Counters

Introduction

Some of the simplest computing devices made and sold are aids to counting. From ancient to early modern times, scribes performing calculations moved small stones or metal tokens along lines. More recently, mechanical counters have been widely used to count crowds and objects, and as parts of machines.

In the nineteenth century, several inventors patented mechanical counters. Patent models surviving in the Mathematics Collections at the National Museum of American History suggest the range of their concerns. Paul Stillman in 1854 and Daniel Davies and Edward Wright in 1876 patented improvements in rotary measures, such as were used in revolution counters for steam engines. In 1874, Alexander Atkinson patented a counting register to help track quantities of grain. As the amount of leisure time available to Americans increased, three inventors around 1880 saw fit to patent counters to keep score in games.

By the turn of the century, mechanical revolution counters were incorporated in laboratory apparatus, in factories using engines, in distance measures such as odometers, and in cash registers. Americans manufactured them and imported them from abroad. Government offices bought and made counters to compile statistics, and employers used them to figure out the bills and coins they needed to meet payroll.  Of course counters were incorporated in a wide range of vehicles and meters. Handheld counters are used to this day to count people entering and leaving buildings and on public transit.

References:

D. Baxandall, rev, J. Pugh, Calculating Machines and Instruments, London: Science Museum, 1975, p. 66.

Examples of counting tokens are in the Smithsonian's National Numismatics collection.

During the second half of the 19th century, steam engines played a growing role in American life. This U.S. Patent Office model is for a counter used to count the number of revolutions of a steam engine.
Description
During the second half of the 19th century, steam engines played a growing role in American life. This U.S. Patent Office model is for a counter used to count the number of revolutions of a steam engine. Paul Stillman (about 1811-1856) was one of three brothers who ran the New York City machine shop Novelty Iron Works. He took a particular interest in steam gauges,manometers, steam indicators, and pyrometers.
In 1848 Stillman took out a patent for a device to measure the pressure of steam and the extent of the vacuum in steam boilers and engines. This invention won him recognition from the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. The measuring device on this instrument was analog, not digital. In 1854 he patented this digital improvement in counting machines. The following year, he patented a water gauge for steam boilers. Stillman’s son, Francis H. Stillman, also became a distinguished mechanical engineer.
The patent model has a wooden base and sides, with a metal plate across the top with four windows in it. Underneath each window is a cogged metal wheel, with the digits from 0 to 9 around the rim. To the right, on the same shaft as the wheels, is a brass crank that fits through a fifth hole in the plate. Moving the crank forward advances the rightmost wheel by one and, if necessary, activates the carry mechanism.
A mark on a paper tag nailed to the frame reads: Paul Stillman (/) Appa’ for Registering Numbers (/) Dec 15th 1852. A mark on the back of the base reads: 11577 (/) L 1201-1208.
The Novelty Iron Works made and sold Stillman’s register before and after his death. An 1864 price list, included at the back of a new edition of his The Steam Engine Indicator, and the Improved Manometer Steam and Vacuum Gauges; Their Utility and Application, indicates that the registers then sold with dials in 8”, 10” and 13” sizes, and had prices of $65.00 to $75.00 apiece.
References:
P. Stillman, “Improvement in Counting-Machines,” U.S. Patent 11,577, August 22, 1854.
P. Stillman, The Steam Engine Indicator, and the Improved Manometer Steam and Vacuum Gauges; Their Utility and Application, New York: Van Nostrand, 1864, pp. 82-84, 94-95. Editions of this book appeared at least as early as 1851.
"Deceased Inventors," Scientific American, 20 #2 (Sept 20 1856), p. 11.
“Francis H. Stillman: A Biographical Sketch,” Cassier’s Magazine, 33, #6 (April 1908), p. 684.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1854
patentee
Stillman, Paul
maker
Stillman, Paul
ID Number
MA.309327
accession number
89797
catalog number
309327
This roughly built wooden and metal device is the U.S. patent model for a counter patented by Alexander P. Atkinson of Vermont, Ill., on November 7, 1871. It has an open wooden frame, with a window at the front for viewing the registering wheels.
Description
This roughly built wooden and metal device is the U.S. patent model for a counter patented by Alexander P. Atkinson of Vermont, Ill., on November 7, 1871. It has an open wooden frame, with a window at the front for viewing the registering wheels. The three wheels are mounted on a crosswise shaft, along with a fourth wheel, which drives the others. Lowering a crank on the right side of the frame moves the driving wheel and the rightmost registering wheel one unit back. Returning the crank upright moves the driving but not the registering wheel.
The wheels are wooden. The registering wheels are covered with paper bands around the edge which have the digits marked from 0 to 9. Screws are used as gear teeth in much of the mechanism. The device carries. According to the patent, the machine was intended for use in counting the number of bushels or other measures of grain that passed a given point.
A mark on the front above the window reads: A.P. Atkinson (/) Vermont (/) Ill’s.
Alexander P. Atkinson (1840-1906) lived in Vermont, Ill., and founded the Vermont Loan and Building Association in 1889. He remained President of that bank into the 20th century.
References:
Alexander P. Atkinson, “Improvement in Counting-Registers,” U.S. Patent 120,609, November 7, 1871.
J. S. McCullough, Twelfth Annual Report of the Condition of Building, Loan and Homestead Associations Doing Business in Illinois, Springfield, Illinois: Phillips Brothers, 1903, p. 307.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
patentee
Atkinson, Alexander P.
maker
Atkinson, Alexander P.
ID Number
MA.309342
accession number
89797
catalog number
309342
This small U.S. Patent Office model for a counter has the shape of an old-fashioned door key, with a dial protruding from the middle. A screw attached to a nozzle links to a shaft and rotates the dial. The edge of this dial is divided into 100 parts, which are labeled by 10s.
Description
This small U.S. Patent Office model for a counter has the shape of an old-fashioned door key, with a dial protruding from the middle. A screw attached to a nozzle links to a shaft and rotates the dial. The edge of this dial is divided into 100 parts, which are labeled by 10s. A fixed pointer screwed to the middle of the dial indicates its reading. A second nozzle is tied to the object. The object illustrates the patent for “An Improvement in Rotary Devices” (#182,177) taken out by Daniel Davis Jr. and Edward Wright on September 12, 1876. There is no patent model tag.
Daniel Davis Jr. (1844-1919) was the son of Massachusetts instrument maker Daniel Davis (1813-1887). The elder Davis retired from Boston to his home town of Princeton, Mass., in 1852 to farm. Some time after 1870, the younger Daniel Davis moved to Worcester, where he worked as a brass founder and took out a patent for water filters with one Benaiah Fitts.
Edward Wright was born in New York around 1834. He patented an improvement in pickers for looms in September 1867. He received another patent for improvement in self-acting mules for spinning in February 1870. In September 1876 Wright and Davis received the U.S. patent for improvement in rotary measures for which this object is the model.. Both men were then living in Worcester.
References:
Daniel Davis Jr. and Benaiah Fitts, "Improvement in Water-Filters," U.S. Patent 146442, January 13, 1874.
Edward Wright, “Improvement in Pickers for Looms.” U.S. Patent 69880, 16 September 1867.
Edward Wright, “Improvement in Self-Acting Mules for Spinning.” U.S. Patent 99511, 1 February 1870.
Edward Wright and Daniel Davis Jr., “Improvement in Rotary Measures.” U.S. Patent 182177, 12 September 1879.
U.S. Census, 1860, 1870, 1880.
Web site of the Princeton, Mass., Historical Society, http://www.princetonmahistory.org/people-groups/residents/daniel-davis
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
date patented
1876-09-12
patentee
Davis, Jr., Daniel
Wright, Edward
ID Number
MA.308942
catalog number
308942
accession number
89797
In the spring of 1877, to pay the interest on the public debt, the state of Virginia passed a law suggested by State Senator Samuel H. Moffett of Harrisonburg.
Description
In the spring of 1877, to pay the interest on the public debt, the state of Virginia passed a law suggested by State Senator Samuel H. Moffett of Harrisonburg. Every liquor dealer and saloon in the state was to be equipped with a so-called Moffett register to record sales of liquor, allowing state tax collectors to know taxes due. This is an example of a Moffett register. Moffett and Otis Dean of Richmond received a patent for the device in 1877.
The counter has a black iron frame with a glass window in the front and a brass crank in the back. Two holes in the base allow the register to be fixed to a counter. Under the window are six dials, each of which can read any digit from 0 to 9. The dials are marked according to the decimal place of the digit. Turning the crank at the back an entire turn rings a bell and increases the setting on the tens dial (the rightmost). On the back is a covered keyhole. The case is locked and there is no key.
A mark inside the window above the dials reads: MOFFETT REGISTER. A mark on the outside of the front reads: ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. Another mark there reads: No (/) 2872. The dials are labeled from left to right: 1 MILLION, 100 THOUSAND, 10 THOUSAND, 1 THOUSAND, 1 HUNDRED, TEN.
By 1878, use of the Moffett register reportedly was in decline.
References:
Samuel H. Moffett and Otis Dean, “Improvement in Alarm-registers for Use in Bar-rooms, &c.,” U.S. Patent 194,951, September 4, 1877.
“Virginia,” Appleton’s Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1877, ns, vol. 2, New York: Appleton, 1890., pp. 758-762.
“Virginia’s Novel Liquor Tax,” New York Tribune, September 15, 1877, p. 2.
“Decline of the Moffett Register,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 3, 1878, p. 6.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877
ID Number
MA.319732
catalog number
319732
accession number
235052
Counting the number of revolutions of a shaft allowed steamship owners to gauge the distance between ports, helped gas companies measure the quantity of their product sold, and aided engineers seeking to determine when a steam pump would require fuel.
Description
Counting the number of revolutions of a shaft allowed steamship owners to gauge the distance between ports, helped gas companies measure the quantity of their product sold, and aided engineers seeking to determine when a steam pump would require fuel. Combined with a watch, revolution counters allowed one to measure the velocity of any number of machines.
Eugène Deschiens, whose business was active in Paris from 1866 until 1894, was an eminent manufacturer of revolution counters and velocity meters (known also as tachometers). An 1884 article on tachometers reported that his instrument was “so well known we need not describe it.” His devices won prizes at national and international exhibitions. They were used on ships of both the French and the British navies, as well as by a range of other manufacturers.
This small cylindrical instrument has brass sides, a glass top, and a metal bottom painted black. Under the glass are five windows, which show digits. Steel or German silver rods extend from opposite sides of the cylinder. A section of the case contains eight steel pieces that may be used to turn these rods and hence cause the counter to count. One of these has an ivory handle. The pieces are in different shapes, so that they will link to different mechanisms.
A mark inside the glass top read: COMPTEUR (/) SYSTÈME BREVETÉ S.G.D.G. (/) No 701. Another in the same location reads: E. Deschiens (/) Constructeur (/) PARIS.
The wooden case is lined with satin and velvet and partly covered with leather. A mark on the lining of the lid reads: MÉDAILLES de MERITE VIENNE 1873 (/) OR, PLATINE & ARGENT PARIS 1875 (/) MÉCANIQUE de PRÉCISION (/) TÉLÉGRAPHIE & HOROLOGERIE (/) ÉLECTRIQUES (/) E. DESCHIENS (/) 123 Boulevard St Michel (/) PARIS.
References:
E. Deschiens, Compteur Totalisateur, [ca 1875]. This is a trade catalog.
J. E. Deschiens, “Système de compteur à mouvement alternatif ou à piston, dit: Compteur de poche,” Brevet d’invention 159,294, December 20, 1883. A copy is at: http://www.ami19.org/BrevetsFrancais/1883Deschiens/1883Deschiens.pdf.
“Compteur totalisateur de M. E. Deschiens,” Les Mondes, 32 #9, October 30, 1873, pp. 373–374.
“A New Tachometer,” Scientific American Supplement, 18, November 1, 1884, p. 7358.
J. Laffargue, “Les Compteurs et Indicateurs de Nombre de Tours,” La Nature, 22, December 2, 1893, pp. 45–46.
L’Industrie Française des Instruments de Précision, Paris: Syndicat des Constructeurs en Instruments d’Optique & de Précision, 1902. pp. 74–77. This is an advertisement by Deschiens’s successor, Alph. Darras.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1876
maker
Deschiens, Eugene
ID Number
MA.314905
catalog number
314905
accession number
212171
As the eminent British physicist James Clerk Maxwell pointed out in his Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, it was important for 19th century scientists to count the number of turns of wire laid down in constructing galvanometer coils and similar electrical instruments.
Description
As the eminent British physicist James Clerk Maxwell pointed out in his Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, it was important for 19th century scientists to count the number of turns of wire laid down in constructing galvanometer coils and similar electrical instruments. To do this, Maxwell used a string attached to a shaft turned by the same lathe that held the wheel on which the wire of the coil was wound. Nails helped count the turns of the shaft marked by the string. A device linked to the wheel measured the wire as it turned on the wheel to form the coil, detecting changes in circumference.
This instrument has a brass wheel 18 cm. in diameter. The wheel turns in a steel yoke with a wooden handle. According to the accession file, it was designed by James Clerk Maxwell for measuring the wire in a coil. It lacks a counting element and has no maker’s marks.
References:
Accession File 218174.
James Clerk Maxwell, A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, 2, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1873, p. 314. Subsequent editions of the book contained the same image.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
ID Number
MA.315174
catalog number
315174
accession number
219145
This portable revolution counter has a handle at one end. The point at the other end is pressed against the end of the axis of the shaft whose revolutions are counted. In between are two wheels.
Description
This portable revolution counter has a handle at one end. The point at the other end is pressed against the end of the axis of the shaft whose revolutions are counted. In between are two wheels. When the lower wheel turns once, the upper wheel moves one tenth of its circumference. The edges of both wheels are divided into 100 equal parts. Each tenth division is numbered.
The lower wheel is labeled: TENS. Its divisions are numbered clockwise from 0 to 9 on the inside, and counterclockwise from 0 to 9 on the outside. The upper wheel is labeled: HUNDREDS. Its divisions are numbered counterclockwise from 0 to 9 on the inside and clockwise from 0 to 9 on the outside. A spring disengages the wheels to allow zeroing.
A mark on the back of one wheel reads: A. Sainte (/) A Paris.
The end of the shaft has three attachments. The instrument also has a metal weight and fits into a velvet and satin-lined case.
By counting the number of revolutions of the shaft of a steam engine and knowing the steam pressure and the properties of the engine, steam engineers could compute the horsepower of the engine. A. Sainte patented a device for this purpose in 1877, and exhibited it at the Exhibition Universelle held in Paris in 1878. A form of the device was still being manufactured as late as 1903.
References:
J. Buchetti, Engine Tests and Boiler Efficiencies, trans. Alexander Russell, Westminster: Archibald Constable, 1903, pp. 120-123.
Science Museum, Catalogue of the Mechanical Engineering Collection of the Science Museum South Kensington, London: HIs Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1919, pp. 234-235.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
A. Sainte
ID Number
1990.0316.01
accession number
1990.0316
catalog number
1990.0316.01
This instrument consists of a mahogany case, nailed shut, with two glass windows. Four openings in a brass plate are visible below one of the windows. These windows are marked on the brass 10, 100, 1000, and 10000. There are number dials below them.
Description
This instrument consists of a mahogany case, nailed shut, with two glass windows. Four openings in a brass plate are visible below one of the windows. These windows are marked on the brass 10, 100, 1000, and 10000. There are number dials below them. According to earlier cataloging, the instrument contains an electromagnet and clockwork which operates the counter. Powered by a battery, the device could count numbers of revolutions and similar phenomena. Measuring time with a stop watch, one could calculate velocities.
A mark at the front of the top of the instrument and on the bottom reads: 39. The U.S. Geological Survey transferred the instrument to the Smithsonian in 1908. It had been used in the Water Resources Branch of the Survey.
Reference:
Accession file 48341.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
MA.248693
catalog number
248693
accession number
48341
This worn, rough metal counter has three wheels for tallying numbers up to 999. t once attached to a wheel and recorded rotations, serving as an odometer.A stamp on the object reads: CARMEAN (/) ANTHONY KS. According to the accession file, it was made by W. H.
Description
This worn, rough metal counter has three wheels for tallying numbers up to 999. t once attached to a wheel and recorded rotations, serving as an odometer.
A stamp on the object reads: CARMEAN (/) ANTHONY KS. According to the accession file, it was made by W. H. Carmean, who lived for a time in Hutchinson, Kansas. William H. Carmean is listed in the 1910 U.S. Census as a twenty-four- year-old, Kansas-born resident of Anthony, Kansas. He was not living there in 1900 or 1920, hence the rough date assigned to the object.
According to the donor, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the counter and wheel were used in the early days of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, established in 1933. Measures of distance were carried out to help compute acreages.
References:
Accession File.
U.S. Census 1900, 1910, 1920.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
Carmean, W. H.
ID Number
MA.327579
catalog number
327579
accession number
268149
To count revolutions of the shafts that ran machinery, engineers used counters like this one. The manufacturer, L. S. Starrett Company of Athol , Mass., called the device a speed indicator, although it has no timekeeping apparatus.
Description
To count revolutions of the shafts that ran machinery, engineers used counters like this one. The manufacturer, L. S. Starrett Company of Athol , Mass., called the device a speed indicator, although it has no timekeeping apparatus. The steel counter has a flat handle on one side and a rotating cylindrical rod on the other. In between is a flat curved case on which a dial is mounted. Pressing the rod against a rotating shaft rotates it and advances the dial. The edge of the dial is divided into 100 equal parts, which are numbered from 10 to 100 by tens. Two different nozzles fit into the far end of the cylinder. The instrument fits in a red, white, and black paper box.
A mark on the dial reads: THE L. S. STARRETT CO. (/) ATHOL, MASS. U.S.A. Another mark there reads: PAT. APR.13.97 (/) MAR.28.05
This counter is one of the many inventions of Laroy Starrett (1836-1922), who was born and raised on a farm in Maine. In 1880, having successfully patented and sold a meat chopper, as well as shoe studs and hooks, Starrett established a business in Athol, Mass., to sell drawing instruments and small tools. He applied for a patent for a speed indicator in 1895, and received it in 1897.
Stafford P. Walsh of San Francisco, Ca., improved on the instrument, assigning his patent to L. S. Starrett Company when it was granted March 28, 1905. The device sold in at least three models. This is No. 104, which was particularly intended for high speeds. It was sold both directly by Starrett and through distributors of tools and steam engine equipment. This speed indicator is mentioned in Starrett catalogues into the 1930s.
References:
L. S. Starrett, “Speed-Indicator,” U.S. Patent 580,432, April 13, 1897.
S. P. Walsh, “Speed-Indicator,” U.S. Patent 786,073, March 28, 1905.
“Laroy S. Starrett,” National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 18, New York: J. T. White and Company, p. 428.
L. S. Starrett Company, Catalogue, Athol, Mass., about 1937, p. 192.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
maker
L. S. Starrett Company
ID Number
MA.335271
catalog number
335271
accession number
314637
This special-purpose instrument consists of a wooden box, 27 counters arranged in three rows that fit in the box, and a reddish plastic cover. The cover has 27 round holes that expose the punches that drive the counters.
Description
This special-purpose instrument consists of a wooden box, 27 counters arranged in three rows that fit in the box, and a reddish plastic cover. The cover has 27 round holes that expose the punches that drive the counters. Twenty-seven rectangular holes reveal the five-digit reading of the counters. Between the counters are three metal slots that hold paper labels for the different counters. The labels are marked in pencil or typed.
The slip of paper in the lowest metal slot has marks that read: GUYS (/) Head / Anchors (/) Earth / Rock / Bolt, and: Double Arms / Brace / Transposition / Light. (/) Rod. These terms may refer to properties of telephone poles. The pencil markings on the paper slips above the top two rows of counters are very hard to decipher.
The object was transferred to the Smithsonian from the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1962.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
ID Number
MA.321785
catalog number
321785
accession number
246883
In 1895 the mechanical engineer Curtis Veeder (1862-1943) founded the Veeder Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Ct. It made cyclometers that measured the distance traveled by bicycles.
Description
In 1895 the mechanical engineer Curtis Veeder (1862-1943) founded the Veeder Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Ct. It made cyclometers that measured the distance traveled by bicycles. The business expanded to include counters for speedometers, machines, production workers, and other purposes. In 1928 the company merged with the Root Company to form Veeder-Root, a firm that remained in business for decades.
This counter has a brass frame painted black. A glass window reveals four number wheels, with a decimal point in the middle. Turning a knob on the right side advances the number wheels by .10 per revolution (i.e., the rightmost wheel turns once per revolution). A mark on one end reads: THE VEEDER MFG.CO (/) Veeder (/) HARTFORD CONN USA. A mark on the other end reads: 3713627.
An undated catalog of Veeder Manufacturing Company shows a counter similar to this one and reports that these counters were “furnished to and used by the U.S. Weather Bureau." The counter shown in the catalog would be rotated with the left hand, while the object in the collections is most naturally rotated with the right hand.
References:
“Veeder’s Successful Development of the ‘Big Unit’ Market,” Printers’ Ink, vol. 103 #4, April 25, 1918, pp. 129–132, 137–138.
Veeder Manufacturing Company, [Catalog], no date, Hartford, Ct., Trade Literature, Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
Veeder Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1987.3066.01
nonaccession number
1987.3066
catalog number
1987.3066.01
At a time when employers paid workers in cash, knowing the combination of bills and coins needed to meet a payroll was a challenge. The Denominator, a device for counting items in classes, eased that task and similar cash payments.
Description
At a time when employers paid workers in cash, knowing the combination of bills and coins needed to meet a payroll was a challenge. The Denominator, a device for counting items in classes, eased that task and similar cash payments. It consists of a set of eleven counters, each with a separate operating key. Six keys are for values of cents, and five for dollar values. Behind each key are three wheels; the value shown by the wheels increases by one each time the key is pressed. The keys are marked: $20; $10; $5; $2; $1; 50¢; 25¢; 10¢; 5¢; 3¢; 1¢.
A steel wing nut on the left side zeros when rotated. On the right side is a space for a sheet of forms.
A mark on the top behind the wheels reads: DENOMINATOR (/) PATENTS PENDING. A mark in front of the keys reads: DENOMINATOR ADDING MACHINE CO. (/) 224-226 SHEPHERD AVE. BROOKLYN, N.Y. A mark on the wing nut reads: 2249.
The Denominator Adding Machine Company of Brooklyn, N.Y. is listed in Thomas’s Register of American Manufacturers from 1916 through at least 1928. According to Martin, it originated in 1915. William A. Cook of Hollis, N.Y, and Joseph Levine of Brooklyn, N.Y., applied for a patent for a “denominating apparatus” March 9, 1921. Their invention closely resembles this product. When the patent was granted in 1923, they assigned it to the Denominator Adding Machine Company. The date of this patent application is taken as the approximate date of the object.
References:
W. A. Cook and J. Levine, “Denominating Apparatus,” U. S. Patent 1,444,586, February 6, 1923..
J. H. McCarthy, American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, pp. 42-43.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 290-291.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1921
maker
Denominator Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1988.0795.01
catalog number
1988.0795.01
accession number
1988.0795

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