Family & Social Life - Overview
Donations to the Museum have preserved irreplaceable evidence about generations of ordinary Americans. Objects from the Copp household of Stonington, Connecticut, include many items used by a single family from 1740 to 1850. Other donations have brought treasured family artifacts from jewelry to prom gowns. These gifts and many others are all part of the Museum's family and social life collections.
Children's books and Sunday school lessons, tea sets and family portraits also mark the connections between members of a family and between families and the larger society. Prints, advertisements, and artifacts offer nostalgic or idealized images of family life and society in times past. And the collections include a few modern conveniences that have had profound effects on American families and social life, such as televisions, video games, and personal computers.
"Family & Social Life - Overview" showing 36 items.
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Commodore Amiga 500 Personal Computer
- Description
- In 1987, Commodore introduced the Amiga 500, also known as the A500, as an inexpensive version of a 16 bit multimedia home computer. The goal was to provide a machine that would compete successfully against other 16 bit machines, just as the Commodore 64 had outsold many competitive 8 bit computers. The A500 did sell well against the Atari 520ST and was the low end successor of the Amiga 1000.
- The A500 used a Motorola 6800 microprocessor that ran at 714 MHz and had 256 KB of ROM and 512 KB of RAM, which was expandable to 9MB. The Amiga 500 used a special system for its RAM configuration. It had 512 KB of Chip RAM, which could be accessed by the sound and video custom chip, and FAST RAM, which could only be accessed only by the CPU.
- The Amiga 500 was followed by the Amiga 500+. It doubled the amount of the A500s Chip RAM to 1 MB. Both versions could be connected to a TV set or to a video monitor. The A500 computers were the best selling in the Amiga series. Besides doing well in the United States, they also were popular in Europe. Many users favored the Amiga because, in addition to being inexpensive, it had excellent graphics and sound capability for a computer of its era.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1987
- maker
- Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2001.0186.03
- catalog number
- 2001.0186.03
- accession number
- 2001.0186
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
IBM PCjr Personal Computer
- Description
- After the success of the IBM's business PC, IBM attempted to capture the home market with the IBM PCjr. The PCjr system was compact, low cost, and designed for applications related to learning, entertainment, and personal productivity.
- The computer had an Intel 8088 microprocessor that ran at 4.77 MHz–faster than most systems on the market at the time. It 64 KB of RAM, which could be expanded to 256 KB and later to 720 KB with third party add-ons. It featured an internal 5 1/4" floppy drive and a wireless keyboard. King's Context, a popular Adventure game of the 1980s, debuted on the PCjr.
- Despite a flashy debut and a strong technology core, the PCjr flopped in the market. Consumers were not as attracted by the IBM name as business had been. Price was a major factor. The PCjr cost about the same as the Coleco Adam, but for the price, the Adam included two tape drives, a printer, and software. The PCJr was twice as expensive as the Commodore 64. With the exception of the Apple II, it was possible to purchase a complete system (computer, disk drive, and printer) from almost any of IBM's competitors for less money. However, criticism of the system focused on the "chiclet" keyboard. Similar to that of a pocket calculator, the small keys were cheap and difficult to use for touch typing. IBM later replaced this with a wireless conventional-sized keyboard. But it could only be used two or three feet away from the machine and drained batteries quickly.
- Announced in November 1983 and available in March 1984, IBM sold the PCJr for $669 with 64 KB RAM, and $1,269 for 128 KB RAM. The more expensive system also included a floppy-disk drive. IBM discontinued the PCjr in March of 1985 after selling only approximately 270,000 units.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 2002.0090.01
- catalog number
- 2002.0090.01
- accession number
- 2002.0090
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Franklin Ace 1200 Personal Computer
- Description
- The Franklin Ace 1200 was one of the Franklin Corporation models of Apple II clones made for sale in the United States. It was an upgrade of the Franklin 1000. It was compatible with Apple II computers, but could also run the CP/M operating system.
- The Franklin ACE 1200 had a MOS/Commodore 3502 microprocessor that ran at 1 MHz. It contained 48 KB of RAM and 16 KB of ROM and dual 5 ¼" floppy drives. The Ace 1200 came out between Apple II+ and the Apple //e. It included a CP/M card, a disk controller card, an 80 column card, and a dual serial/parallel card that was software interchangeable. The printer card caused problems because many applications did not recognize it.
- The Franklin Ace 1200 was introduced in 1983 for the price of $2,200. The Franklin series was ended after Franklin lost a legal battle with Apple.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- maker
- Franklin Computer Corporation
- ID Number
- 2002.0157.01
- accession number
- 2002.0157
- catalog number
- 2002.0157.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Game Boy
- Description
- The Nintendo Game Boy was released in 1989. It was a handheld video game console that combined aspects of Nintendos successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) television video game console with their earlier handheld electronic games marketed under the name "Game & Watch." It contained an 8-bit Z80 processor with a monochrome LCD display and 4-channel stereo sound. Shortly after the introduction of the Game Boy, Sega and Atari released handheld games, the Sega Game Gear and the Atari Lynx. Both had superior color LCD displays but both also suffered from short battery life and limited game availability. The Game Boy has continued to be the most popular handheld video game console ever released in the U.S. Today, the display is in color and is sold under the name Game Boy Advance.
- All original Game Boys were bundled with Tetris, an addictive game developed in 1985 by Russian mathematician Alexey Pazhitnov, assisted by Dmitry Pavlovsky and Vadim Gerasimov. As with the NES, game software was stored on removable cartridges, allowing users to switch games at whim. Nintendo also marketed a number of accessories with this version of the Game Boy, including a camera and printer attachment.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1989
- user
- Huynh, Richard
- patent holder
- Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- maker
- Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- ID Number
- 2003.0344.01
- accession number
- 2003.0344
- catalog number
- 2003.0344.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Lisa II Personal Computer
- Description
- The Apple Lisa introduced the graphic user interface (GUI) into the Apple Computer Corporation's line of personal computers. Instead of using only text-based commands, users could employ pictorial icons displayed on the screen to initiate operations. Officially, "Lisa" stood for "Local Integrated Software Architecture," but it was also the name of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' daughter. This computer was also Jobs "baby," as he championed its creation and believed it would revolutionize personal computing. Apple spent four years and $50 million to develop it, but it turned out to be a commercial flop, in large part because of the $10,000 per unit cost. Only 80,000 were eventually sold. The Lisa is most important historically as the computer that pioneered concepts later used in the far more successful Macintosh.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- maker
- Apple Computer
- ID Number
- 2005.0056.01
- catalog number
- 2005.0056.01
- accession number
- 2005.0056
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple Macintosh Mouse
- Description
- Invented in 1963, the mouse improved interactions with computers. However, not until 1984, when Apple Computers introduced the Macintosh and its graphical user interface, did the mouse become a standard computer component.
- Date made
- 1984
- maker
- Apple Computer
- ID Number
- 1985.3011.01.1
- catalog number
- 1985.3011.01.1
- accession number
- 1985.3011
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
CompuPro S-100 Personal Computer
- Description
- Introduced in March of 1983, the CompuPro S-100 system was one of the last and most expensive CP/M systems that appeared. It was a very flexible system that could accommodate a wide range of S-100 bus cards built by a wide range of manufacturers.
- Compupro itself manufactured a large number of S-100 cards. Its S-100 system could be fitted with either 8-bit and/or 16-bit processor cards. One of the best-selling cards was a dual processor 8808 + 8085. This allowed running both 8 bit CP/M and 16 bit MP/M software at a speed of 2 or 5 MHz in a multitasking environment.
- The CompuPro S-100 included several cards from 8088 + 8085 to Z80 to 80286 at a speed of 4 MHz and up. There are 2 8"floppy disk drives. The three major options for operating systems were CP/M, CP/M-86, and MP/M. The machine had 16 KB of RAM, which could be expanded to 1 MB. Depending on how the computer was configured, its price ranged from around $5,500 up to almost $20,000.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- maker
- CompuPro
- ID Number
- 1989.0070.01.01
- catalog number
- 1989.0070.01.1
- accession number
- 1989.0070
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Kaypro IV Portable Computer
- Description
- Kaypro was a manufacturer of portable microcomputers running the CP/M operating system. Its first commercial model, Kaypro II, was launched in 1982. The Kaypro IV was introduced in 1983. Surprisingly, it is not the same as the Kaypro 4, which was released in 1984.
- The Kaypro IV was basically a Kaypro II with added Double Sided/Double Density Drives. It had a Z80 microprocessor that ran at 2.5 MHz. The memory included 4 KB of RAM and 2 KB of ROM. Kaypro IV had a 9" monochrome monitor and a built-in speaker. The operating system was CP/M 2.2. The Kaypro IV included the word processor Wordstar, which was included in the Perfect Software Suite.
- The introduction of the IBM PC in 1981 led to the rapid growth in popularity of the MS-DOS operating system for personal computers. Software developers migrated to writing for MS-DOS instead of CP/M. Kaypro was slow to make the transition in their machines, and the company never gained the kind of prominence in the MS-DOS arena that it had enjoyed with CP/M. A prime competitor for the MS-DOS portable market was Compaq, which sold an "all in one" computer that was similar to its own CP/M portable. In March 1990 Kaypro filed for bankruptcy.
- This Kaypro IV was purchased with funds from a research grant obtained by Robert M. Smith, of the Department of Space History of the National Air and Space Museum. Smith's book, The Space Telescope, was written in part on this computer.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- maker
- Kaypro
- ID Number
- 1992.0522.01
- catalog number
- 1992.0522.01
- accession number
- 1992.0522
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Digital Equipment Rainbow 100 Computer
- Description
- In the early 1980s, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was the second largest computer company in the United States, following IBM, and was the leading producer of minicomputers. DEC had missed the initial development of personal computers, but decided to enter the market with a 16 bit machine. In 1982, it introduced the DEC Rainbow 100, for a price of $2,500.
- The Rainbow 100 had both a Z-80 and an Intel 8088 microprocessor that ran at 4 MHz. It had 64 KB or RAM and 24 KB of ROM and had two built in floppy drives that could accommodate 400 KB single-sided quad density disk. It had three operating systems: MS-DOS, CP/M-86, and CP/M. Users made a selection by a menu at boot time. The Rainbow could be used for word processing, spreadsheets, and games, although it had a monochrome screen. In addition to operating as a stand-alone computer, the Rainbow worked effectively as a VT-100 or VT-220 terminal emulator on larger machines, such as DEC's minicomputers. Although the Rainbow was a powerful and effective personal computer, it was not fully compatible with IBM systems, and eventually was overshadowed and undersold by IBM clones.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1982
- maker
- Digital Equipment Corporation
- ID Number
- 1994.0078.01.1
- accession number
- 1994.0078
- catalog number
- 1994.0078.01.1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple IIGS Personal Computer
- Description
- The computers in the Apple II family were among the most popular personal computers in the late 1970s and 1980s. The last model and most impressive of the Apple II family was the Apple II GS (GS=graphics + sound). When it was released in September of 1986—Apple's 10th anniversary—at the price of $999 (without a monitor—or $1498 with an RGB monitor), the Apple II GS competed against other computers such as the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST.
- The Apple II GS used the Western Design Center 65816 16 bit microprocessor, which ran at 2.8 Mhz. It had 256 KB of RAM, which could be expanded to 8 MB. There were seven slots to accommodate an expansion of memory. It was the first computer to utilize the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) which linked standard input device such as keyboards, mice, and graphics tablets. This made it possible for Apple to sell a single set of peripherals that both the Apple Computer and later the Macintosh could use. The IIGS display had a 600 X 200 pixel mode with 2-bit palletized cooler and a 320 X 200 pixel mode with a 4-bit palletized color. The Apple II GS could display 256 colors on the screen. Its ProDOS 16 as system software allowed users to handle any number of open files at the same time.
- The IIGS seemed well positioned to capture a large market. However, by the time it was released, Apple was putting its energy into developing the Macintosh and the IIGS suffered from limited marketing. Apple discontinued the line in December 1992.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1986
- maker
- Apple Computer
- ID Number
- 1998.0199.01
- catalog number
- 1998.0199.01
- accession number
- 1998.0199
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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