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: Mathematics

Punch Card Used to Retrieve U.S. Patent Papers

This cream colored punch card has 53 columns versus the standard IBM 80 column punch card.
Description
This cream colored punch card has 53 columns versus the standard IBM 80 column punch card. The card is marked PO-33, PATENT ORDER (Letter Unit) on the left edge.
The following information is punched and printed on the card: patent number (1256951), quantity (001), customer number (002775), serv. code (02), month (1), day (75).
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.3122.04
nonaccession number
2017.3122
catalog number
2017.3122.04

ComputerLand NYC Store Images

These four color Polaroid photographs, taken in 1981, show the interior of the first ComputerLand store to open in Manhattan.
Description
These four color Polaroid photographs, taken in 1981, show the interior of the first ComputerLand store to open in Manhattan. James Egan was one of four owners.
In the first pair of images, Egan is the man in the light brown suit and the man kneeling in front of three people in ViewSonic bird costumes.
The second pair of images are of interior views of the store with customers browsing.
James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.
ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.
The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1981
ID Number
2017.3153.07
nonaccession number
2017.3153
catalog number
2017.3153.07

ComputerLand Name Tag

This plastic name tag has a dark blue background with white text that reads: JAMES EGAN. Above the name is a white ComputerLand logo. On the back is a metal pin.James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc.
Description
This plastic name tag has a dark blue background with white text that reads: JAMES EGAN. Above the name is a white ComputerLand logo. On the back is a metal pin.
James Egan, Joseph Alfieri, Robert Kurland, and Thomas Vandermeulen of Facks Computer, Inc. were the owners of the first ComputerLand store in Manhattan.
ComputerLand was a nationwide chain of retail computer stores. They opened their first store in 1976 in Hayward, California. By 1990 most stores had closed and in early 1999 the company officially disbanded.
The objects in accession 2017.0321 and non-accession 2017.3153 are related.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.3153.03
nonaccession number
2017.3153
catalog number
2017.3153.03

Software on CD, The Collection, Outlaws from America's Wild West Release 1.00

The compact disc contains live computer viruses (over 500 viruses), anti-virus programs and utilities, source listings for viruses, virus simulator programs, virus information programs and text, virus creation tools, and newsletters and literature related to viruses.
Description
The compact disc contains live computer viruses (over 500 viruses), anti-virus programs and utilities, source listings for viruses, virus simulator programs, virus information programs and text, virus creation tools, and newsletters and literature related to viruses. Title of the cd is "The Collection Outlaws from America's Wild West." It was sold by American Eagle Publications, Inc. in Tucson, Arizona for "serious researchers and programmers who have a legitimate need to know the information it contains." The copyright date is 1994 and the release version is 1.00.
See related object 2017.3018.02
Location
Currently not on view
copyright date
1994
publisher; distributor
American Eagle Publications, Inc.
ID Number
2017.3018.01
nonaccession number
2017.3018
catalog number
2017.3018.01

Software on CD (Computer Viruses), The Collection, Outlaws from America's Wild West Release 2.00

The compact disc contains live computer viruses (over 500 viruses), anti-virus programs and utilities, source listings for viruses, virus simulator programs, virus information programs and text, virus creation tools, and newsletters and literature related to viruses.
Description
The compact disc contains live computer viruses (over 500 viruses), anti-virus programs and utilities, source listings for viruses, virus simulator programs, virus information programs and text, virus creation tools, and newsletters and literature related to viruses. Title of the cd is "The Collection Outlaws from America's Wild West." It was sold by American Eagle Publications, Inc. in Tucson, Arizona for "serious researchers and programmers who have a legitimate need to know the information it contains." The copyright date is 1996 and the release version is 2.00.
See related object 2017.3018.01
Location
Currently not on view
copyright date
1996
publisher; distributor
American Eagle Publications, Inc.
ID Number
2017.3018.02
nonaccession number
2017.3018
catalog number
2017.3018.02

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

Badge from Cruft Laboratory of Harvard University

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

Electromechnical Computer Components, ASSC Mark I Relays

These eleven electrical components are from the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), and electromechanical computer built by IBM for Harvard University and used at the Harvard Computation Laboratory duing and after World War II.Currently not on view
Description
These eleven electrical components are from the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), and electromechanical computer built by IBM for Harvard University and used at the Harvard Computation Laboratory duing and after World War II.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
IBM
Harvard University
ID Number
1983.3006.01
nonaccession number
1983.3006
catalog number
1983.3006.01

Book, The Great International Math on Keys Book

This paperback volume, developed by the Texas Instruments Learning Center, is an introduction to using a handheld electronic calculator (particularly a TI-30 or SR-40) to do mathematics.Currently not on view
Description
This paperback volume, developed by the Texas Instruments Learning Center, is an introduction to using a handheld electronic calculator (particularly a TI-30 or SR-40) to do mathematics.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1976
publisher
Texas Instruments Incorporated
author
Texas Instruments Learning Center
ID Number
1982.3001.16
catalog number
1982.3001.16
nonaccession number
1982.3001

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

Electromechnical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

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

Documents Distributed by Grace Murray Hopper

This group of documents and photocopies of documents was distributed by Grace Murray Hopper at a lecture to Smithsonian volunteers on March 15 1985. The dates of the materials range from 1955 until 1985.
Description
This group of documents and photocopies of documents was distributed by Grace Murray Hopper at a lecture to Smithsonian volunteers on March 15 1985. The dates of the materials range from 1955 until 1985. Topics include preliminary definitions for a data processing compiler, data base machines, privacy, microcomputers, and certified compilers for different computer languages
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1955-1985
ID Number
1985.3088.02
nonaccession number
1985.3088
catalog number
1985.3088.02

National Cash Register, Model 1852-E

This large cash register has a wood and metal exterior painted black, and five columns of keys. The keys in the leftmost column indicate the type of transaction.
Description
This large cash register has a wood and metal exterior painted black, and five columns of keys. The keys in the leftmost column indicate the type of transaction. Right of these keys are four columns of 9 keys, the leftmost for $90 down to $10, the next for $9 to $1, the next for 90 cents to 10 cents, and the last for 9 cents to 1 cent. Hence the machine can have purchases entered of up to $99.99. It is a National model 1852-E, made by National Cash Register Company of Dayton, Ohio. It has serial number 2925055 and dates from 1929.
The paper tape for dispensing receipts is on the left. Above the keys are indicators showing the type of transaction and the amount. A wide cash drawer is at the bottom of the machine. The machine is electrically operated, but there is a place for an operating crank on the right side.
According to the donor, the register was used at Mosely's Jewelry Store on U Street in Washington, D.C. It has an indentation from a 32-caliber bullet, produced in one of the many times the store was robbed. The base price for this machine new was $350.00 in 1927.
References:
Equipment Research Corporation, Business Machines and Equipment Digest, 1928, vol. 1, section 10–1, p. 18.
Accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1929
maker
National Cash Register Company
ID Number
1986.0899.01
catalog number
1986.0899.01
accession number
1986.0899
maker number
2925055

Booklet, A Report of Automatic Records, Inc., with Leaflet on EMC (Electronic Merchandise Control)

This booklet describes the development of the 3M Company Merchandise Data Recorder (see 1984.0932.01 for an example).
Description
This booklet describes the development of the 3M Company Merchandise Data Recorder (see 1984.0932.01 for an example). In a plastic pocket at the back of the binder is an advertising leaflet discussing EMC (Electronic Merchandise Control) and showing the system in use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
ID Number
1984.0932.02
accession number
1984.0932
catalog number
1984.0932.02

Hough's Security Cash Recorder

In the late 19th century, as American shopkeepers hired strangers to work in their stores, they showed a new concern for keeping track of retail transactions.
Description
In the late 19th century, as American shopkeepers hired strangers to work in their stores, they showed a new concern for keeping track of retail transactions. Azel Clarence Hough (1859-1946), the son of a creamery owner in South Butler, New York, took out a range of patents for the design and improvement of cash drawers between 1892 and 1899 (U.S. patents 484501, 486107, D22024, 534795 and 618034). His ideas served as the basis of the products of the Hough Cash Recorder Company of Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.
This example of Hough’s Security Cash Recorder is a large oak box with an oak lid. At the front on the right is a lock for the cash drawer; the drawer is on the lower left front. On top is an opening that shows a roll of paper. Salesclerks were required to enter a total on this paper roll and advance it in order to open the cash drawer.
This model is quite similar to the Hough Security Cash Register No. 70 shown in an advertisement reproduced in Crandall and Robins, p. 318. This machine sold for $15. Hough Cash Recorder Company advertised in Hardware Dealer’s magazine as late as June, 1906. However, its products were soon outpaced by the autographic registers sold by NCR.
In the early 20th century, Hough became interested in the manufacture of wooden blinds, and took out several related patents. He first manufactured shades in South Butler, then in Worcester, Massachusetts, and then in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Hough Shade Corporation he formed survives under the name of Hufcor.
References:
Dorothy Wiggins, “Town of Butler Agricultural & Comprehensive Plan," South Butler Public Forum – September 15, 2008, pp. 1–2.
American Lumberman, vol. 1, 1940, p. 58.
Richard R. Crandall and Sam Robins, The Incorruptible Cashier, vol. 2, Vestal, N.Y.: Vestal Press, 1990, pp. 316–318.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895
maker
Hough Cash Recorder Company
ID Number
1983.0881.01
accession number
1983.0881
catalog number
1983.0881.01

Nanoseconds Associated with Grace Hopper

This bundle consists of about one hundred pieces of plastic-coated wire, each about 30 cm (11.8 in) long. Each piece of wire represents the distance an electrical signal travels in a nanosecond, one billionth of a second.
Description
This bundle consists of about one hundred pieces of plastic-coated wire, each about 30 cm (11.8 in) long. Each piece of wire represents the distance an electrical signal travels in a nanosecond, one billionth of a second. Grace Murray Hopper (1906–1992), a mathematician who became a naval officer and computer scientist during World War II, started distributing these wire "nanoseconds" in the late 1960s in order to demonstrate how designing smaller components would produce faster computers.
The "nanoseconds" in this bundle were among those Hopper brought with her to hand out to Smithsonian docents at a March 1985 lecture at NMAH. Later, as components shrank and computer speeds increased, Hopper used grains of pepper to represent the distance electricity traveled in a picosecond, one trillionth of a second (one thousandth of a nanosecond).
Reference: Kathleen Broome Williams, Grace Hopper: Admiral of the Cyber Sea, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2004.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1985
distributor
Hopper, Grace Murray
ID Number
1985.3088.01
catalog number
1985.3088.01
nonaccession number
1985.3088

Book, Financial Engineering

Otto Berger Goldman, a consulting engineer and professor of heat engineering at the Oregon State Agricultural College, published thes "text for consulting, managing and designing engineers and for students" in 1920.
Description
Otto Berger Goldman, a consulting engineer and professor of heat engineering at the Oregon State Agricultural College, published thes "text for consulting, managing and designing engineers and for students" in 1920. It was inteneded to assist engineers in determining the "financial efficiency of undertakings." In addition to an introduction, the book includes chapters on cost segregation, fundamental financial calculations, basic costs, vestances, unit cost determination, determination of size of a system for best financial efficience, and determination of type and size of units. A second edition would appear in 1923.
This copy of the book is from the personal library of mining engineer William F. Eberth (1905-1976), who spent fifteen years of his career with the Atomic Energy Commission working in South Africa.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920
maker
Goldman, O. B.
ID Number
MA.319872.05
accession number
1975319872
catalog number
319872.05

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

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

National Cash Register, Model 1544-(4D-1)

This machine has four wooden drawers arranged in a single column in a wooden case. The register, in a brown metal case, sits atop the drawers. It has four columns of digit keys (red for dollars, black for cents, with a red five-cent key).
Description
This machine has four wooden drawers arranged in a single column in a wooden case. The register, in a brown metal case, sits atop the drawers. It has four columns of digit keys (red for dollars, black for cents, with a red five-cent key). Right of these is a column with keys marked A, B, D, E. Right of these is a lever now broken, a motor bar, and a section for the paper tape. The indicators are above the keys. The machine is electric. It has serial number 3672484 and model number 1544-(4D-1).
The machine was used at the 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
1937
maker
National Cash Register Company
ID Number
MA.334907
maker number
3672484
accession number
314157
catalog number
334907

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay

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

Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Double Throw Relay

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

Mechanism from National Cash Register

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

National Cash Register, Eight-Drawer

This machine has eight cash drawers, arranged in two columns of four drawers each. The register, with its brown metal case, sits atop these. It has four columns of digit keys (red for dollars, white for cents, and a red 5-cent key).
Description
This machine has eight cash drawers, arranged in two columns of four drawers each. The register, with its brown metal case, sits atop these. It has four columns of digit keys (red for dollars, white for cents, and a red 5-cent key). Right of these are eight letter keys (A, B, D, E, H, K, L, and M) and a total key. Right of these is a lever which can be set at the desired operation, and a motor bar. The machine also has an operating handle. The paper tape is on the left and the glass-covered indicators are at the top.
The machine has serial number 390234. It also is marked: X 094(4) RS-8C.
This cash register was used at the 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
1939
maker
National Cash Register Company
ID Number
MA.334909
maker number
3848004
accession number
314157
catalog number
334909

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

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