This dark olive-green printing electric adding machine has a block of nine white plastic number keys with a 0 bar below. One can enter numbers up to ten digits long. On the right side are six function keys for subtotal, total, non-add, error, subtraction, and addition. In front of the keyboard is a white clearance knob. A hole for a handle on the right is covered with a metal piece. A narrow carriage, with printing mechanism, is at the back. It prints results of at least ten digits (the eleventh type bar may be for a digit or a symbol). The ribbon is black, and there is room for another ribbon.
The machine is marked on the front: Burroughs. A red tag attached to the machine reads: PATENT DEPT. (/) #137. A metal tag attached to the object reads: DONATED TO (/) The Smithsonian Institution (/) by (/) Burroughs Corporation. The object was model #137 in the collection of the Patent Division of Burroughs Corporation.
Burroughs introduced the ten-key series P machine in 1949. According to the accession file, this is the first model and was associated with the Burroughs inventor John Magnus.
Reference:
Accession file 1982.0794.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.