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 packet of materials was provided to the donor when he took a course on the use of tabulating equipment at IBM in Endicott, New York, in the 1950s. Included are a name tag, a punch card, three postcards, two leaflets, and an envelope.
Description
This packet of materials was provided to the donor when he took a course on the use of tabulating equipment at IBM in Endicott, New York, in the 1950s. Included are a name tag, a punch card, three postcards, two leaflets, and an envelope.
date made
1950s
maker
IBM
ID Number
1995.3080.05
nonaccession number
1995.3080
catalog number
1995.3080.05
This is a wooden plexiglass and paper model of an IBM 1401 computer system. Model pieces include:1. The IBM 1401 central processing unit with control panel.2. A disc storage unit.3. Dual IBM 729 magnetic tape unit (two tape drives - possibly two units)4.
Description
This is a wooden plexiglass and paper model of an IBM 1401 computer system. Model pieces include:
1. The IBM 1401 central processing unit with control panel.
2. A disc storage unit.
3. Dual IBM 729 magnetic tape unit (two tape drives - possibly two units)
4. A shorter IBM 7330 magnetic tape unit with one tape drive
5. A yet shorter tape unit (for paper tape? might be IBM 1101)
6. IBM 1406 added memory
7. an IBM 1402 card read-punch
8. an IBM 1403 printer with paper.
Dimensions given are for system arranged compactly.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1959
maker
IBM
ID Number
2013.0129.01
accession number
2013.0129
catalog number
2013.0129.01
This portion of a model of a Univac computer includes four wooden, paper and cloth pieces painted gray, namely:1. input/output units on desk, including paper tape units and Flexowriter2. adding machine and other units on desk.3. Uniservo tape drive4.
Description
This portion of a model of a Univac computer includes four wooden, paper and cloth pieces painted gray, namely:
1. input/output units on desk, including paper tape units and Flexowriter
2. adding machine and other units on desk.
3. Uniservo tape drive
4. another computer peripheral, possibly a card reader
Engineering Research Associates began development of its 1103 in 1949 and introduced the first copy of the machine in 1953, the year after the firm was acquired by Remington Rand.
There is a plastic covering on the bottom of some pieces.
Reference:
Remington Rand Univac, Univac model 1103A Computer Scientific Programming Manual.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1953
maker
Remington Rand Inc.
ID Number
2013.3049.01
nonaccession number
2013.3049
catalog number
2013.3049.01
The Unityper II, a modified Remington electric typewriter, was equipped with electronic circuits that converted type strokes into pulse patterns and recorded them on magnetic tape. The tape housing is located slightly above and behind the typewriter carriage.
Description
The Unityper II, a modified Remington electric typewriter, was equipped with electronic circuits that converted type strokes into pulse patterns and recorded them on magnetic tape. The tape housing is located slightly above and behind the typewriter carriage. The coded tapes were used as input for UNIVAC computers.
Reference: Remington Rand Univac, "Operator’s Manual Unityper II," 1955.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1957
maker
Remington Rand Univac. Division of Sperry Rand Corporation
ID Number
1982.0638.02
accession number
1982.0638
catalog number
1982.0638.02
This metal frame contains a cylindrical metal rod with nineteen red and orange tiles soldered to it. The tiles each have an array of six colored circles on them.The object is associated with Margaret Fox. May come from the SEAC computer.Currently not on view
Description
This metal frame contains a cylindrical metal rod with nineteen red and orange tiles soldered to it. The tiles each have an array of six colored circles on them.
The object is associated with Margaret Fox. May come from the SEAC computer.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1955
ID Number
2013.3034.08
catalog number
2013.3034.08
nonaccession number
2013.3034
During 1959 the first plans for the computer language COBOL emerged as a result of meetings of several committees and subcommittees of programmers from American business and government.
Description
During 1959 the first plans for the computer language COBOL emerged as a result of meetings of several committees and subcommittees of programmers from American business and government. This heavily annotated typescript was prepared during a special meeting of the language subcommittee of the Short-Range Committee held in New York City in November. COBOL programs would actually run the following summer, and the same program was successfully tested on computers of two different manufacturers in December 1960.
Reference: Jean E. Sammet, "The Early History of COBOL," History of Programming Languages, ed. Richard L. Wexelblat, New York: Academic Press, 1981, 199-277.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959
maker
Conference on Data Systems Languages. Language Subcommittee of the Short-Range Committee
ID Number
2010.3050.4
catalog number
2010.3050.4
nonaccession number
2010.3050
This article by Emile C. Schurmacher describes Samuel Alexander and the SEAC. It ran in The Los Angeles Times on October 26, 1952. The object is glued to paper sheet. It is associated with Margaret Fox.Currently not on view
Description
This article by Emile C. Schurmacher describes Samuel Alexander and the SEAC. It ran in The Los Angeles Times on October 26, 1952. The object is glued to paper sheet. It is associated with Margaret Fox.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
maker
National Bureau of Standards
ID Number
2013.3034.28
nonaccession number
2013.3034
catalog number
2013.3034.28
Two IBM 80-column punch cards, tan. One card has nothing written on the front but the back has a drawing of a circuit, the date FEB 13 1958, and the words Bias Supplies; Wm Pulser; Arithmetic.
Description
Two IBM 80-column punch cards, tan. One card has nothing written on the front but the back has a drawing of a circuit, the date FEB 13 1958, and the words Bias Supplies; Wm Pulser; Arithmetic. The second card has a 5 column, 2 row table drawn in pencil on the front and circuit drawings in pencil on the back.
These two cards were made by IBM for the Electronic Computer Project at Princeton, NJ. This project made the IAS computer, considered by some to be the first American computer (it had stored programs, which the ENIAC did not). These cards may represent the first punch cards used with an American electronic computer.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1955
ca 1955
maker
IBM
ID Number
CI.320250.05
accession number
1958.220575
catalog number
320250.05
The IAS Computer was named for the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The computer was built from 1946 to 1951 at the Institute under the direction of John von Neumann, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study.
Description
The IAS Computer was named for the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The computer was built from 1946 to 1951 at the Institute under the direction of John von Neumann, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study. Funds for the computer came from the Institute, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and several military agencies of the U.S. Government. It cost several hundred thousand dollars. The goal of developing the IAS was to make digital computer designs more practical and efficient.
For further information about the computer, see Willis H. Ware. The History and Development of the Electronic Computer Project at the Institute for Advanced Study (1953). This is available online.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1946-1951
director
von Neumann, John
previous owner
Institute for Advanced Study
maker
von Neumann, John
Institute for Advanced Study
ID Number
CI.320250.01
catalog number
320250
accession number
220575
This Quiet-Riter Eleven model portable typewriter was manufactured by the Remington Rand Corporation during the 1950s.
Description
This Quiet-Riter Eleven model portable typewriter was manufactured by the Remington Rand Corporation during the 1950s. The portable typewriter has all the features of a full sized model including an 88 character standard keyboard, a miracle tab that set and cleared stops making indenting easier, a cylinder that allowed you to type closer towards the bottom of the frame, and a shock resistant Cycolac frame. The typewriter came in a hard case for easier portability.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950 - 1959
1950s
ID Number
1993.0452.01
catalog number
1993.0452.01
accession number
1993.0452
In this small color image a message on the blackboard behind Slutz reads: DEAR (/) RALPH (/) I'm going away to Calif. (/) Pleas don't neglect (/) the plants until I come back. (/) Love ISR. This may be a message from collegue Ida S.
Description
In this small color image a message on the blackboard behind Slutz reads: DEAR (/) RALPH (/) I'm going away to Calif. (/) Pleas don't neglect (/) the plants until I come back. (/) Love ISR. This may be a message from collegue Ida S. Rhodes.
The photograph is laminated with plastic on front and back. It may have a paper core.
The object is associated with Margaret Fox.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 1950s
maker
National Bureau of Standards
ID Number
2013.3034.23
nonaccession number
2013.3034
catalog number
2013.3034.23
Jack Kilby’s demonstration of the first working integrated circuit (IC) in 1958 revolutionized the field of microelectronics.
Description (Brief)
Jack Kilby’s demonstration of the first working integrated circuit (IC) in 1958 revolutionized the field of microelectronics. Instead of using discrete transistors, resistors, and capacitors to form a circuit, Kilby’s IC design integrated a transistor, a capacitor, and the equivalent of three resistors all on the same chip. Kilby fabricated three types of circuits to test his idea: a flip flop, a multi vibrator and a phase shift oscillator. This chip is the phase-shift oscillator.
The first IC was made out of a thin slice of germanium (the light blue rectangle) as a bulk resistor and contained a single bipolar transistor (under the large aluminum bar in the center). It had four input/output terminals (the small vertical aluminum bars), a ground (the large bar on the far right), and wires of gold. The microchips of today have been improved by hundreds of innovations, but Kilby’s prototype was an important early step.
date made
1958
maker
Texas Instruments
Kilby, Jack S.
ID Number
1987.0487.320
accession number
1987.0487
collector/donor number
G00012
catalog number
1987.0487.320
Not long after the end of World War II, developers in both the United States and Great Britain set out to build new forms of room-sized mainframe computers. One challenge was storing the information generated by with a computer program. Frederick C.
Description
Not long after the end of World War II, developers in both the United States and Great Britain set out to build new forms of room-sized mainframe computers. One challenge was storing the information generated by with a computer program. Frederick C. Williams and Tom Kilburn headed a team at the University of Manchester in Manchester, England, that developed a computer memory in which bits of data were stored on the charged screen of a cathode ray tube. Information on the screen was refreshed every fifth of a second. Such an electrostatic memory came to be called a Williams tube.
Williams tubes were first used on the Manchester Mark I, a computer built at the university there in 1948 and used until 1950. Impressed by the machine, the British government contracted with the Manchester firm of Ferranti, Ltd., to build nine commercial versions of it. These appeared between 1951 and 1957. This Williams tube comes from the Ferranti Mark I built for the AVROE Company in Manchester in 1954. That computer was used there for ten years to solve problems associated with aircraft design, management, and programmable machine tools.
There are six vacuum tubes across the front of the amplifier, all marked: MULLARD. The first on the right is markedL 606VD, the second: 606UB, the thrid: 6064SL. A mark in the upper right corner reads: FERRANTI.
The contents of the memory of a Mark I was represented by a grid of dots on the screens of the Williams tubes. As early as 1951, British schoolmaster Christopher Strachey began work on a program that allowed him to play draughts (checkers) on the Ferranti Mark I at the University of Manchester. Using this program, it was possible to make the screen of one Williams tube appear like a checkerboard – though not to show moves of individual pieces. Other computer programmers – and later video game enthusiasts – would go further.
References:
Accession file.
Martin Campbell-Kelly, “Christopher Strachey,” , 7, #1, January, 1985, pp. 19-42.
J. W. Cortada, Historical Dictionary of Data Processing Technology, New York: Greenwood Press, 1987, pp. 256-258.
Simon Lavington, Early British Computers, Bedford, Massachusetts: Digital Press, 1980.
date made
1954
maker
Ferranti Limited
ID Number
CI.334386
catalog number
334386
accession number
309902
By 1959 the mechanism for accumulating totals on NCR cash registers had become relatively compact. This cash register component from that period has the counters needed to represent eight totals along one shaft.
Description
By 1959 the mechanism for accumulating totals on NCR cash registers had become relatively compact. This cash register component from that period has the counters needed to represent eight totals along one shaft. It is somewhat smaller than the mechanism for a single total used in 1894. This smaller mechanism was used in cash register MA.316702.
Reference:
Accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959
maker
National Cash Register Company
ID Number
MA.316704
accession number
225455
catalog number
316704
Punched cards were used not only in government, business, and universities, but by labor unions. These ninety-column paper punch cards are pink, green and white, and white with a green stripe. The first pink card is marked: FIELD ENGINEERING SERVICE REPORT.
Description
Punched cards were used not only in government, business, and universities, but by labor unions. These ninety-column paper punch cards are pink, green and white, and white with a green stripe. The first pink card is marked: FIELD ENGINEERING SERVICE REPORT. The green and white cards are marked: CUSTOMER ENGINEERING SERVICE REPORT. The white card with one green stripe is marked: AFL-CIO PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS, indicating the user. The last pink card is marked: UNIVAC P-11782
The cards were received in a Remington Rand interpreter with catalog number 336300 (305981.03).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1955
ID Number
MA.305981.09
accession number
305981
catalog number
305981.09
In the 1950s Americans increasingly bought groceries in supermarkets, which served large numbers of customers. Consumers selected their own goods, and took them to a clerk who rang up sales.
Description
In the 1950s Americans increasingly bought groceries in supermarkets, which served large numbers of customers. Consumers selected their own goods, and took them to a clerk who rang up sales. To make transactions as efficient as possible, the National Cash Register Company introduced machines that dispensed coins automatically, avoiding time and errors associated with making change. This change-making cash register went on the market in 1954, with a new model in 1958. This example was given to the Smithsonian by NCR in 1959, on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the company.
Reference:
Accession file.
date made
1959
maker
National Cash Register Company
ID Number
MA.316702
accession number
225455
catalog number
316702
Punched cards were used not only in government, business, and universities, but by labor unions. These white, eighty-column punch cards are printed in gray. They have spaces for the name, address, local number and ledger id number of member of the AFL-CIO.
Description
Punched cards were used not only in government, business, and universities, but by labor unions. These white, eighty-column punch cards are printed in gray. They have spaces for the name, address, local number and ledger id number of member of the AFL-CIO. A mark along the left edge reads: AFL-CIO PUBLICATIONS. A mark on the right edge reads: BP-16309 BSC. The cards were received in a tabulating machine (reproducer) with catalog number 336301.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1955
ID Number
MA.305981.08
accession number
305981
catalog number
305981.08
This NCR cash register has four drawers in two columns. It has four columns of plastic digit keys, white for dollars, tens of dollars, and 5 cents, and black for cents. A column of four keys right of the number keys has keys labeled A1, 6, B2 and B2.
Description
This NCR cash register has four drawers in two columns. It has four columns of plastic digit keys, white for dollars, tens of dollars, and 5 cents, and black for cents. A column of four keys right of the number keys has keys labeled A1, 6, B2 and B2. Right of these is a lever, which can be set on the operation desired, and a motor bar. The paper tape holder is on the right side, the indicators are above the keyboard, and the electric cord is at the back. The serial number is 4931871, the model number 1544 (4D-1).
The machine 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
1952
maker
National Cash Register Company
ID Number
MA.334906
maker number
4931871
accession number
314157
catalog number
334906
This pioneering textbook on operations research was coauthored by Philip M. Morse (1903-1985), a professor of physics at M.I.T., and quantum chemist George E. Kimball (1906-1967), who also was on the faculty there. During World War II the two men worked for the U.S.
Description
This pioneering textbook on operations research was coauthored by Philip M. Morse (1903-1985), a professor of physics at M.I.T., and quantum chemist George E. Kimball (1906-1967), who also was on the faculty there. During World War II the two men worked for the U.S. Navy on a project relating to the mathematical analysis of Nazi U--boat operations. After the war, they envisioned a more general theory of mathematical analysis of industrial, governmental, and military operations, which is presented here.
This copy of the book is from the personal library of William F. Eberth (1905-1976), who spent fifteen years of his career with the Atomic Energy Commission working in South Africa. The copy is not annotated.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1951
maker
Morse , Philip M.
Kimball, George E.
ID Number
MA.319872.10
accession number
1975319872
catalog number
319872.10
This manufacturer's model of a cash register has a metal case painted black and four columns of black and white digit keys. To the right of these is an operating bar and various function keys. At the left is a paper tape. At the top are indicator digits in an enclosed case.
Description
This manufacturer's model of a cash register has a metal case painted black and four columns of black and white digit keys. To the right of these is an operating bar and various function keys. At the left is a paper tape. At the top are indicator digits in an enclosed case. At the front are two rows of register wheels. A box below is in the shape of a cash drawer. The clearance key is on the right front.The machine has a black cord.
This example is from the collection of the Patent Department of Burroughs Corporation. According to the accession file, it was an invention of Walter Pasinski. A patent case relating to it was abandoned March 5, 1953.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1982.0794.19
catalog number
1982.0794.19
accession number
1982.0794
The problems described in this pamphlet concern "exception payrool" and "file maintenance."Currently not on view
Description
The problems described in this pamphlet concern "exception payrool" and "file maintenance."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1957
maker
IBM
ID Number
1995.3080.04.19
nonaccession number
1995.3080
catalog number
1995.3080.04.19
This manual replaces the first version of 1956.Currently not on view
Description
This manual replaces the first version of 1956.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1957
maker
IBM
ID Number
1995.3080.04.20
nonaccession number
1995.3080
catalog number
1995.3080.04.20
This is the preliminary manual of operation for the IBM 705 electronic data processing system, as revised in February, 1956.Currently not on view
Description
This is the preliminary manual of operation for the IBM 705 electronic data processing system, as revised in February, 1956.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1956
maker
IBM
ID Number
1995.3080.04.18
nonaccession number
1995.3080
catalog number
1995.3080.04.18
Thisillustrated pamphlet describes new methods of "preparing programs" for the IBM 705 electronic data processing machine, compiling instructions written "in a simple notation" and automatically translating them into a language understood by the machine.Currently not on view
Description
Thisillustrated pamphlet describes new methods of "preparing programs" for the IBM 705 electronic data processing machine, compiling instructions written "in a simple notation" and automatically translating them into a language understood by the machine.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1957
maker
IBM
ID Number
1995.3080.04.21
nonaccession number
1995.3080
catalog number
1995.3080.04.21

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