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

Search term: *:* Topic: Computers & Business Machines Place: New York City Clear All

Software, Nota Bene

A software suite for Windows 95/98 designed as a software for academic writing and research. The software was designed by Nota Bene Associates, Inc and it is version 5.0. The suite has three software: Nota Bene, NB Ibidem, and NB Orbis.
Description
A software suite for Windows 95/98 designed as a software for academic writing and research. The software was designed by Nota Bene Associates, Inc and it is version 5.0. The suite has three software: Nota Bene, NB Ibidem, and NB Orbis. Nota Bene is "a word processor designed for scholarly writing, featuring predefined academic styles, up to three independent sets of footnotes, bi-directional cross referencing and more." NB Ibidem is "a database system to manage your bibliographic notes and automatically format citations and bibliographies according to hundreds of academic/professional styles." NB Orbis is "a text-retrieval system for instantly and simultaneously searching papers, research notes, lectures, field notes, lists, and any other NB documents on your computer."
The object has a compact disc with a plastic jewel case and instructions are stored on the inside of the case.
System requirements are: a pentium level PC or compatible computer is recommended, but a 486DX2/50 or higher is adequate, a CD-ROM drive, 20 megabytes of available hard disk space, 16 megabytes of RAM, but 32 would significantly improve performance, and Windows 95/98
Version 5.0 was the first Windows version of Nota Bene.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1998-1999
ID Number
2014.3098.01
catalog number
2014.3098.01
nonaccession number
2014.3098

George W. N. Yost Typewriter Patent Model

This typewriter patent model was used by George W.N. Yost in his patent application that received patent number 408,061 on July 30th, 1889.
Description
This typewriter patent model was used by George W.N. Yost in his patent application that received patent number 408,061 on July 30th, 1889. The patent claimed several improvements to typewriter machines including a combination of the carriage and line-spacing apparatus with a lever used for line and letter spacing, the “combination of two extra key levers and connecting rods with the platen transverse reciprocating apparatus of a type-writing machine and a series of key-levers for operating the type-bars located between said extra key-levers.”
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1889-07-30
inventor
Yost, George W. N.
ID Number
ME.308638
catalog number
308638
patent number
408061
accession number
89797
patent number
408,061

George W. N. Yost Typewriter Patent Model

This typewriter patent model accompanied George W.N. Yost’s patent application that received patent number 343,655 on June 15th 1886.
Description
This typewriter patent model accompanied George W.N. Yost’s patent application that received patent number 343,655 on June 15th 1886. The patent covered a type-writing machine with adjustable type bars arranged in two curved rows, with an inking ribbon situated between the two rows that moved in concert with the carriage.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1886
patent date
1886-06-15
inventor
Yost, George W. N.
ID Number
ME.308635
catalog number
308635
patent number
349,349
accession number
89797
patent number
343,655

Samuel W. Francis Typewriter Patent Model

Samuel Ward Francis of New York, New York received patent number 18,504 on October 27, 1857 for this printing-machine patent model. The model has a light wooden frame with four piano keys, and a metal platen carriage system.
Description
Samuel Ward Francis of New York, New York received patent number 18,504 on October 27, 1857 for this printing-machine patent model. The model has a light wooden frame with four piano keys, and a metal platen carriage system. Samuel Francis made several attempts at an early typewriter prototypes, and held several patents (see object ME*180060) for early printing machines. This patent was related to the circular arrangement of the type hammers that allowed them to strike in the same place. Additionally, the patent covered the paper carrier moving by spring and catch so that paper would move whenever a letter on the key has been struck allowing for a continuous printing line.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1857-10-27
1857
patent date
1857-10-27
transfer
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
maker
Francis, Samuel Ward
ID Number
ME.251215
catalog number
251215
accession number
48865
patent number
18504

Lucien S. Crandall Typewriter Patent Model

Lucien Stephen Crandall of New York, New York received patent number 251,338 on December 20th, 1881 for this type-writing machine patent model design.
Description
Lucien Stephen Crandall of New York, New York received patent number 251,338 on December 20th, 1881 for this type-writing machine patent model design. Crandall described his invention as a “design to furnish a typewriting machine of simple and cheaper construction and with a greater range of type, combining upper and lower case letters, figures, and punctuation marks, and working them all with one set of keys merely.” The design had two interesting elements, the first being what Crandall called a “type-sleeve,” which allowed the printing of both lower-case and capital letters. The type-sleeve was covered with raised characters that wrapped around the sleeve arranged so that the most frequently used letters are in the center of the row requiring less shifting of the sleeve. The capital letters and numerals were not activated by a shift key, but rather a laterally-oscillating key-lever (the gold switch on the upper left of the model) that moved the type-sleeve. You would move the switch one way to activate the numerals and punctuation, and the other way to activate the capital letters. The keyboard for Crandall’s machine was arranged in a non-QWERTY fashion.
Lucien S. Crandall held several other patents for typewriters and typewriter improvements. The Crandall Machine Company of Groton, New York was founded in 1879 to produce Crandall’s machine. The first Crandall typewriter was manufactured in 1881, which was said to look very similar to the patent model displayed in object ME*251217. The New Model Crandall was marketed in 1885, and has the reputation of being one of the most beautiful early typewriters ever produced with inlaid mother of pearl in the casing, decorative flower motifs, and its elegant black keyboard (notably two rows and non-QWERTY). Crandall produced two more models, the Universal No. 3 in 1893, and the Improved Crandall in 1895. The company ceased operation by 1899.
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1881-12-20
maker
Crandall, Lucien S.
ID Number
ME.251217
catalog number
251217
accession number
48865
patent number
251338

First Draft of the Programming Language COBOL

During 1959 the first plans for the computer language COBOL emerged as a result of meetings of several committees and subcommittees of programmers from American business and government.
Description
During 1959 the first plans for the computer language COBOL emerged as a result of meetings of several committees and subcommittees of programmers from American business and government. This heavily annotated typescript was prepared during a special meeting of the language subcommittee of the Short-Range Committee held in New York City in November. COBOL programs would actually run the following summer, and the same program was successfully tested on computers of two different manufacturers in December 1960.
Reference: Jean E. Sammet, "The Early History of COBOL," History of Programming Languages, ed. Richard L. Wexelblat, New York: Academic Press, 1981, 199-277.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959
maker
Conference on Data Systems Languages. Language Subcommittee of the Short-Range Committee
ID Number
2010.3050.4
catalog number
2010.3050.4
nonaccession number
2010.3050

The New Yost Patent Model

The New Yost was introduced around 1889 and was produced by the Yost Writing Machine Company of New York, New York. This object served as a model for patent number 400,200 granted to Jacob Febel and Andrew W. Steiger on March 26th, 1889.
Description
The New Yost was introduced around 1889 and was produced by the Yost Writing Machine Company of New York, New York. This object served as a model for patent number 400,200 granted to Jacob Febel and Andrew W. Steiger on March 26th, 1889. The patent applied to a pivoted link in the type-bar that allowed for the type-bar to swing out horizontally and then rise up vertically to strike the platen. The model is missing the carriage it would need to be a fully functioning New Yost.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
patent date
1889-03-26
inventor
Felbel, Jacob
Steiger, Andrew W.
ID Number
ME.308636
catalog number
308636
patent number
400200
400,200
accession number
89797

George W. N. Yost Typewriter Patent Model

This typewriter patent model was used by George W.N. Yost in his patent application that received patent number 401,990 on April 23rd 1889.
Description
This typewriter patent model was used by George W.N. Yost in his patent application that received patent number 401,990 on April 23rd 1889. The patent covered a variety of improvements in typewriting machines, including allowing a user to supply an omission or make a correction in the printing, and an indicator for to alert the typist when they were reaching the end of a line.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889
patent date
1889-04-23
inventor
Yost, George W. N.
ID Number
ME.308637
catalog number
308637
patent number
401,990
401,990
accession number
89797

George W. N. Yost Typewriter Patent Model

This typewriter patent model accompanied George W.N. Yost’s patent application that received patent number 313,973 on March 17, 1885.
Description
This typewriter patent model accompanied George W.N. Yost’s patent application that received patent number 313,973 on March 17, 1885. The patent covered a variety of improvements to typewriters, including a platen and carriage adapted for regulating line and letter spacing, and a bell ringing on the carriage return.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
patent date
1885-03-17
inventor
Yost, George W. N.
ID Number
ME.308633
catalog number
308633
patent number
313,973
313,973
accession number
89797

ComputerLand Photograph

This 5" x 7" black and white photograph shows James Egan sitting at a desk with computers and software on it. He has a foot on the desk, a coffee filter on his head, and is pouring a drink into a cup. Next to his chair is a sign that reads: SEND HELP.
Description
This 5" x 7" black and white photograph shows James Egan sitting at a desk with computers and software on it. He has a foot on the desk, a coffee filter on his head, and is pouring a drink into a cup. Next to his chair is a sign that reads: SEND HELP. On the back, written in pencil, are the dates 1981-1982.
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
1981-1982
ID Number
2017.3153.06
nonaccession number
2017.3153
catalog number
2017.3153.06

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

Tabulating Machine Company Card Punch

From the early 20th century into the 1970s, Americans used punched cards to enter data into tabulating equipment and then electronic computers.
Description
From the early 20th century into the 1970s, Americans used punched cards to enter data into tabulating equipment and then electronic computers. This is an early key-operated punch, 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 that releases the card guide. Three 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: 17262. Two rods are marked at the front below the punching position: 392.
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 United States 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.335635
accession number
1977.0114
catalog number
335635

Book, Methods of Operations Research

This pioneering textbook on operations research was coauthored by Philip M. Morse (1903-1985), a professor of physics at M.I.T., and quantum chemist George E. Kimball (1906-1967), who also was on the faculty there. During World War II the two men worked for the U.S.
Description
This pioneering textbook on operations research was coauthored by Philip M. Morse (1903-1985), a professor of physics at M.I.T., and quantum chemist George E. Kimball (1906-1967), who also was on the faculty there. During World War II the two men worked for the U.S. Navy on a project relating to the mathematical analysis of Nazi U--boat operations. After the war, they envisioned a more general theory of mathematical analysis of industrial, governmental, and military operations, which is presented here.
This copy of the book is from the personal library of William F. Eberth (1905-1976), who spent fifteen years of his career with the Atomic Energy Commission working in South Africa. The copy is not annotated.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1951
maker
Morse , Philip M.
Kimball, George E.
ID Number
MA.319872.10
accession number
1975319872
catalog number
319872.10

Parts Catalog, Underwood Sundstrand Portable Electric Adding Machines Fraction & L-S-D

This well-worn catalog is stapled together and punched along the left side. A "Serviceman's Part Order" is stapled to one page.Currently not on view
Description
This well-worn catalog is stapled together and punched along the left side. A "Serviceman's Part Order" is stapled to one page.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1940-02-09
maker
Underwood Elliot Fisher Company
ID Number
1990.3188.01
nonaccession number
1990.3188
catalog number
1990.3188.01

IBM Machine Load Computer Slide Rule

This plastic rectangular instrument calculated the time required for different types of IBM punched card equipment to process given numbers of cards. The black side is for accounting machines, sorters, and collators.
Description
This plastic rectangular instrument calculated the time required for different types of IBM punched card equipment to process given numbers of cards. The black side is for accounting machines, sorters, and collators. The white side is for card punches, verifiers, and auxiliary machines. These machines were in use from roughly 1953 through 1959. The white side is marked: IBM; International Business Machines Corp. (/) 590 Madison Ave. New York 22, N.Y. (/) Patent Applied For. It is also marked THINK and MADE IN U.S.A. An instruction card is provided. A tan envelope is marked: IBM (/) MACHINE LOAD COMPUTER (/) AND DESCRIPTIVE FOLDER (/) Form 20-8704-1. No patent record was located.
Benjamin S. Mulitz, the donor, worked with punched card equipment and then with computers from 1940 until 1985. He used both Remington Rand and IBM products. He was employed by the U.S. government and then in the wholesale drug industry.
Reference: accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953-1959
maker
International Business Machines Corporation
ID Number
2006.0174.02
accession number
2006.0174
catalog number
2006.0174.02

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

Remington Rand Univac Minimum Latency Calculator Slide Rule

This circular device was an aid to programming the UNIVAC solid state computer. It consists of a paper disc, with equal divisions running from 1 to 200 near the edge, and a clear plastic rotating disc. These are pivoted together at the center.
Description
This circular device was an aid to programming the UNIVAC solid state computer. It consists of a paper disc, with equal divisions running from 1 to 200 near the edge, and a clear plastic rotating disc. These are pivoted together at the center. The upper disc is marked in red with two perpendicular diameters. The lower disc is marked: MINIMUM LATENCY CALCULATOR FOR THE UNIVAC SOLID-STATE COMPUTER. The UNIVAC had a magnetic storage drum on which locations were specified numerically. The latency calculator allowed programmers to write code for the machine to make the most efficient possible use of the drum memory.
The back of the instrument gives a list of instruction codes and corresponding execution times for words. It is marked: Remington Rand Univac. It is also marked: U1767 Rev. 1 PRINTED (/) IN (/) U.S.A. The rule was received in a paper bag.
Reference: Sperry Rand Corporation, Simple Transition to Electronic Processing, UNIVAC Solid-State 80, (1960), 18–26.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1950
maker
Remington Rand Univac
ID Number
2005.0271.01
accession number
2005.0271
catalog number
2005.0271.01

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.