Computers & Business Machines

Apple II Personal Computer

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

Topic: Tabulating Equipment

IBM 001Card Punch

For the first half of the 20th century, much data was entered into data processing machines using punched cards. This machine for punching such cards was manufactured by International Business Machines Corporation of New York.This key-driven, manual punch has 14 black keys.
Description
For the first half of the 20th century, much data was entered into data processing machines using punched cards. This machine for punching such cards was manufactured by International Business Machines Corporation of New York.
This key-driven, manual punch has 14 black keys. Twelve are for the 12 rows on a punch card. These are labeled from 0 to 9, X, and blank. Another key moves the card one space to the left and the last releases it. Keys are fed in from the right. A portion of a punch card attached in back of the machine has a pointer attached to it which allows one to determine the column of the card one is punching. The device is set up for 80-column cards and punches rectangular holes. A cylindrical protrusion extends from the back of the machine.
A metal tag attached to the front of the object reads: PROPERTY OF (/) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. (/) 001-12036-JH (/) ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, U.S.A. A mark stamped into the back of the card bed reads: 01 202.Two rods are marked at the front below the punching position: 202.
IBM cards with rectangular holes and 80 columns were introduced in 1928. Cards with 12 rows of holes date from the early 1930s.
Reference:
E. W. Pugh, Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995, pp. 48–49.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1930
maker
International Business Machines Corporation
ID Number
MA.333894
accession number
304350
catalog number
333894

Wright Model 2000 Card Punch

This portable key punch for preparing punched cards was manufactured by the Massachusetts firm of Wright Line. Punched cards were central to large-scale data processing in the United States from the introduction of the Hollerith tabulating machine in the 1890s through the 1970s.
Description
This portable key punch for preparing punched cards was manufactured by the Massachusetts firm of Wright Line. Punched cards were central to large-scale data processing in the United States from the introduction of the Hollerith tabulating machine in the 1890s through the 1970s. Tabulating machine manufacturers such as IBM and Remington Rand (later Sperry Univac) rented card punches. Wright Line, founded in 1934, was one of relatively few independent data processing accessory manufacturers. It made and sold a large variety of files, magnetic tapes, card punches, and related machines.
The device is designed for 80-column punch cards such as those made for IBM computers. It has a metal base painted black with 12 number keys and an "S" key. These keys, with their white key tops, are attached to a moveable carriage. A single punch card fits in the carriage. A mark on the top reads: Wright (/) PUNCH (/) MODEL 2600.
This punch came to the Smithsonian from the United States Naval Observatory, a longtime user of tabulating equipment for scientific purposes.
References:
Accession file.
"E. Stanley Wright, Manufacturer, 66," New York Times, September 8, 1959, p. 35.
Wright Line, Data Processing Accessories Catalog ’69, p. 38.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1970
maker
Wright Line
ID Number
2005.0174.01
accession number
2005.0174
catalog number
2005.0174.01

Powers Tabulating Machine Component

This very small section of a Powers tabulating machine comes from the adding machine part of the device. It consists of two shaped metal pieces held together by a rivet such that one swings freely.
Description
This very small section of a Powers tabulating machine comes from the adding machine part of the device. It consists of two shaped metal pieces held together by a rivet such that one swings freely. It has no maker’s marks.
Reference:
Powers Accounting Machine Corporation, Powers Tabulating Equipment, Book 3, New York: Powers Accounting Machine Corporation, 1923, Plate 507, Plate 607 (AM Sec 150). This document is 1992.3215.03.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920s
maker
Powers Accounting Machine Corporation
ID Number
1991.3180.01
nonaccession number
1991.3180
catalog number
1991.3180.01

Tabulating Machine Company Card Punch

From the early 20th century into the 1970s, Americans used punched cards to enter data onto tabulating equipment and then electronic computers.
Description
From the early 20th century into the 1970s, Americans used punched cards to enter data onto tabulating equipment and then electronic computers. This early key-operated punch is based on patents of the inventor Herman Hollerith.
The machine has a shaped iron base painted black that includes a grooved plate for cards, a mechanism at the back for advancing cards being punched, a single row of punches, and a group of 12 keys for punching round holes with these punches. Another key at the back releases the card guide. Nine of the thirteen rubber key tops are missing.
A metal label on the front of the machine reads: THE TABULATING MACHINE CO (/) NEW YORK CITY (/) PATENTED (/) JUNE 18, 1901. SEPT. 10. 1901. A mark at the left front edge of the card bed reads: 17849. Two rods are marked at the front below the punching position: 234.
The Tabulating Machine Company was formed by Hollerith in 1896 and merged to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911. This firm became International Business Machines Corporation. The key punch was introduced in the U.S. in 1901 and remained in essentially the same form for over half a century.
Compare MA.335634 and MA.334635.
Reference:
G. D. Austrian, Herman Hollerith: Forgotten Pioneer of Information Processing, New York: Columbia University Press, 1982, pp. 174–175.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1902
distributor
Tabulating Machine Company
maker
Tabulating Machine Company
ID Number
MA.335634
accession number
1977.0114
catalog number
335634

Wiring Diagram Removed from Card Punch

This diagram was removed from a Remington Rand card punch with museum number MA.336297.Currently not on view
Description
This diagram was removed from a Remington Rand card punch with museum number MA.336297.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MA.305981.06.01
accession number
305981
catalog number
305981.06.01

Gang Punch Made by the British Tabulating Machine Company

In the 1880s American engineer Herman Hollerith devised a system to compile statistical information by entering data on individuals onto punched cards, allowing holes in the cards to admit wires and complete electrical circuits, and using electric counters to accumulate totals.Ho
Description
In the 1880s American engineer Herman Hollerith devised a system to compile statistical information by entering data on individuals onto punched cards, allowing holes in the cards to admit wires and complete electrical circuits, and using electric counters to accumulate totals.
Hollerith devised this kind of punch, which he called a gang punch, to punch data that was common to several cards. For data on a census, this might be the enumeration district. For payroll applications, it would be the date of payday.
In 1904 a British firm organized to lease Hollerith machines in Britain and much of the rest of the wold. A subcontractor manufactured punch cards. From the 1920s. the British Tabulating Machine Company manufactured punch card equipment itself. This gang punch is one of its products.
This punch has a 12x10 array of holes.The rows of holes are labeled Y, X, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Six metal cylinders fit into the holes for punching, with a manually operated press to push them down. Cards are fed and removed by hand, from right to left. On the left is a metal plate with zigzag rows of holes on its top front and top back edge. These may be used to indicate the position of the card before punching.
A tag on the right side of the punch under the card bed reads: THE (/) BRITISH TABULATING MACHINE Co (/) VICTORIA HOUSE, SOUTHHAMPTON ROW, LONDON, W.C.1 (/) GREAT BRITAIN AND U. S. A. - BRITISH BUILT. A stamp on the press reads: 5390.
References:
M. Campbell-Kelly, ICL: A Business and Technical History, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
H. Hollerith, "Quick Setting Press," U. S. Patent 1,193,390, August 1, 1916. The machine shown in this patent has levers for setting the pins. This is not true with this object.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920s
maker
British Tabulating Machine Company
ID Number
MA.320563
accession number
241402
catalog number
320563

Tabulating Machine Component, Control Panel for an IBM 403 Tabulating Machine

By the late 1940s, the calculations and printout of IBM accounting machines were determined by setting a plugboard like this one and then feeding in data punched on cards.
Description
By the late 1940s, the calculations and printout of IBM accounting machines were determined by setting a plugboard like this one and then feeding in data punched on cards. This control panel was used specifically in an IBM 403 tabulating machine, a device introduced in the late 1940s and distributed at least into the late 1960s.
The object has a rectangular metal frame with a metal handle on one of the long edges. It is divided into three sections, each containing a plastic circuit board with numerous holes. Many colorful plastic and cloth-coated wires are plugged into the holes. The board is wired for calculating invoices.
A red tag attached under the handle reads: 403 INVOICE. A tag glued under the panel reads: MFG. BY (/) MAC PANEL (/) COMPANY. This tag also reads: HIGH POINT (/) N. C. and: TYPE 913. A mark stamped at the bottom of one circuit board reads: TYPE 402-403 22573 PRINTED IN USA.
According to the company website, MAC Panel Company was founded in High Point in 1958.
This example came from a programmer who worked with punch card equipment and computers from 1940 until 1985.
References:
IBM, IBM 402, 403 and 419 Accounting Machine Manual of Operation, New York: IBM, 1953, pp. 4–7. This is 2006.3088.03.20.
Accession file.
M. Campbell-Kelly, ICL: A Business and Technical HistoryOxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, pp. 90–92.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
maker
International Business Machines Corporation
MAC Panel Company
ID Number
2006.0174.01
accession number
2006.0174
catalog number
2006.0174.01

Remington Rand Model 3 Card Punch

From the early 20th century, a few American offices used punched cards to enter data onto accounting machines. In 1929 the Powers Accounting Machines Division of Remington Rand, Inc., introduced a "double deck" punch card for data entry.
Description
From the early 20th century, a few American offices used punched cards to enter data onto accounting machines. In 1929 the Powers Accounting Machines Division of Remington Rand, Inc., introduced a "double deck" punch card for data entry. It had two sets of 45-column rows, for a total of 90 columns. This desk-sized, electrically powered device punched both 45 and 90 column cards. Keys at the right front set the machine. Pressing the "TRIP" bar in front of these activated the punch. The machine could be set to punch duplicate data, or to duplicate cards. With special key tops, not present on this version of the machine, one could enter alphabetic data, not simply numbers.
The machine has a mirror, which should be mounted, for viewing cards.
A tag on the front of the machine reads: Remington Rand. It lists patent numbers ranging from 1,643,779 (issued September 27, 1927) to 2,203,355 (issued June 4, 1940). A red tag attached to one edge reads: 020300 14946 4. A metal tag near one corner reads: VA9-14946.
References:
L. Heide, Punched-Card Systems and the Early Information Explosion 1880–1945, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009, esp. pp. 76–96.
Powers Accounting Machines Division of Remington Rand, Inc., "Powers Reference Manual," Buffalo, N.Y.: Powers Accounting Machines, 1935.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940
maker
Remington Rand Inc.
ID Number
1998.0211.01
accession number
1998.0211
catalog number
1998.0211.01

Model Relating to Powers Tabulating Equipment

The wooden base of this model holds a metal container with a paper punch card that fits in it. A metal piece swings from a crosspiece above the card. The base also holds supports for another metal crosspiece. Three metal pieces rotate with this crosspiece.
Description
The wooden base of this model holds a metal container with a paper punch card that fits in it. A metal piece swings from a crosspiece above the card. The base also holds supports for another metal crosspiece. Three metal pieces rotate with this crosspiece. The base also holds two larger, facing metal rectangles. One rectangle has a plastic piece screwed to the top.
A mark on the right side of the punch card reads: POWERS ACCOUNTING MACHINE COMPANY (/) ACCOUNTS PAYABLE. A mark on the left side of the punch card reads: P1384. The punched holes are round.
A piece of paper pasted to the top of the base reads: This model represents my new (/) invention of a tabulator in connec- (/) tion with perforated cards, elimina- (/) ting a pin box of 540 pins and sub- (/) stitution forty-five levers instead. (/) Also eliminating connection box, with (/) both of these improvements the speed (/) will be doubled and such machine will (/) be small in size, cheaper to build, (/) more flexible and easier to manipulate. (/) August 19, 1924 (/) James Powers. Also signing the document were Fred J. Dole, Charles E. Whiteman and Achilles Rovegno, all of whom had associations with Francis H. Richards of New York, Powers’s patent attorney.
No patent corresponding to this invention has been found.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
maker
James Powers
ID Number
1991.0871.03
accession number
1991.0871
catalog number
1991.0871.03

Hollerith Tabulating Machine

During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the United States Census.
Description
During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the United States Census. Hollerith's tabulating system included a punch for entering data about each person onto a blank card, a tabulator for reading the cards and summing up information, and a sorting box for sorting the cards for further analysis. The tabulator is shown at the center in the photograph.
Hollerith's tabulating system won a gold medal at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, and was used successfully the next year to count the results of the 1890 Census. His inventions formed the starting point of a company that would become IBM.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Hollerith, Herman
ID Number
MA.312895
accession number
171118
catalog number
312895

Punch Card Marked DO-5081, Received with Key Punch

This eighty-column paper punch card is rectangular, with the upper left corner cut off. It is punched symmetrically. Text along the top reads: MANUAL KEY PUNCH - ABOUT 70 YEARS OLD. A form number printed along the bottom reads: DO-5081.
Description
This eighty-column paper punch card is rectangular, with the upper left corner cut off. It is punched symmetrically. Text along the top reads: MANUAL KEY PUNCH - ABOUT 70 YEARS OLD. A form number printed along the bottom reads: DO-5081. Further text reads: PRINTED IN U.S.A.
Received with card punch with museum number 1987.0601.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930s
maker
IBM
ID Number
1987.0601.01.02
accession number
1987.0601
catalog number
1987.0601.01.02

Card Showing Images of Remington Rand Univac Punched Cards

This wallet-sized card shows punched cards on both sides. One is a ninety-column card with round holes, the other an eighty-column card with rectangular holes. The image of the ninety-column card has text along the left side that reads: Printed in U. S. A. REMINGTON RAND.
Description
This wallet-sized card shows punched cards on both sides. One is a ninety-column card with round holes, the other an eighty-column card with rectangular holes. The image of the ninety-column card has text along the left side that reads: Printed in U. S. A. REMINGTON RAND. The image of the eighty-column card has text along the left side that reads: Printed in U. S. A. REMINGTON RAND U-2173.
Remington Rand tabulating machines had used ninety-column punched cards. By 1959, Remington Rand computers could use either ninety-column punched cards, punched with round holes, or eighty-column cards, punched with rectangular holes. The latter form of card had been introduced by IBM. This small card shows the choices.
Reference:
Gille Associates, Inc., The Punched Card Data Processing Annual, 1, 1959, pp. 43-47.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1955
ca 1959
author
Remington Rand Univac. Division of Sperry Rand
ID Number
1997.3012.04.06
nonaccession number
1997.3012
catalog number
1997.3012.04.06

IBM Manual Card Punch

For much of the 20th century, data was entered into data processing machines using punched cards.
Description
For much of the 20th century, data was entered into data processing machines using punched cards. This is a machine for punching such cards manufactured by International Business Machines Corporation of New York.
The tabletop key-driven machine punches twelve rectangular holes per column in 80-column cards. On the right are ten rubber digit keys, a key marked X and a blank key. Keys above these keys move cards one space to the left and all the way to the left. Cards are inserted and removed by hand. The machine rests in an iron base painted black. An enclosed metal cylinder protrudes from the back. The instrument sits at an angle in a wooden box painted green. In the box is a pointed metal rod.
The stamped number on the back right of the machine reads: 98 146. A mark painted across the back reads: HARRIET 8EC GR. A sticker attached to the back of the box reads: I-606 (/) NOT FOR (/) SALE. A mark on the side of the box reads: NASC (/) Rm 207-A (/) BLD #1. There are spaces for tags on the front of the machine, but no tags.
An 80-column punch card and a photocopy of a piece of International Time Recording Company stationery came with this object.
In 1901 Herman Hollerith patented a card punch with keys that was the forerunner of this instrument. IBM cards with rectangular holes and 80 columns were introduced in 1928. Cards with 12 rows of holes date from the early 1930s. This particular machine was for many years the property of IBM employee Robert B. Roberts.
References:
E. W. Pugh, Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995, p. 49.
Accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1930
maker
IBM
ID Number
1987.0601.01
accession number
1987.0601
catalog number
1987.0601.01

Framed Photograph of a Hollerith Pantograph Card Punch

This gelatin-silvered photograph shows an early version of the pantograph card punch that Herman Hollerith patented in 1890.
Description
This gelatin-silvered photograph shows an early version of the pantograph card punch that Herman Hollerith patented in 1890. The photograph is matted, and has a glass cover and wooden frame.
Four places on the photograph are marked in red ink: 2.
For related object, see MA.312896.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
ID Number
MA.317982.04
accession number
317982
catalog number
317982.04

Powers Tabulating Equipment Component

This component consists of two aluminum pieces that hold ten parallel flexible rods. It may have served as a flexible connector for Powers Accounting Machine Company equipment.A mark stamped on one of the pieces reads: 1---U.
Description
This component consists of two aluminum pieces that hold ten parallel flexible rods. It may have served as a flexible connector for Powers Accounting Machine Company equipment.
A mark stamped on one of the pieces reads: 1---U. Several letters scratched on the other piece read: 1Y J-POWERS. A mark scratched on the other side of this piece reads: 1914.
Reference:
William W. Lasker, "Flexible-Connection Box," U.S. Patent 1,311,565, June 24, 1919.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914
maker
James Powers
ID Number
1991.0871.02
accession number
1991.0871
catalog number
1991.0871.02

Pamphlet, Electronic Data-Processing for the Line Official

This pamphlet introduces the use of electronic computers for data processing to managers. It was developed by the Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation in conjunction with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company. It has Univac form number U2448.Currently not on view
Description
This pamphlet introduces the use of electronic computers for data processing to managers. It was developed by the Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation in conjunction with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company. It has Univac form number U2448.
Location
Currently not on view
author
Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation
ID Number
1997.3012.05.02
catalog number
1997.3012.05.02
nonaccession number
1997.3012

Electrical Component Associated with Herman Hollerith

This metal component includes a wooden framework painted black. An interrupter is at one end, and an electromagnet within the box. Herman Hollerith was the first inventor to build successful computing devices based on electromagnets.
Description
This metal component includes a wooden framework painted black. An interrupter is at one end, and an electromagnet within the box. Herman Hollerith was the first inventor to build successful computing devices based on electromagnets. This may have been a part of a tabulating machine.
This piece does not seem to match any drawing in Hollerith’s patents.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
ID Number
1995.3037.01
nonaccession number
1995.3037
catalog number
1995.3037.01

Record of Punching Cards at the New York Central for the Month of April 1904

From 1895 inventor Herman Hollerith wooed the New York Central Railroad as a commercial customer for his tabulating machines. This small paper card records his success.
Description
From 1895 inventor Herman Hollerith wooed the New York Central Railroad as a commercial customer for his tabulating machines. This small paper card records his success. It reports that in April 1904, key punch operators at the Central punched a total of 428,502 cards, averaging 258 cards per clerk per hour. The record for one clerk was 70,535 cards punched, averaging 413 cards per hour.
Reference: G. D. Austrian, Hermann Hollerith: Forgotten Pioneer of Information Processing , New York: Columbia University Press, 1982, pp. 111–141.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1904
ID Number
1977.0114.08.01
accession number
1977.0114
catalog number
1977.0114.08.01

Pamphlet, Functions of Univac Punched-Card Equipment

This pamphlet provides illustrated descriptions of UNIVAC punched card machines and computers. Ir is a publication of the Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation, with form number U-1363 Rev. 5.Currently not on view
Description
This pamphlet provides illustrated descriptions of UNIVAC punched card machines and computers. Ir is a publication of the Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation, with form number U-1363 Rev. 5.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
author
Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation
ID Number
1997.3012.05.01
catalog number
1997.3012.05.01
nonaccession number
1997.3012

IBM Model 24 Card Punch

This gray desk-sized machine for punching cards to be used as computer input has a table with keyboard at the front and a card hopper, card bed, and card stack at the back. The keyboard is cabled to the punch.
Description
This gray desk-sized machine for punching cards to be used as computer input has a table with keyboard at the front and a card hopper, card bed, and card stack at the back. The keyboard is cabled to the punch. Cards move from the hopper at the top left, down into the card bed, across the bed to the left, and up into the stack on the left side. It is possible to punch individual cards and to have several cards programmed to be punched identically in some columns. The model IBM 24 does not print data entered at the top of the card.
A mark on the punch reads: IBM 24 (/) CARD PUNCH. Another mark there reads: PROPERTY OF (/) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. (/) 024 30864 SO.
References:
IBM, Reference Manual IBM 24 Card Punch IBM 26 Printing Card Punch, White Plains, N.Y.: IBM, 1965. The first version of this manual appeared in 1949.
IBM, Field Engineering Maintenance Manual 24-Base Machines, White Plains, N.Y.: IBM, 1965. This manual has museum number 1987.0528.03 and was received with the machine.
John Diebold & Associates, "IBM 024 and 026 Card Punches," Automatic Data Processing Equipment, Chicago: Cudahy Publishing Company, 1957, section 1A 380.1, pages 2–6.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965
maker
International Business Machines Corporation
ID Number
1987.0528.01
accession number
1987.0528
catalog number
1987.0528.01

Hollerith Card Sorter

During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the U.S. Census.
Description
During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the U.S. Census. Hollerith's tabulating system included a punch for entering data about each person onto a blank card, a tabulator for reading the cards and summing up information, and a sorting box for sorting the cards for further analysis.
This third part of the system, the sorter, is shown on the right in the photograph. It is an oak box with 26 vertical compartments arranged in two rows. Each compartment has a brass cover that is held in place by an electric catch connected to the tabulator. The sorter is connected by a cable to the tabulator. Once a card is read by the tabulator, a compartment opens in the sorter, indicating where the card should be placed for further counting. The front and back sides of the sorter open so that one may remove stacks of cards from the compartments.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
maker
Tabulating Machine Company
ID Number
MA.312897
accession number
171118
catalog number
312897

Punch Card Probe

This cylindrical metal stainless steel rod is about 8" long and resembles a crochet hook. The metal is serrated along the middle part of the rod. One end is hooked, the other is flattened and U-shaped.
Description
This cylindrical metal stainless steel rod is about 8" long and resembles a crochet hook. The metal is serrated along the middle part of the rod. One end is hooked, the other is flattened and U-shaped. The donor worked with tabulating machines and then computer equipment from the 1940s into at least the 1960s.
Reportedly the hook was used to line up punched cards and the flattened end to complete holes that had not punched properly.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
1950, roughly
ID Number
2006.3088.01
nonaccession number
2006.3088
catalog number
2006.3088.01

Counter from a Hollerith Tabulating Machine

This is a single counter from a Hollerith tabulating machine. It has square brass pieces on top and bottom, with a brass mechanism in between. A paper-covered metal dial on top is divided around the edge into 100 equal parts. Two hands are on the face of the dial.
Description
This is a single counter from a Hollerith tabulating machine. It has square brass pieces on top and bottom, with a brass mechanism in between. A paper-covered metal dial on top is divided around the edge into 100 equal parts. Two hands are on the face of the dial. Advancing the small hand by 100 (one revolution) advances the large hand by one. Hence the counter can read up to 9,999.
A mark around the center of the dial reads: THE HOLLERITH (/) ELECTRIC TABULATING SYSTEM (/) PATENTED, 1889.
Compare to the dials on MA.312895.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
ID Number
MA.335638
catalog number
335638
accession number
1977.0114

IBM Verifier for Punched Cards

This key-driven, manual verifier has 15 black rubber keys. Twelve are for the 12 columns on a punch card. These are labeled from 0 to 9, X, and blank. Two other keys move the card one space, and the last key releases the card. Cards are fed manually from the left.
Description
This key-driven, manual verifier has 15 black rubber keys. Twelve are for the 12 columns on a punch card. These are labeled from 0 to 9, X, and blank. Two other keys move the card one space, and the last key releases the card. Cards are fed manually from the left. A mechanism at the center of the machine senses whether or not a hole has been punched in a given line. If one depresses a key corresponding to a hole punched on the card, the card advances one place to the left. If the hole on the card does not match what is punched, the card does not move. Depressing the blank key at the front of the verifier then cuts a hole at the bottom of the column in which the error occurs. Erroneous cards are then retyped on a card punch. If the hole and the key typed match, the card advances one column.
A mark stamped on the base of the machine toward the left reads: 05111993-A0.
IBM introduced verifiers as part of its line of punch card equipment around 1917. Cards with 12 columns date from the early 1930s onward.
Reference:
C. J. Basche, L. R. Johnson, J. H. Palmer and E. W. Pugh, IBM’s Early Computers, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986, pp. 7–8, 11.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1935
maker
International Business Machines Corporation
ID Number
1979.0931.01
accession number
1979.0931
catalog number
1979.0931.01

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