Computers & Business Machines
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
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American Model No. 7 Typewriter
- Description
- This model number 7 typewriter was manufactured by the American Manufacturing Company of New York, New York at the Williams plant in Derby, Connecticut during the early 20th century. The American Typewriter Company was located at 265 Broadway in New York, New York, and operated from 1893 until 1915. This model 7 typewriter is a blind writer with upwards striking type mechanism and a QWERTY keyboard.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- American Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0201.05
- accession number
- 1982.0201
- catalog number
- 1982.0201.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Corona No. 3 Typewriter
- Description
- This is a Corona Three folding typewriter that was manufactured by Corona Typewriter Company of Groton, New York around 1920. The Corona Three was an extremely popular typewriter, produced from 1912 until 1941. This model has serial number 394384, dating it to 1920. This typewriter’s platen and carriage can fold down to rest on the keyboard, allowing it to become compact and portable.
- The success of the Standard Typewriter Company’s Corona Three model typewriter prompted the company to change its name to the Corona Typewriting Company in 1914. In 1926 the company joined with the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriting company in to become Smith-Corona. Smith-Corona manufactured typewriters and typewriter accessories throughout the 20th century, becoming Smith Corona Marchant in 1958. After two bankruptcies, Smith Corona returned to operation in 2010 as a thermal paper manufacturing company.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1920 - 1929
- maker
- L. C. Smith & Corona Typewriters Inc.
- ID Number
- ME.326636
- catalog number
- 326636
- accession number
- 261574
- serial number
- 394384
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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R.C. Allen Musicwriter
- Description (Brief)
- One (1) R.C. Allen musicwriter
- Mechanical typewriter with beige body with brown keys. Four-line keyboard. 14" carriage. Keys are musical symbols and numbers.
- Inscription: "R.C. Allen", "Musicwriter" On back label: "Musicwriter Patented Typewriter - U.S. Paten No. 511,941; Great Britain, No. 712,430, Nov. 3, 1954; Switzerland, Patent No. 298,526; Germany DBP 909,101." "MUSIC PRINT CORPORATION Denver, Colorado, U.S.A."
- Description
- This Musicwriter “typewriter” was manufactured by R.C. Allen of Grand Rapids, Michigan during the mid 20th century. The Musicwriter was used to compose sheet music. Instead of a letter-writing typewriter, each key could print a different type of note, which could be raised or lowered on the musical staff.
- R. C. Allen was founded in 1932 as a manufacturer of cash registers, adding machines, and altimeters. R.C. Allen purchased the Woodstock Typewriter Company of Woodstock, Illinois in 1950 and began manufacturing typewriters and musicwriters such as this machine.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1960
- maker
- R. C. Allen
- ID Number
- 1984.0914.01
- accession number
- 1984.0914
- catalog number
- 1984.0914.01
- serial number
- 8C-2105274 14
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Corona No. 3 Typewriter
- Description
- This Corona typewriter was manufactured by the Corona Typewriter Company, Inc. of Groton, New York sometime around 1923-1925. The typewriter is a front-striking model with a three row QWERTY keyboard, likely the Corona No. 3 although it lacks the “3” numbering on the frame below the spacebar. The Standard Typewriting Company began producing a folding model of typewriter in Groton around 1907.
- The success of the Standard Typewriter Company’s Corona model typewriter prompted the company to change its named to the Corona Typewriting Company in 1914. In 1926 the company joined with the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriting company to become Smith-Corona. Smith-Corona manufactured typewriters and typewriter accessories throughout the 20th century, becoming Smith Corona Marchant in 1958. After two bankruptcies, Smith-Corona returned to operation in 2010 as a thermal paper manufacturing company.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1923 - 1925
- maker
- Corona Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.336759
- catalog number
- 336759
- accession number
- 1978.2479
- serial number
- 590430
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Sholes, Glidden, & Soule Typewriter Patent Model
- Description
- This Sholes, Glidden, & Soule typewriter patent model was awarded patent number 79,265 on June 23rd, 1868. C. Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel Soule were living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when they began to make progress towards a commercially viable type-writing machine after several aborted attempts. The improvements named in this patent include a “better way of working type bars, of holding the paper on the carriage, of moving and regulating the movement of the carriage, of holding and applying the inking ribbon, a self adjusting platen, and a rest or cushion for the type-bars.” Many early typewriters used piano keys in their designs, including this model with only six keys.
- date made
- 1868-06
- patent date
- 1868-06-23
- inventor
- Sholes, C. Latham
- Glidden, Carlos
- Soule, Samuel W.
- ID Number
- ME.251210
- catalog number
- 251210
- patent number
- 79265
- accession number
- 48865
- patent number
- 79,265
- accession number
- 48865
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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IBM Model D Executive Typewriter
- Description
- The IBM Model D electric typewriter was produced in the spring of 1967 in both a regular and executive versions. The Model D Executive featured proportional spacing originally introduced in IBM’s Model B Executive typewriter. Instead of every character taking exactly the same space on the page, thin letters received narrower space, and wide letters got wider space. Other features of the Model D included a "control row" above the keyboard that allowed the user to adjust the margins, the tab settings, and the ribbon position.
- Originally founded in as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911, IBM began its venture into typewriter manufacturing with the acquisition of the Electromatic Typewriter Company in 1933. In 1935 IBM produced its first electric typewriter, the Model 01, which IBM considered a commercial success. IBM continued producing typewriters throughout the 20th century until 1990.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Business Machines Corporation
- ID Number
- 1984.0499.01
- accession number
- 1984.0499
- catalog number
- 1984.0499.01
- serial number
- 83851122
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Corona No. 3 Typewriter
- Description
- This is a Corona Three folding typewriter that was manufactured by the Corona Typewriter Company of Groton, New York around 1930. The Corona Three was an extremely popular typewriter, produced from 1912 until 1941. This model has serial number 650136, dating it to 1930. This typewriter’s platen and carriage can fold down to rest on the keyboard, allowing it to become compact and portable.
- The success of the Standard Typewriter Company’s Corona Three model typewriter prompted the company to change its name to the Corona Typewriting Company in 1914. In 1926 the company joined with the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriting company in to become Smith-Corona. Smith-Corona manufactured typewriters and typewriter accessories throughout the 20th century, becoming Smith Corona Marchant in 1958. After two bankruptcies, Smith Corona returned to operation in 2010 as a thermal paper manufacturing company.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1924 - 1926
- maker
- L. C. Smith & Corona Typewriters Inc.
- ID Number
- ME.330702
- catalog number
- 330702
- accession number
- 296465
- serial number
- x650136
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Hall Index Typewriter
- Description
- Thomas Hall was awarded patent number 238,387 on March 1, 1881 for his “Type-Writer” design represented in this typewriter. The Hall Typewriter was manufactured by the Hall Typewriter Company of New York, New York, beginning in 1881. The company moved from New York to Salem in 1887, then Boston in 1889, producing a similar model typewriter in all three locations. This Salem variant of the Hall index typewriter began to be produced in 1887. Index typewriters have no keyboard—the characters are selected by a pointer system. In the Hall index typewriter each hole on the grid corresponds to a character, pushing the key through the hole imprints the letter on the page and shifts the page over one space. This typewriter is contained in a wooden carrying case, with a metal handle and a metal plaque that bears the image of a feather with the inscription “HALL TYPE WRITER Co./TRADEMARK/SALEM, MASS.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Hall Typewriter Co.
- ID Number
- ME.314603
- catalog number
- 314603
- accession number
- 205421
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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New Franklin Typewriter
- Description
- This New Franklin typewriter was manufactured by the Franklin Typewriter Company of New York, New York around 1904. The design for the Franklin typewriter was patented by Wellington P. Kidder, receiving patent number 464,504 on December 8, 1891. The main feature of the Franklin typewriter is its series of radial type bars that carry multiple typefaces. The curved Franklin keyboard remains one of its most distinctive features.
- The Tilton Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts was originally assigned patents to both the Victor Index Typewriter (invented by Arthur Jacobs in 1889) and the Franklin typewriter (invented by Wellington Kidder in 1891). Eventually, both these typewriters were sold by their own companies, with the Victor Typewriter Company staying in Boston and the Franklin Typewriter Company moving to New York. The Franklin Typewriter Company began producing Franklin Typewriters in 1892, releasing numerous models before the company went bankrupt in 1904. The Victor Typewriter Company of Boston absorbed the interests of the Franklin Typewriter Company in 1907 and moved into its New York factory and offices at 812 and 814 Greenwich Street, producing its new visible frontstriking typewriter Victor No.1 that same year.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1904
- maker
- Franklin Typewriter Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0107.01
- accession number
- 1981.0107
- catalog number
- 1981.0107.01
- 81.0107.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Corona No. 4 Typewriter
- Description
- This Corona Four model typewriter was manufactured by the Corona Typewriter Company Incorporated of Groton, New York around 1924. The Corona Four had a smaller frame to allow portability. The Corona Four had 42 full size keys, a 10-inch carriage, a 2-color ribbon, and an accelerating type bar action.
- The success of the Standard Typewriter Company’s Corona model typewriter prompted the company to change its named to the Corona Typewriting Company in 1914. In 1926 the company joined with the L. C. Smith & Brothers Typewriting company to become Smith-Corona. Smith-Corona manufactured typewriters and typewriter accessories throughout the 20th century, becoming Smith Corona Marchant in 1958. After two bankruptcies, Smith-Corona returned to operation in 2010 as a thermal paper manufacturing company.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1925
- maker
- Corona Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.308355
- catalog number
- 308355
- accession number
- 85488
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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George W. N. Yost Typewriter Patent Model
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Electromatic Typewriter
- Description
- The Electromatic brand typewriter was manufactured by the North East Electric Company of Rochester, New York, beginning in 1924. The North East Electric Company produced the motor and base for the Electromatic, and used a Remington model 12 as the typewriter. When Remington did not supply the North East Electric Co. with more typewriters, the company became Electromatic Typewriters Incorporated in 1929 to produce its own Electromatics, before being purchased by IBM in 1933. This typewriter was likely produced between 1929 and 1933.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1929 - 1933
- maker
- Electromatic Typewriters, Inc.
- ID Number
- ME.312857
- catalog number
- 312857
- accession number
- 169125
- serial number
- P-144
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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John Cooper Print Machine Patent Model
- Description
- John H. Cooper of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was awarded patent number 14,907 on May 20th, 1856 for this printing machine patent model. Cooper describes his patent as a combination of the type radially arranged with a presser bar for carrying the paper to the type to receive the impression. The carriage is rather small and would have carried a smaller piece of paper similar to ticker tape. The radially arranged type must be moved and selected one-by-one to be typed onto the paper, in a manner similar in action to an old rotary telephone.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1856
- patent date
- 1856-05-20
- maker
- Cooper, John H.
- ID Number
- ME.251211
- catalog number
- 251211
- patent number
- 14907
- accession number
- 48865
- patent number
- 14,907
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Fox No. 3 Typewriter
- Description
- This Fox No. 3 Typewriter was manufactured by the Fox Typewriter Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan during the early 1900s. Fox No. 3 is an upstriking machines, with a three row QWERTY keyboard with a fourth top row containing the machine’s number and symbols. The disadvantage of the upstriking machine is that the carriage had to be lifted up for the typist to view her work, slowing the typing process down and obscuring errors.
- The Fox Typewriter Company was founded in 1902 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Fox Typewriter Company was an offspring of the Fox Machine Company, originally produced blind upstriking typewriters before producing a visible typewriter in 1906. World War I created uneasiness in the typewriter market, leading many companies to cease manufacture. The President of the Fox Typewriter Company, William R. Fox, returned to the Fox Machine Company in 1915, but a new Fox Typewriter Company was founded later in the year, buying the company’s patents and factory. The new Fox Typewriter Company produced the Fox portable in 1917 before declaring bankruptcy in 1921.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1904
- maker
- Fox Typewriter Company, Ltd.
- ID Number
- ME.315311
- catalog number
- 315311
- accession number
- 219759
- serial number
- 7424
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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George W. N. Yost Typewriter Patent Model
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Blickensderfer No. 5 Typewriter
- Description
- This Blickensderfer Moderl number 5 typewriter was manufactured by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Compmany of Stamford, Connecticut between 1893 and 1896. The Blickensderfer was advertised as having one quarter of the parts that other typewriters used, allowing for easier operation, maintenance, and repair. Other features include a tabulator and a scaled with slots for carriage stops. Blickensderfer typewriters also had a patented type action using their patented “type wheel,” a metal wheel containing all the characters which would rotate and strike the paper to create the inked mark. The type wheel allowed for easier type alignment, less jamming, and an easier way to change type fonts. The simplicity of the Blickensderfer made it portable, and this model had a wooden cover with a leather handle for easy carrying. While QWERTY keyboards could be ordered, by default most Blickensderfer typewriters eschewed the QWERTY keyboard in favor of a “Scientific” keyboard that put the most used letters “D, H, I, A, T, E, N, S, O, and R” on the bottom row nearest the space bar to minimize hand movement.
- George C. Blickensderfer founded the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company in Stamford, Connecticut in 1893. The Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company produced nine different models of typewriters, including an electric typewriter, and operated until George Blickenderfer’s death in 1917. The company was reformed as the Blick Typewriter Company for a few years before the Blickensderfer patents and designs were sold and manufactured by a variety of different companies.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1894 - 1897
- maker
- Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- ME.334777
- catalog number
- 334777
- accession number
- 314637
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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The New Yost Patent Model
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Champion Index Typewriter
- Description
- The Champion typewriter was manufactured by the Champion Typewriter Company of New York, New York during the 1890s. The Champion was invented by Byron Alden Brooks, and succeeded his People’s model typewriter that he invented in 1889. Brook’s invention can be seen in patent number 476,942 granted in June 14, 1892. Both the People’s and the Champion were index typewriters, meaning that the letters were selected with a pointer, manipulated by the index finger, and imprinted with another key. The absence of the keyboard made the typewriter simpler to operate, but sacrificed speed and efficiency.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1891
- maker
- Garvin Machine Co.
- ID Number
- ME.318166
- catalog number
- 318166
- accession number
- 229771
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miles M. Bartholomew Stenograph Patent Model
- Description
- This stenograph patent model accompanied Miles M. Bartholomew’s patent application that received patent number 215,554 on May 20th, 1879. The patent was described as “the provision, in a stenographic machine, of two sets of keys, preferably five on each set, one key for the thumb and one for each of the fingers.” Each key was related to a marker to make an impression on or perforation in the paper spooled from the roller at the head of the model. Stenotype machines do not have a full alphanumeric keyboard, instead they write in shorthand with multiple key depressions that produce syllables or words.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1879
- patent date
- 1879-05-20
- inventor
- Bartholomew, Miles M.
- ID Number
- ME.308629
- catalog number
- 308629
- patent number
- 215,554
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 215,554
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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George W. N. Yost Typewriter Patent Model
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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