Flowcharting Templates

Introduction

In the years following World War II, electronic computer makers and users developed techniques for programming of the newly invented devices. Fledgling manufacturers sought to communicate possible uses of their machines to customers and to train people to program them. To assist in these endeavors, they used special diagrams called flow charts. By the mid-1950s, such efforts had generated a new drawing instrument, the flowcharting template, a plastic rectangle with the symbols needed to draw flow charts cut out of it.

Resources

Nathan Ensmenger, “The Multiple Meanings of a Flowchart,” Information & Culture 51, no. 3 (August 2016), pp. 321–51.

Thomas Haigh, Mark Priestley, and Crispin Rope, ENIAC in Action: Making and Remaking the Modern Computer, Cambridge: MIT Press (2016) esp. 74-79, 204-206. This article discusses charts made for the ENIAC computer.

Grace M. Hopper, The Calculation of Extended Insurance, Philadelphia, 1950. A photocopy of this document is in the collection of unprocessed computer documentation at the National Museum of American History. It uses flowcharts to describe the UNIVAC I computer.

Robert J. Rossheim, “Report on Proposed American Standard Flowchart Symbols for Information Processing,” Communications of the ACM  6, no. 10 (October 1963), pp. 599-604.

Search term: *:* Date: 1970s Clear All

Burroughs Flowcharting Template

This blue-green plastic flowcharting template has over twenty flowcharting symbols.
Description
This blue-green plastic flowcharting template has over twenty flowcharting symbols. Scales relating to the design of punch cards are on the left side and the bottom, a scale of inches divided to tenths is at the top, and scales of sixths and eighths of inches are on the right edge. A mark on the object reads: B Burroughs. The logo combines two that Burroughs Corporation first used in commerce in 1947 and registered in 1969. Another mark reads: FLOWCHART (/) TEMPLATE (/) Conforms to (/) U. S. A. Standard (/) X3.5-1966 (/) 1031457 (/) Made in U. S. America. A new X3.5 standard for flowcharting templates was introduced in 1970.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-1970
maker
Burroughs
Burroughs Corporation
ID Number
2005.0055.13
catalog number
2005.0055.13
accession number
2005.0055

ICL Flowcharting Template

This clear plastic template has fourteen holes in it. A scale of tenths of an inch across the top has 57 divisions (i.e. it is 5 7/10” long), and a scale of sixths of an inch along the left side has twenty-three divisions (i.e. it is 3 5/6” long).
Description
This clear plastic template has fourteen holes in it. A scale of tenths of an inch across the top has 57 divisions (i.e. it is 5 7/10” long), and a scale of sixths of an inch along the left side has twenty-three divisions (i.e. it is 3 5/6” long). Scales of centimeters are across the bottom and along the right side. A mark on the template reads: ICL. Another one reads: CES. A third one reads: NCC DATA PROCESSING STANDARDS.
The template was distributed by the English firm ICL and, according to the accession file, was used by Dr. Shaw in the 1960s. The British firm of ICL or International Computers Ltd. was formed by a 1968 merger. The forms shown on the template are those advocated by the National Computer Center in Manchester, England, in a 1977 report.
Born in England, Mildred Shaw graduated from the teacher’s college at the University of London in 1966, obtained a B.Sc. in mathematical sciences, and then took an M. Sc. in computer science, graduating in 1972. She became the Coordinator of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at Middlesex Polytechnic (then Trent Park College) in London. She obtained her Ph.D. in psychology from Brunel University in 1978. In 1984, she moved to Canada, first teaching at York University in Toronto and then becoming a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Calgary.
References:
Accession file.
National Computing Centre Ltd., Data Processing Documentation Standards, Manchester, England, 1977.
Robert Hadden Mole, “Mildred Shaw: A Core Constructivist,” Constructivist Chronicle, vol. 3, #1, Winter, 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1969-1977
maker
International Computers Ltd
ID Number
1998.3092.01
nonaccession number
1998.3092
catalog number
1998.3092.01

IBM GX20-8020-1 UM/010 Flowcharting Template

This blue-green plastic template has twenty-six holes in the shape of flowcharting symbols, with an underlying grid of lines. Along the top is a scale of inches to tenths; along the bottom is a scale of inches to eighths. The blue and white paper sleeve explains symbols used.
Description
This blue-green plastic template has twenty-six holes in the shape of flowcharting symbols, with an underlying grid of lines. Along the top is a scale of inches to tenths; along the bottom is a scale of inches to eighths. The blue and white paper sleeve explains symbols used. A mark on the template reads: FLOWCHARTING TEMPLATE. Another one reads: GX20-8020-1 U/M 010 (/) Printed in U.S.A. A mark on the envelope reads: (12-70). Further text there indicates that the form of the template conforms to 1970 ANSI standards, as well as International Organization for Standards (ISO) standards.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1970
maker
IBM
ID Number
1997.3099.05
nonaccession number
1997.3099
catalog number
1997.3099.05

Control Data Corporation Flowcharting Template Form 10124300

This clear plastic flowcharting template has spaces representing twenty-four flowcharting symbols, labeled appropriately. It fits in a blue paper envelope which explains the meaning of the symbols. A mark on the front of the template reads: CONTROL DATA (/) CORPORATION.
Description
This clear plastic flowcharting template has spaces representing twenty-four flowcharting symbols, labeled appropriately. It fits in a blue paper envelope which explains the meaning of the symbols. A mark on the front of the template reads: CONTROL DATA (/) CORPORATION. A mark on the envelope reads: FLOWCHART TEMPLATE (/) Form 10124300 (/) The symbols shown on this jacket conform to (/) American National Standard X3.5 – 1970 . . . . This final mark gives a rough date for the object.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1970
maker
Control Data
ID Number
2012.3058.01
nonaccession number
2012.3058
catalog number
2012.3058.01

IBM GX20-8020-2 Flowcharting Template

This rectangular turquoise plastic flowcharting template has twenty-six symbols cut out of it. The top edge has two four-inch scales, one divided to eighths of an inch and the other to tenths of an inch.
Description
This rectangular turquoise plastic flowcharting template has twenty-six symbols cut out of it. The top edge has two four-inch scales, one divided to eighths of an inch and the other to tenths of an inch. The bottom edge also has two four-inch scales, one divided to twelfths of an inch and the other to fifteenths of an inch. The left side has a scale nine centimeters long divided to millimeters.
A mark reads: GX20-8020-2 U/M 010 [/] PRINTED IN U.S.A. Another mark reads: IBM. A third mark reads: FLOWCHARTING TEMPLATE.
Text on a plastic container explains that the symbols conform to international standards and follow the 1970 system of American National Flowchart Symbols.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1972
maker
IBM
ID Number
1997.3099.03
nonaccession number
1997.3099
catalog number
1997.3099.03

IBM GX20-1971-0 UM/010 Flowcharting Template

This rectangular clear green plastic template has nineteen symbols relating to flowcharting and structured programming cut out of it. These are explained on the paper sleeve.
Description
This rectangular clear green plastic template has nineteen symbols relating to flowcharting and structured programming cut out of it. These are explained on the paper sleeve. The template has a nine inch scale, divided to tenths of an inch, across the top, a nine inch scale divided to eighths of an inch across the bottom, a three inch scale divided to twelfths of an inch on the right, and a scale nine centimeters long divided to millimeters on the left. A mark on the right reads: HIPO. Another mark reads: GX20-1971-0 UM/010. Another mark reads: IBM.
HIPO (Hierarchy plus Input Process Output) was a design aid and documentation technique developed by IBM in the 1970s.
Reference:
Edward C. Yourdon, “Users Want too Much from HIPO: Yourdon,” Computerworld, vol. 19, #22, May 31, 1976, p. 24.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1975
maker
IBM
ID Number
1997.3099.04
nonaccession number
1997.3099
catalog number
1997.3099.04

Staedtler Professional Data Processing Template (Flowcharting Template)

This clear green plastic template has thirty-five holes on a background grid of lines. A scale of inches divided to tenths is along the top edge, a scale of inches divided to sixths along the right edge, and a scale of inches divided to eighths along the bottom edge.
Description
This clear green plastic template has thirty-five holes on a background grid of lines. A scale of inches divided to tenths is along the top edge, a scale of inches divided to sixths along the right edge, and a scale of inches divided to eighths along the bottom edge. Cuts in the left edge provide a template for drawing large brackets. A mark in the bottom right corner reads: STAEDTLER (/) 977 (/) 112 (/) professional DATA PROCESSING (/) template (/) made in U.S.A.
Staedtler is a German drawing instrument firm which began making pencils in 1835. It established an American subsidiary in New Jersey in 1953, and has subsequently moved that corporate office to California.
The Staedtler logo on the bottom left corner of the template is that used by the company between 1973 and 2001.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1975
ID Number
1998.3095.01
nonaccession number
1998.3095
catalog number
1998.3095.01

Digital Educational Services Flowcharting Template

This clear plastic rectangular template has thirty-one flowcharting symbols arranged in four rows. In addition a scale of tenths of inches across the top is numbered to 90. A "card count" scale along the right side is numbered from 100 to 700.
Description
This clear plastic rectangular template has thirty-one flowcharting symbols arranged in four rows. In addition a scale of tenths of inches across the top is numbered to 90. A "card count" scale along the right side is numbered from 100 to 700. A scale of sixths of an inch, numbered from 1 to 30, is along the left side. Along the bottom is a scale of millimeters numbered from 0 to 250.
The template fits in a tan paper sleeve that explains the meaning of the symbols. The front of the sleeve has an address label directed from Digital Equipment Corporation to Mr. David Studebaker, Marketing Director, Digital Systems House, Batavia, IL.
According to the donor: "I was a minor partner in Digital Systems House from July 1976 through March 1984. We became a Digital Equipment Corporation reseller in 1977 or 1978. I became Sales & Marketing Director in about 1978 through about 1981 or 1982."
Reference:
Electronic message, August 22, 2014.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1970
1978-1982
maker
Digital Equipment Corporation
ID Number
2014.3067.10
nonaccession number
2014.3067
catalog number
2014.3067.10

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