lettered keys. Left of this is the space for the paper tape. The machine has serial number 390234. It also is marked: X 094(4) RS-8C.
This particular cash register was used at Lansburgh Department Store in downtown Washington, D.C. When City Stores Company purchased Lansburgh, they gave the machine to the Smithsonian.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940
maker
National Cash Register Company
ID Number
MA.334908
maker number
3905234
accession number
314157
catalog number
334908
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The twelve-pole double throw relay has a single black coil and two plugs.Currently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The twelve-pole double throw relay has a single black coil and two plugs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324285
accession number
248831
catalog number
324285
Data was entered into the ASSC Mark I on punched tapes like this one.
Description
Data was entered into the ASSC Mark I on punched tapes like this one. As many as twenty-four holes could be punched in a single row.
Reference:
Harvard Computation Laboratory, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic-Sequence Controlled Calculator, President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1946, especially chapter 2.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324289
accession number
248831
catalog number
324289
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I.
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains seven commutators, each with a plastic piece on top of it with a hole in it, with numbers stamped around the hole to denote contacts. It has a metal frame, gear, contacts, clutch and brushes.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.324288
accession number
248831
catalog number
324288
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight.Currently on loan
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The cast iron object has gearing drive, card holder, electrical connection, and weight.
Location
Currently on loan
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323580
accession number
248831
catalog number
323580
This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy.
Description
This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323579
accession number
248831
catalog number
323579
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. More specifically, it is protective housing for card feed and hopper of the MarkCurrently not on view
Description
This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. More specifically, it is protective housing for card feed and hopper of the Mark
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323583
accession number
248831
catalog number
323583
This is the output typewriter for printing results from the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I . The electric typewriter has complete number keys. Other keys lack a printing bar.
Description
This is the output typewriter for printing results from the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I . The electric typewriter has complete number keys. Other keys lack a printing bar. Various reels are attached to the sides of the machine.
A mark on the fornt of the machine reads: ELECTROMATIC. A tag on the back of the machine lists relevant patents and indicates that the typewriter is a product of the Electric Writing Division of IBM.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1944
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
MA.323582
accession number
248831
catalog number
323582
This component from the Automatic Sequence Controled Calculator, an electromechanical computer built by IBM for Harvard University, is stored in a plexiglass case.Currently not on view
Description
This component from the Automatic Sequence Controled Calculator, an electromechanical computer built by IBM for Harvard University, is stored in a plexiglass case.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1944
maker
IBM
ID Number
1988.3099.02
nonaccession number
1988.3099
catalog number
1989.3099.01

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