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
38
Page 1 of 2
-
Wang LOCI-2 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- One of the first programmable electronic calculators, this instrument was announced in 1964 and sold from 1965. It was designed by An Wang (1920-1990) and his associates. Wang, a native of Shanghai, immigrated to the United States after World War II, studied computer science at Harvard University, and worked at the Harvard Computation Laboratory. He started his own business in 1951, producing magnetic core memories and other electronic equipment on order. The LOCI or “logarithmic calculating instrument” was the first product marketed by the company. Two versions of the machine were announced: the LOCI I, which was not programmable, and the LOCI II, which was.
- The desktop machine has nine digit keys arranged in an array, as well as a zero bar and a decimal point key. Depressing other keys changes the sign of the number, shifts the decimal point, shifts from the logarithmic to the work register, and shifts from the work to the logarithmic register. Further keys are for arithmetic operations, squares, square roots, inverse squares, inverse square roots, inverse logarithms, and clearance of various registers. To the right are controls for the decrement counter, the program counter, and the operation code. According to company advertising, the machine offers ten-digit precision in addition and subtraction and eight-digit precision in multiplication, division, exponentiation, root extraction, and logarithm computation. It has five storage registers of ten-digit capacity and a ten-digit display, plus a display for the sign of the answer. A cooling fan and a cord are at the back. The card reader attachment that plugs into the back holds program cards.
- A tag on the front of the machine reads: LOCI-2. A tag on the back reads: ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AND DEVICES (/) LOCI II (/) MODEL NO. 2AB (/) SERIAL NO. 2734 (/) TEWKSBURY, MASS. U.S.A. A paper tag on the back of the machine indicates that it was serviced 4/28/68, 9/12/68, and 2/9/71.
- According to a 1964 flier, the machine was to sell for $4,750.00. Kenney says that the initial price was $6,500. Wang Laboratories would go on to sell the 300 series of calculators (from 1966) and the 700 series (from 1969), and to manufacture minicomputers and networked microcomputers.
- For related objects and documents, see 1980.0096.02 through 1980.0096.10.
- Compare 1980.0096.01 with the later 1983.0171.01 (a Wang Series 700 calculator), and the even later 2011.0022.01 (a Wang Series 600 calculator).
- References:
- There is an extensive discussion of the LOCI II at the website of the Old Calculator Museum. See:http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/wangloci.html
- Wang Laboratories, Inc., “LOCI-2 Open New Vistas to your Personal Computing . . .,” Tewksbury, Ma., 1964. This is 1980.0096.08. A similar leaflet describes the LOCI-1 and has museum number 1980.0096.07.
- Charles C. Kenney, Riding the Runaway Horse: The Rise and Decline of Wang Laboratories, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1992.
- date made
- 1965 or later
- date received
- 1980
- maker
- Wang Laboratories
- ID Number
- 1980.0096.01
- catalog number
- 1980.0096.01
- accession number
- 1980.0096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Wang 700 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- In March of 1968, An Wang saw a prototype of Hewlett-Packard’s HP9100 programmable desktop calculator. This machine reduced the task of finding many scientific functions from programming to pushing a key. In response, Wang Laboratories announced plans for a new set of calculators for the scientific and engineering communities, the series 700 advanced programming calculator. The instrument came on the market in mid-1969.
- A large keyboard at the front of the machine includes keys for entering digits, carrying out arithmetic operations, and finding squares, square roots, and reciprocals. A separate key enters the number pi. Another set of keys performs operations for both logarithms and exponents in base e and base 10. Special function keys above the digit keys are set for trigonometric and hyperbolic functions. A tape cassette on the right above the keyboard allows for entering programs via magnetic tape. Left of the tape drive is a Nixie tube display that shows up to twelve digits in two registers, followed by the sign of the exponent and the exponent.
- A mark on the front left of the calculator reads: WANG. A metal tag at the back reads: Wang Laboratories, Inc. (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR (/) MODEL NO. 700C (/) SERIAL No. 811055-C (/) TEWKSBURY, MASS. U.S.A. Marks on the rightmost column of keys confirm that is a model Wang 700C, having debugging features characteristic of that machine. It was released in 1972. A paper sticker on the right back reads: JUL 8 1970 [sic]. The July date is scribbled over one reading JUN 3. Hence the object dates from at least 1970, most probably about 1972.
- Documentation received with the calculator dates from 1969, 1970, and 1972.
- Reference:
- An extensive discussion of the Wang 720C advanced programming calculator is at The Old Calculator Web Museum.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1972
- maker
- Wang Laboratories
- ID Number
- 1983.0171.01
- catalog number
- 1983.0171.01
- accession number
- 1983.0171
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Log Book With Computer Bug
- Description
- American engineers have been calling small flaws in machines "bugs" for over a century. Thomas Edison talked about bugs in electrical circuits in the 1870s. When the first computers were built during the early 1940s, people working on them found bugs in both the hardware of the machines and in the programs that ran them.
- In 1947, engineers working on the Mark II computer at Harvard University found a moth stuck in one of the components. They taped the insect in their logbook and labeled it "first actual case of bug being found." The words "bug" and "debug" soon became a standard part of the language of computer programmers.
- Among those working on the Mark II in 1947 was mathematician and computer programmer Grace Hopper, who later became a Navy rear admiral. This log book was probably not Hopper's, but she and the rest of the Mark II team helped popularize the use of the term computer bug and the related phrase "debug."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1947
- director
- Aiken, Howard Hathaway
- maker
- Harvard University
- IBM
- Harvard University
- Aiken, Howard
- ID Number
- 1994.0191.01
- catalog number
- 1994.0191.1
- accession number
- 1994.0191
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sheets, PDP-8 Users Handbook
- Description
- This illustrated manual describes the basic operation of the PDP-8 minicomputer. It has DEC form number F-85.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1966
- maker
- Digital Equipment Corporation
- ID Number
- 1994.3128.16
- catalog number
- 1994.3128.16
- nonaccession number
- 1994.3128
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Pamphlet, PDP-8 Course Work
- Description
- This spiral-bound document, prepared by the training department of DEC, was designed to assist students in understanding PDP-8 computer systems. It has DEC form number I-85.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965
- maker
- Digital Equipment Corporation
- ID Number
- 1994.3128.17
- catalog number
- 1994.3128.17
- nonaccession number
- 1994.3128
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo
- Description (Brief)
- Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1997. (Jobs with laptop.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1997-08
- depicted (sitter)
- Jobs, Steve
- maker
- Walker, Diana
- ID Number
- 2003.0250.127
- accession number
- 2003.0250
- catalog number
- 2003.0250.127
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo
- Description (Brief)
- Steve Jobs preparing presentation at MacWorld Expo, Boston, Massachusetts, August 1997. (close-up face)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1997-08
- depicted (sitter)
- Jobs, Steve
- maker
- Walker, Diana
- ID Number
- 2003.0250.125
- accession number
- 2003.0250
- catalog number
- 2003.0250.125
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
JTC 73752 Punch Card Associated with the MIT Information Processing Center
- Description
- This cream-colored eighty-column punch card has an orange stripe across the top. It shows the logo of the MIT Information Processing Center. A mark along the left edge reads: INFORMATION PROCESSING CENTER. A mark along the right edge reads: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. A mark along the bottom edge at the left reads: JTC73752. A mark along the bottom edge toward the right reads: Printed in U.S.A.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1960s-1970s
- user
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- maker
- Jersey Tab Card Corporation
- ID Number
- 1996.0142.26
- catalog number
- 1996.0142.26
- accession number
- 1996.0142
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Leaflet, PDP 8 Instruction List
- Description
- This small leaflet gives a list of operations performed by the PDP 8 minicomputer with corresponding mneumonics, codes, and cycles. It has DEC form number 5372.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965
- maker
- Digital Equipment Corporation
- ID Number
- 1994.3128.14
- catalog number
- 1994.3128.14
- nonaccession number
- 1994.3128
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Hough's Security Cash Recorder
- Description
- In the late 19th century, as American shopkeepers hired strangers to work in their stores, they showed a new concern for keeping track of retail transactions. Azel Clarence Hough (1859-1946), the son of a creamery owner in South Butler, New York, took out a range of patents for the design and improvement of cash drawers between 1892 and 1899 (U.S. patents 484501, 486107, D22024, 534795 and 618034). His ideas served as the basis of the products of the Hough Cash Recorder Company of Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.
- This example of Hough’s Security Cash Recorder is a large oak box with an oak lid. At the front on the right is a lock for the cash drawer; the drawer is on the lower left front. On top is an opening that shows a roll of paper. Salesclerks were required to enter a total on this paper roll and advance it in order to open the cash drawer.
- This model is quite similar to the Hough Security Cash Register No. 70 shown in an advertisement reproduced in Crandall and Robins, p. 318. This machine sold for $15. Hough Cash Recorder Company advertised in Hardware Dealer’s magazine as late as June, 1906. However, its products were soon outpaced by the autographic registers sold by NCR.
- In the early 20th century, Hough became interested in the manufacture of wooden blinds, and took out several related patents. He first manufactured shades in South Butler, then in Worcester, Massachusetts, and then in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Hough Shade Corporation he formed survives under the name of Hufcor.
- References:
- Dorothy Wiggins, “Town of Butler Agricultural & Comprehensive Plan," South Butler Public Forum – September 15, 2008, pp. 1–2.
- American Lumberman, vol. 1, 1940, p. 58.
- Richard R. Crandall and Sam Robins, The Incorruptible Cashier, vol. 2, Vestal, N.Y.: Vestal Press, 1990, pp. 316–318.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1895
- maker
- Hough Cash Recorder Company
- ID Number
- 1983.0881.01
- accession number
- 1983.0881
- catalog number
- 1983.0881.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Harvard Mark I Control Panel, IBM ASCC
- Description
- This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.323579
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 323579
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Output Typewriter
- Description
- This is the output typewriter for printing results from the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I . The electric typewriter has complete number keys. Other keys lack a printing bar. Various reels are attached to the sides of the machine.
- A mark on the fornt of the machine reads: ELECTROMATIC. A tag on the back of the machine lists relevant patents and indicates that the typewriter is a product of the Electric Writing Division of IBM.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.323582
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 323582
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The single coil is black.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324281
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324281
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. This a four-pole double-throw relay has one plug. The double coil is silver-colored.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324284
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324284
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Double Throw Relay
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The twelve-pole double throw relay has a single black coil and two plugs.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324285
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324285
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. The electromechanical assembly contains seven commutators, each with a plastic piece on top of it with a hole in it, with numbers stamped around the hole to denote contacts. It has a metal frame, gear, contacts, clutch and brushes.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.324288
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 324288
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechnical Computer Components, ASSC Mark I Relays
- Description
- These relays are components of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I. The dimensions given are those of each relay. Each has a black bakelite frame and a metal frame inside this. There are two single coils, covered with a black covering. There are two plugs and forty short prongs on one side of each relay. Most relays are stamped with numbers and letters on the outside metal side.
- Compare 324285.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- 1983.3006.03
- nonaccession number
- 1983.3006
- catalog number
- 1983.3006.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I, Relay
- Description
- This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer.This ten-position electromechanical counter is held by two red plastic plates and a steel plate.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- 1993.3057.01
- nonaccession number
- 1993.3057
- catalog number
- 1993.3057.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechanical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Housing
- Description
- This is a component of the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), known otherwise as the Harvard Mark I. More specifically, it is protective housing for card feed and hopper of the Mark
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- MA.323583
- accession number
- 248831
- catalog number
- 323583
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Electromechnical Computer Component, ASSC Mark I Relay
- Description
- This is a component of BM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) Mark I computer. It has a black bakelite frame with metal interior and side. There is a single coil in the frame. A single plug and sixteen prongs extend from one side. The coil is wrapped with a white covering.
- Compare 324282.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1944
- maker
- IBM
- Harvard University
- ID Number
- 1983.3006.02
- nonaccession number
- 1983.3006
- catalog number
- 1983.3006.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Pages
Filter Your Results
Click to remove a filter:
- data source
- topic
-
object type
- Electromechanical Computer Component 14
- Computer Component 13
- electromechanical computer component 3
- electronic calculator 3
- Computer, Electromechanical 2
- Photographs 2
- documentation 2
- Booklets 1
- Books 1
- Computer Component; Electromechanical Computer Component; Card Unit 1
- Computer Component; Electromechanical Computer Component; Housing 1
- Computer Component; Electromechanical Computer Component; Output Typewriter 1
- Computer Component; Electromechanical Computer Component; Tape Transport Unit 1
- Data Recorder 1
- Leaflets (printed works) 1
- Microcomputers 1
- Pamphlets 1
- Punch Card 1
- Software 1
- calculator, electronic 1
- date
- place
-
set name
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics 25
- Medicine and Science: Computers 11
- Desktop Electronic Calculators 4
- Handheld Electronic Calculators 2
- Photography 2
- Women Teaching Math 2
- Work and Industry: Photographic History 2
- Cash and Credit Registers 1
- Military 1
- My Computing Device 1
- National Museum of American History 1
- Punch Cards 1
- Tabulating Equipment 1
- Trigonometry 1
