Computers & Business Machines

• 

  Remington Rand Univac Minimum Latency Calculator Slide Rule

  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

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  IBM 1441139x Punch Card Advertising the IBM 602A Calculating Punch

  Description

  This white paper punch card demonstrates how an average hourly rate of pay can be calculated for a worker paid partly on piece work and partly on day work, receiving a bonus. It was intended as advertising for the IBM 602A calculating punch.

  The left half of the card has text describing the product. It reads in part: ARITHMETIC (/) CALCULATIONS ARE PERFORMED IN (/) ONE OPERATION BY THE NEW (/)TYPE 602A CALCULATING PUNCH. The right side has columns of holes to be punched that are numbered from 37 to 80.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1948

  maker

  IBM

  ID Number

  1995.3080.01

  nonaccession number

  1995.3080

  catalog number

  1995.3080.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Commodore 201 Adding Machine

  Description

  By the 1960s most adding machines on the market had ten keys and printed results. Often they were manufactured overseas. This ten-key, printing adding machine was made in Japan and imported by Commodore, a firm then based in Toronto. It has nine digit keys, a slightly larger digit bar, and keys marked with two vertical lines and with three vertical lines. It also has four function keys right of the digit keys and what appears to be a place value lever on the left, with a mechanical display of the place value above this.

  Behind the keyboard at the back of the machine is a paper tape holder with a paper tape, a printing mechanism, and a two-colored ribbon. A rubber cord fits in the back of the machine and there is a plastic cover. At the front of the machine is a metal carrying handle.

  A mark on the top reads: commodore. A tag on the bottom reads: commodore 201 (/) No 22742. The tag also reads: COMMODORE BUSINESSS MACHINES INC. MADE IN JAPAN. A mark on the cord reads: KAWASAKI.

  Commodore Business Machines was incorporated in Toronto in 1955 under the direction of Jack Tramiel, a Holocaust survivor who had spent some years in the United States. The company initially distributed typewriters and came to sell electronic calculators and then personal computers. Commodore adding machines were advertised in American newspapers as early as 1962 and as late as 1972 (by this time they faced severe competition from electronic calculators). The Commodore 202, which is quite similar to this model, was advertised in 1968 as “all new.”

  References:

  Pine, D., “Jack Tramiel, Founder of Commodore Computers, Lodz Survivor, Dies at 83,” The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, 116 #16, April 20, 2012.

  Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1968, p. C87. This is one of many advertisements found through the ProQuest database. It is for the Commodore Model 202.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1968

  maker

  Commodore Business Machines, Inc.

  ID Number

  1998.0246.01

  accession number

  1998.0246

  catalog number

  1998.0246.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Autopoint Mechanical Pencil

  Description

  This 5-3/4" black plastic and chrome-plated mechanical pencil is marked near its top: CHICAGO Autopoint USA (/) PATD AND PATS PEND. The word "Autopoint" is in script. The end of the pencil above the mark uncaps to reveal an eraser. A metal clip allows the pencil to be secured in a shirt pocket. The pen is stored in a rectangular gray cardboard box marked: Pencil Used by H H sr. (c[h]rome plated).

  Autopoint began manufacturing mechanical pencils in Chicago in 1918. Inventors assigned at least 30 patents to Autopoint between 1918 and 1929. One of the patents referred to on this pencil was taken out by Frank Deli of Chicago, for a metal pin that screwed into a threaded cylinder inside the pencil tip and thus acted to propel the lead. The diameter of the pin suggests the lead width was about 1 mm. The body of the pencil was to be made from bakelite or a similar plastic. Deli applied for his patent in 1921, although it was not granted until 1925. Bakelite, the plastics manufacturer, owned an interest in Autopoint from the 1920s to the 1940s. After several corporate acquisitions and reorganizations, Autopoint moved to Janesville, Wisc., in 1979, where it continues operations.

  His daughter-in-law reported that Herman Hollerith Sr. owned this pencil. Hollerith (1860–1929) trained as a mining engineer. He joined the U.S. Census Office in 1879, where he pioneered the development of punch cards for tabulating machines. These machines dramatically sped up the processing of data in the 1890 census. In 1896 he founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which merged with three other companies in 1911 and became the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924. Hollerith retired in 1921 and raised cattle on a farm in Maryland until his death, so he presumably acquired the pencil during his retirement. For depictions and examples of Hollerith machines, see 1977.0503.01, 1977.0503.02, and 2011.3121.01, MA.312896, MA.335634, MA.335635, and MA.333894. See also the NMAH object group on tabulating machines, http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/tabulating-equipment.

  References: Autopoint, Inc., "About Us," http://autopointinc.com/about-us; Frank C. Deli, "Pencil" (U.S. Patent 1,552,123 issued September 1, 1925); Robert L. Bolin, "Web Resources Concerning the Mechanical Pencil Industry in Chicago," http://unllib.unl.edu/Bolin_resources/pencil_page/index.htm; William R. Aul, "Herman Hollerith: Data Processing Pioneer," Think, November 1972, http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html; United States Census Bureau, "Herman Hollerith," http://www.census.gov/history/www/census_then_now/notable_alumni/herman_hollerith.html.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1921-1929

  maker

  Autopoint, Inc.

  ID Number

  1977.0503.03

  catalog number

  336122

  accession number

  1977.0503

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  IBM 811970 Production and Inventory Control Punch Card

  Description

  This eighty-column paper punch card is tan with a green stripe across the bottom. There is space for punches and for entering text. Fields include invoice number, qantity ordered or shipped, quantity manufacturing, customer name, schedule date, state, office number, customer code number, invoice number, and date schedule.

  Six round holes are punched in the card, although these do not fit the design of numbers in the columns.

  The card was received with tabulating machine 1990.0693.01.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1930

  1930 roughly

  ca 1930

  maker

  IBM

  ID Number

  1990.0693.01.03

  catalog number

  1990.0693.01.03

  accession number

  1990.0693

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  IBM 001Card Punch

  Description

  For the first half of the 20th century, much data was entered into data processing machines using punched cards. This machine for punching such cards was manufactured by International Business Machines Corporation of New York.

  This key-driven, manual punch has 14 black keys. Twelve are for the 12 rows on a punch card. These are labeled from 0 to 9, X, and blank. Another key moves the card one space to the left and the last releases it. Keys are fed in from the right. A portion of a punch card attached in back of the machine has a pointer attached to it which allows one to determine the column of the card one is punching. The device is set up for 80-column cards and punches rectangular holes. A cylindrical protrusion extends from the back of the machine.

  A metal tag attached to the front of the object reads: PROPERTY OF (/) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. (/) 001-12036-JH (/) ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, U.S.A. A mark stamped into the back of the card bed reads: 01 202.Two rods are marked at the front below the punching position: 202.

  IBM cards with rectangular holes and 80 columns were introduced in 1928. Cards with 12 rows of holes date from the early 1930s.

  Reference:

  E. W. Pugh, Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995, pp. 48–49.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  after 1930

  maker

  International Business Machines Corporation

  ID Number

  MA.333894

  accession number

  304350

  catalog number

  333894

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Graphic Technology Continuous Forms Planning Rule

  Description

  This steel rule was used to design forms to be printed continuously on a dot matrix printer. On one side along one long edge, it has a 16" scale divided to 1/32" for the first two inches and then to 1/16". Every 1/8" increment is numbered, corresponding to the vertical spacing of characters on some printouts made by IBM computers. Each inch division up to 9 is labeled with a number of punch cards, starting at 160 cards at the 1" mark and going up to 1,280 cards. A hole 3/16" in diameter is placed at each 1/4" and 3/4" mark up to 11-3/4" (24 holes total). These were used for setting pinfeed holes down the side of the forms for continuous feeding.

  The lower left corner has four holes 7/16" in diameter, and four holes 5/8" in diameter are in the lower right corner. These were used in designing holes to be punched in forms so that they could be easily filed in folders. The other long edge has a 40 cm scale divided to millimeters. This side is marked: GTi GRAPHIC TECHNOLOGY, INC. (/) 9910 Widmer Road P.O. Box 14646 Lenexa, Kansas 66215 (/) (913) 492-9615. It is also marked: • BAR CODED SHELF LABELS (/) • CASE AND PRICE LABELS (/) • SHELF MOLDING, CHIPS, ETC. (/) • CUSTOM PRESSURE SENSITIVE LABELS. The left end is marked: MADE IN U.S.A. (/) No. 16M8. Between the lines of this mark is a deer leaping to the right through a letter D. This logo is presumably for the company that manufactured the rule, but it was apparently not used by the John Deere Company.

  The back of the rule has a scale divided to 1/12" and numbered in 1/6" increments, from 1 to 96, along one long edge. The other long edge has a scale divided to 1/10" and numbered from 1 to 160. These scales also correspond to vertical spacing of characters in computer printouts. Compare to 2006.0174.03.

  Benjamin S. Mulitz (b. 1919), the donor, worked with punched card equipment and computers from 1940 until 1985. He used both Remington Rand and IBM products. He was employed by the federal government and then in the wholesale drug industry. Graphic Technology, Inc., operated under that name from 1975 to 2004, when the label-maker was purchased by Vestcom International.

  References: Stephen Roth, "JoCo Printer Affixes New Owner Label," Kansas City Business Journal, December 26, 2004, http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2004/12/27/story1.html; accession file.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1975–2004

  ID Number

  2006.0174.04

  accession number

  2006.0174

  catalog number

  2006.0174.04

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Maplesoft Computer Software Button

  Description

  This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: www.maplesoft.com. The background image is an interwoven multi-colored cable.

  Maplesoft™ headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The compan is a subsidiary of Cybernet Systems Co. Ltd. in Japan. They specialize in software tools for engineering, science, and mathematics.

  This and other objects in this acquisition were collected at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America held in January 2017.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  2017

  ID Number

  2017.3121.01

  nonaccession number

  2017.3121

  catalog number

  2017.3121.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  WebAssign Brochure

  Description

  This double-sided football shaped advertisement is printed on heavy card stock. The obverse has a red, pale red, and white background designed to look like a laced football. At the bottom in the center it reads “WebAssign®.” The reverse is white with black and red lettering that reads “Keep Your Students in the Game. Check out WebAssign’s Sports Question Bank of sports-theme math and statistics questions designed to increase student engagement. Available free for Web Assign users. This question bank is suitable for any algebra through precalculus course or introductory statistics course. webassign.com/sports.”

  WebAssign is a customizable online instructional application that enables a teacher to deploy homework assignments, tests and practice problems. WebAssign materials focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) disciplines. Course content includes questions, exercises, problems, simulations, videos, tutorials, and digital versions of select textbooks. Topics available include Accounting, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Geoscience, Mathematics, Physical Science, Physics, Social Studies, and Statistics. It purportedly provides quick feedback--topics needing more review are easily determined by both teacher and student.

  This web application permits teachers to use existing courses, create their own, and/or customize existing assignments by adding their own questions.

  It includes options to promote academic honesty such as:

  - Randomized question values - assigns a different value to each student’s question thus each student will have a different answer.

  - Question pool - each student assigned a varied question set.

  - Randomized question order - questions displayed in a different order.

  - Question set changes - new set of questions used for each term.

  - Password protection - set for assignments.

  - Time limit - set for completion of work.

  - Access restriction - only certain IP addresses allowed access.

  - Application restriction - prevents access to any other applications while taking the test.

  This and other objects in this acquisition were collected at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America held in January 2017.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  2017

  ID Number

  2017.3121.04

  nonaccession number

  2017.3121

  catalog number

  2017.3121.04

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Uarco Rule

  Description

  This two-sided rule made by Uarco Incorporated has its original manila paper sleeve. The front of the rule has a silver background with black markings and the back has a black background with silver marking. The front is marked with two scales. Along the top edge, the 16 inch length is divided into 16th of an inch spaces. The bottom edge is marked with a 160 space scale divided into tenths of an inch. The back also has two scales, a 50 centimeter metric scale divided into millimeters along the top edge and a 16 inch scale divided into 6ths and 12ths along the bottom edge.

  The rule was used by museum staff to mark out lines of typed data and to confirm character and line spacing on optical character recognition (OCR) typed pages.

  In 1975 the museum began automating its accession records. Information from these records was typed on an IBM Selectric typewriter using special paper designed for OCR scanning and an OCR-A type font element. Each page started with a formatted unique number and each line of data started with a 5-digit code that identified the type of data and the line number associated with it. (e.g. 11001 identified the data as the donor name on line 1; 11002 would identify a second donor name.)

  If there was a line of data on an OCR typed page that was not to be scanned, a black pen was used to draw a horizontal line through the center of the 5-digit line code. The OCR scanner would ignore any data line if it detected a 5-space black line. This rule was used to draw an accurate line.

  To ensure accurate scans, the data had to be precisely spaced both horizontally and vertically. This rule was used to check the number of spaces between the line code and the start of the data, the space between the OCR characters, as well as the vertical distance between data lines. Data entry workers could reinsert typed pages into the typewriter to correct typographical errors (using the Selectric’s correction tape) or to add data lines at the bottom of a page. The rule was used to confirm the horizontal and vertical spacing accuracy of these edits.

  Once all editing was completed, the OCR pages were scanned and copied to 9-track magnetic reel tape by a third party vendor, and then processed on the Smithsonian’s Honeywell mainframe computer.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  maker

  Uarco Incorporated

  ID Number

  2017.0318.02

  accession number

  2017.0318

  catalog number

  2017.0318.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Thomas Arithmometer

  Description

  This is the oldest surviving example of the type of stepped drum calculating machine constructed under patents obtained by the Frenchman Charles Xavier Thomas of the French town of Colmar in 1820. Machines that could do arithmetic automatically were built as mechanical marvels in the 1600s on the design of mathematicians such as Blaise Pascal and Gottfried Leibniz. However, it was only with the introduction and improvement of the machine of Thomas that calculating machines became part of the world of practical calculation. The instrument was made for Thomas by the Parisian mechanician and clockmaker Devrine. Thomas arithmometers, as the machines were called, became the first commercially successful calculating machines.

  The brass machine fits snugly in a wooden case covered with red shagreen and lined with green fabric intended to look like velvet - the fabric may be a synthetic fiber. It has three levers that are moved back to enter digits on brass stepped drums. A fourth lever, to the left of these, is labeled Multiplication, and used to determine the number of times the stepped drums rotate. Hence in this early machine, Thomas attempted direct multiplication by a single digit. This feature would not be successfully used in calculating machines until the late 19th century.

  In back of the digit levers is a movable carriage with a row of six pairs of windows. Beneath each pair is a button. The levers are labeled: Unités, Dixaines, and Centaines. The pairs of windows are labeled: Unité, Dixaine, Centaine, Mille, Dix Mille, and Cent Mille.

  Beneath each window is a numeral wheel. Two sets of digits are marked on each wheel, one in black and the other in red. Shifting a lever on the right of the carriage to “add e multiplication” opens six windows to show in black digits the result of addition and multiplication problems. In the other positions, six windows open to show in red digits the result of division and subtraction problems. Beneath the windows are thumbscrews for zeroing the result digits one at a time. There is no revolution register.

  Pulling a red ribbon operates the machine. Pulling a shorter ribbon attached to the front assists in removing it from the case. Later Thomas machines would be crank-operated. The lid of the case has a brass handle, lock, and key. Part of the right side of the case turns down to allow for the motion of the carriage.

  A mark on the left of the levers reads: Arithmomètre (/) du Chr. Thomas de Colmar (/) Par Brevet d’invention (/) Devrine fecit. A mark on a button at the front of the machine reads: Régulateur. A mark on the top of the lid reads: ARITHMOMÊTRE (/) De MR. LE CHER THOMAS DE COLMAR.

  The machine is not identical to that shown in the drawings of Thomas’s 1820 patent. It resembles the drawings made in 1821 for a report by Hoyau published in 1822.

  References:

  Stephen Johnson, “Making the Arithmometer Count,” Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society, No. 52, 1997, 12–21.

  “Rapport fait par M. Francoueur. . .,” Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale, 21, 1822, pp. 33–36.

  Charles-Xavier Thomas, “1420,” 18 Novembre 1820. This is the number of Thomas’s 1820 French patent.

  Hoyau, “Description d’une machine à calculer nommée Arithmomètre. . . ,” Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement pour l’Industrie Nationale, 21, 1822, pp. 355–365.

  Location

  Currently on loan

  date made

  ca 1820

  patentee

  Thomas, Charles Xavier

  maker

  Thomas, Charles Xavier

  ID Number

  1987.0731.02

  catalog number

  326649

  accession number

  1987.0731

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  IBM Punch Card Gauge

  Description

  This gray metal instrument checked the "registration" or alignment of a card punch. Its surface is marked and numbered like an IBM punch card, with 80 columns of numbers. A sample punched card, held in place by three protrusions, fit over the surface and was compared to the rectangles below. Machines out of registration could then be reported.

  A mark on the bottom reads: MFG. BY I.B.M. Another mark there reads: GAUGE CARD FACE UP.

  The device fits in a brown cardboard envelope that is covered with cellophane. A mark on the envelope reads: 450550.

  This is a gauge for an IBM 5081 punch card and a related card punch. It was used at the University of Pittsburgh in Professor Robert A. McConnell’s research on parapsychology.

  For a related card, see 1990.0113.03.

  Reference:

  Accession File.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1960s

  maker

  IBM

  ID Number

  1990.0113.01

  catalog number

  1990.0113.01

  accession number

  1990.0113

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Moore Business Forms Continuous Forms Planning Rule

  Description

  This steel rule was used in the design of early computer printouts produced by dot matrix printers. The rule has a scale of 18" along one side, divided to 1/32" for the first two inches and then to 1/16". Each inch division, up to 17, is labeled with a number of punch cards, starting with 140 cards at 1" and going up to 2,380 cards. A hole 3/16" in diameter is placed at each 1/4" and 3/4" mark up to 11-1/4" (23 holes total). These were used for setting pinfeed holes down the side of the forms for continuous feeding.

  The center of the instrument has four holes 7/16" in diameter and four holes 5/8" in diameter. These are for designing holes to be punched in forms for filing. The front of the rule also has a scale of inches divided to 1/10", with subdivisions numbered from 1 to 130. This scale is a printer spacing chart, allowing the user to determine the space required for fields to be printed on the form, since each character required 1/10" of space. The rule is marked: MOORE BUSINESS FORMS, INC. Branches across the (/) United States & Canada. It is also marked at the right end: MADE IN U.S.A.

  The back of the rule has a scale of inches divided to 1/12" along one edge. Along the other edge is a scale in units of 5/32" that is numbered from 1 to 100. A scale labeled "RG" has divisions the same size and is numbered from 1 to 45. This side is also marked: MOORE BUSINESS FORMS, INC. Branches across the (/) United States & Canada.

  According to the donor, the 18"-size rule was considered more desirable than a 16" such as the example in the collections made by Graphic Technology (see 2006.0174.04). Fanfold paper such as that manufactured by Moore Business Forms was used from the mid-1950s into the 2000s, in association with both punched card equipment and computers.

  Reference: "RR Donnelley Business Forms History," http://www.rrdonnelley.com/print-solutions/forms/history.aspx.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  mid 20th century

  ID Number

  2006.0174.03

  catalog number

  2006.0174.03

  accession number

  2006.0174

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  IBM Machine Load Computer Slide Rule

  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

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Advertising Ephemera - American Statistical Association ASA Connect - Cloud Computing

  Description

  In the twenty-first century, the delivery of computer services via the Internet, using computers independent of the user, is often known as “cloud computing.” Some professional associations have used cloud computing to provide a discussion center for members. This blue plastic giveaway is in the shape of a cloud. It advertises an online forum, the American Statistical Association's ASA Connect. A related paper sheet gives more information.

  A mark on the front of the cloud reads: ASA Connect (/) community.amstat.org.

  The materials were collected at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America in January 2015.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  2015

  maker

  American Statistical Association

  ID Number

  2015.3169.01

  nonaccession number

  2015.3169

  catalog number

  2015.3169.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  GraphLock Brochure

  Description

  This GraphLock advertising brochure describes their scientific graphing calculator application for mobile phones. The product was designed to bring equality and affordability for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education.

  The application has a lock-down mode which prevents text messages and phone calls from coming in and disables internet access. Teachers can customize the calculator by choosing the features their students can access. The application also allows one to send messages to all students or to individual students.

  This and other objects in this acquisition were collected at the Joint Mathematics Meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America held in January 2017.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  2017

  distributor

  GraphLock Incorporated

  ID Number

  2017.3121.03

  nonaccession number

  2017.3121

  catalog number

  2017.3121.03

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Remington Rand P-11782 Punch Card

  Description

  This 90-column punch card has columns in two rows. Round punches indicate the letters from A through Z and the digits from 0 to 9 in the top row, and the digits 0 to 9 and letters A to Z in the bottom row.

  Reference:

  Sperry Rand Corporation, Glossary Systems Design and Programming Terminology, 1960, p. 5. This is 2015.3097.03. The card was received in this glossary.

  date made

  ca 1960

  maker

  Remington Rand Univac

  ID Number

  2015.3097.02

  nonaccession number

  2015.3097

  catalog number

  2015.3097.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Pamphlet, The Totalisator

  Description

  The inventor and electrical engineer Leith Johnston (1899-1987) gave an address to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in which he described the way in which an electrical totalizator could be used in betting at racetracks. This undated illustrated pamphlet contains extracts from that talk. For a related object see 1990.0008.01.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  maker

  Johnston & Murphy

  ID Number

  1990.0008.02

  accession number

  1990.0008

  catalog number

  1990.0008.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  IBM 749809 Punch Card, Employee's Statement of Earnings and Deductions, U.S. Naval Gun Factory

  Description

  This punch card gives a statement of earnings and deductions for an employee of the U.S. Naval Gun Factory in Washington, D.C. in March of 1947. The card itself is not punched, although it lists a tag number, gross earnings, deductions, net pay, and the pay date. A mark on the card reads: EMPLOYEE' S STATEMENT OF EARNINGS AND DEDUCTIONS (/) U.S. NAVAL GUN FACTORY (/) WASHINGTON, D.C.

  The object was collected from the files of departing curator David K. Allison. It's origin is unknown.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1947

  1947

  ca 1947

  maker

  IBM

  ID Number

  2015.3169.07

  nonaccession number

  2015.3169

  catalog number

  2015.3169.07

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Wang Rule

  Description

  This two-sided WANG rule has spacing guides for horizontal and vertical measures. It was used in the 1980s by the museum’s Office of the Registrar to design typed forms (not computer printouts).

  The front of the rule has four different horizontal scale divisions. Along the top edge are a 14 inch scale marked in 16ths and a 168 space scale marked 12 spaces to the inch. The bottom edge has a 140 space scale marked 10 spaces to the inch and a 210 space scale marked 15 spaces to the inch. The back has three vertical scale divisions. Along the top edge are a 110 space scale marked eight lines to the inch and a 350 mm scale. Along the bottom edge is an 84 space scale marked 6 lines to the inch.

  The museum acquired a WANG minicomputer system in 1982 -- a VS80 with two 75mb hard drives (each one was about the size of a modern dishwasher) and 14 workstations. The minicomputer was used for word processing, email, and data entry. This particular rule was given away with the minicomputer but not used in designing computer printouts. Instead, in the 1980s the Office of the Registrar made an effort to design forms that could be completed on a typewriter. The designs had to be precisely spaced horizontally and vertically so that each line/field would accurately line up when using typewriter tab and/or carriage return keys. This rule was used to ensure that accuracy.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1982

  ca 1980

  maker

  Wang Laboratories

  ID Number

  2017.0318.01

  accession number

  2017.0318

  catalog number

  2017.0318.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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