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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Standard Folding Typewriter
- Description
- The Standard Folding Typewriter was made by the Standard Typewriter Company of Groton, New York from around 1906 until 1912. The typewriter was made of aluminum and was relatively light weight, and was made to be portable by allowing the carriage to fold down onto the keyboard. The Standard Folding Typewriter was succeeded by the Corona Three folding typewriter.
- 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
- 1906
- maker
- Standard Typewriting Company
- ID Number
- ME.308353
- catalog number
- 308353
- accession number
- 85488
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
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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Blickensderfer No. 6 Portable Typewriter
- Description
- This is the case for the Blickensder No. 6 typewriter. The Blickensderfer typewriter No. 6 was manufactured by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company of Stamford, Connecticut from 1910 to around 1928. The Blickenderfer No. 6 was essentially the Blickensderfer No. 5 in an aluminum frame, and could be ordered with either a standard QWERTY keyboard or a DHIATENSOR keyboard. Blickensderfer called the latter their “scientific” keyboard because the most used letters—“D, H, I, A, T, E, N, S, O, and R”—were on the bottom row nearest the space bar to minimize necessary hand movement. The aluminum frame of the No. 6 made it exceptionally portable, weighing only 5 pounds, and came in a leatherette case for easy carrying, seen here.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1900
- 1895
- maker
- Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- ME.310701.B
- catalog number
- 310701.B
- accession number
- 125450
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Adler Typewriter
- Description
- This typewriter was manufactured by the German company Adlerwerke vormals Heinrich Kleyer (Adler Works, formerly Heinrick Kleyer) of Frankfurt, Germany during the early 20th century. The machine has lost many of its Adler decals, but “Imported” can still be seen on the machine. The typewriter has a cast iron frame, nickel fittings, and is mounted on a mahogany board with a black metal cover that reads “Adler Imported.” This machine is very similar to the Adler No. 7, having the same sliding type bar mechanism instead of the usual swinging type bars.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1900
- maker
- Adler Schreibmaschinen
- ID Number
- ME.312845
- catalog number
- 312845
- accession number
- 168622
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Yost 1 Typewriter
- Description
- This is a Yost Typewriter manufactured by the Yost Writing Machine Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. The typewriter is the Yost 1, which was first produced in 1887. The machine is an upstriking non-visible typewriter, but unlike the Sholes and Glidden design before it, the types were held to the side of the machine rather than hanging below. Resting against an inkpad, the key would pivot out horizontally before rising up vertically to strike the faceted platen. The double keyboard consists of 8 rows of keys in the QWERTY arrangement, the three upper black keys are upper case letters, and the three lower white keys are lowercase characters. The top row of keys is symbols and the second row is the numbers.
- George W.N. Yost worked with a variety of early typewriting companies including Remington and Caligraph before starting his own company. The Yost Writing Machine Company operated from 1887 until 1924, when it ended production of its last typewriter model, the Yost 12. The September 30, 1895 New York Times obituary for George Yost reveals an interesting aspect of Yost’s later life. “Although a shrewd man of business, Mr. Yost had a tendency in his nature which led him into abstract speculation and made him a devoted Spiritualist.” The biggest example of Yost’s Spirtualist activities is a book entitled “Posthumous Memoirs of Helena Petrovna Blatatsky from the Spirit World upon the typewriter independent of contact under the supervision of G. W. N. Yost to bring the things of truth and affirm the continuity of life and activity of the soul immortal” which was composed on a new Yost typewriter during a séance in which noted Spiritualist Helena Blatatsky was claimed to have materialized.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1900
- maker
- Yost Writing Machine Company
- ID Number
- ME.314928
- catalog number
- 314928
- accession number
- 212904
- serial number
- 3471
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Densmore No. 5 Typewriter
- Description
- This Densmore No. 5 typewriter was made by the Densmore Typewriter Company of New York, New York beginning in 1907. The Densmore No. 5 is an upstriking machine with its keyboard in a three row QWERTY layout with a fourth top row of numbers. The advertising for Densmore mahcines claimed that its use of ball bearings in the type-bar joints led to its consistent alignment, light touch, and durability.
- The Densmore name is associated with typewriter history in its earliest stages. James Densmore invested in the Sholes & Glidden typewriter, one of the first commercially produced typewriters, and eventually sold his controlling interest to E. Remington & Sons who continued to produce typewriters into the 20th century. Densmore’s brothers, Amos and Emmett, produced typewriters under the Densmore brand name, working with typewriter designers Franz Wagner and Walter Barron who made significant contributions to Densmore machines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1907
- maker
- Densmore Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.315052
- catalog number
- 315052
- accession number
- 214853
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Remington Standard No. 6 Typewriter
- Description
- This Remington Standard Model Number 6 typewriter was manufactured by the Remington Standard Typewriter Company around 1894. The Model Number 6 contained many improvements to Remington’s previous models including an improved cylinder, improved spacing mechanism, improved paper carriage, and adjustable paper guides. Many of these improvements were due to the inventiveness of Remington mechanist George B. Webb.
- The first commercially successful typewriter was designed by Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden and manufactured by gunmakers E. Remington and Sons in 1874 in Ilion, New York. The typewriters manufactured by E. Remington and Sons had been sold by the company Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict since 1882. In 1886 E. Remington and Sons sold the entirety of their typewriter interests to Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict. Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict manufactured their typewriters under the Remington Standard Typewriter Company name beginning in 1892. The company became the Remington Typewriter Company in 1902, before merging with the Rand Kardex Company in 1927 to become Remington Rand. The Remington Rand plaque on the typewriter would have been a later addition to the Standard No. 6. Remington Rand continued to sell typewriters until around 1955, when it was acquired by the Sperry Corporation.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1904
- maker
- Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict
- ID Number
- ME.311041
- catalog number
- 311041
- accession number
- 136288
- serial number
- 123640
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
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
-
Ritty Model 1 Cash Register, Possibly a Replica
- Description
- After the Civil War, as American cities and businesses grew, business owners increasingly hired strangers to assist customers. At the time, it was all too easy for clerks and barkeepers to keep part of the money they received. The cash register, invented by the Ritty brothers of Dayton, Ohio, had a large display to indicate the sums customers paid. It also had a locked compartment that tallied total receipts. This is the Rittys' first machine, or an early replica of it. It was the basis for a commercial product called "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier."
- By 1884 the Rittys were out of business, but their patents were purchased by the National Cash Register Company. NCR made and sold much improved cash registers. By 1904, they were ready to convey the history of their company by showing this model at the St. Louis World's Fair. NCR went on to successfully make not only cash registers and accounting machines but electronic computers.
- date made
- ca 1904
- maker
- National Cash Register Company
- ID Number
- MA.316700
- accession number
- 225455
- catalog number
- 316700
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tabulating Machine Company Card Punch
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Contact Board Associated with Herman Hollerith
- Description
- This wooden board has six switches on it, and six metal nubs. The nubs and one end of each switch are screwed into the board. On the opposite side are contacts for electrical wires. Twelve nails in the board on top assure that one switch can only meet one nub. Holes at opposite ends of the board allow it to be attached to a table, with a groove in the back for wires.
- Compare to switches on the Hollerith tabulating system with museum number MA.317982.05.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1900
- maker
- Hollerith, Herman
- ID Number
- MA.335637
- accession number
- 1977.0114
- catalog number
- 335637
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tabulating Machine Company Card Punch
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Record of Punching Cards at the New York Central for the Month of April 1904
- Description
- From 1895 inventor Herman Hollerith wooed the New York Central Railroad as a commercial customer for his tabulating machines. This small paper card records his success. It reports that in April 1904, key punch operators at the Central punched a total of 428,502 cards, averaging 258 cards per clerk per hour. The record for one clerk was 70,535 cards punched, averaging 413 cards per hour.
- Reference: G. D. Austrian, Hermann Hollerith: Forgotten Pioneer of Information Processing , New York: Columbia University Press, 1982, pp. 111–141.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1904
- ID Number
- 1977.0114.08.01
- accession number
- 1977.0114
- catalog number
- 1977.0114.08.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electrotype Printing Block Showing a Manual Hollerith Key Punch
- Description
- This electrotype printing block is engraved in metal and attached to a wooden block. It shows a manually operated, key-driven Hollerith card punch with 11 keys. Hollerith patented such a machine in 1901, but it had only ten keys, numbered from 0 to 9. The machine shown on the electroplate has these number keys, plus one marked X.
- For key punches similar but not identical to that shown, see MA.335634, MA.335635, and MA.333894.
- Reference:
- H. Hollerith, "Apparatus for Perforating Record Cards," U.S. Patent 682,197, September 10, 1901.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1902
- ID Number
- 1977.0503.02
- catalog number
- 336121
- accession number
- 1977.0503
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Microcomputer Peripheral, Graphics Tablet for the Apple IIe
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1900
- maker
- Apple Computer, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2012.0120.03
- catalog number
- 2012.0120.03
- accession number
- 2012.0120
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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