Computers & Business Machines

National Cash Register, Model 79

Description

This large, nickel-plated, manually operated cash register is an NCR Model 79. It has three columns of keys for entering numbers, and a fourth column of function keys. The operating crank is on the right side, the cash drawer is below, and a receipt dispenser on the left side. Pop-up indicators above the keys indicate the total purchase. The Model 79 was introduced by NCR in 1892, this example dates from 1894. Principles introduced with this cash register would prove important on numerous later NCR cash registers. For a model of part of the mechanism of this machine, see MA.316703.

Reference:

Richard R. Crandall and Sam Robins, The Incorruptible Cashier, vol. 2, Vestal, N.Y.: Vestal Press (1990), pp. 157–169.

date made

1894

maker

National Cash Register Company

ID Number

MA.316701

accession number

225455

catalog number

316701

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Mechanism from National Cash Register, Model 79

Description

By 1894, when this device was made, the National Cash Register Company had developed an adding mechanism in which digits were indicated on the rim of rotating wheels. This is such a mechanism. The three wheels could rotate to show totals as high as $9.99. Four other wheels on the left side each have the digits from 0 to 9 around the edge. The mechanism is mounted on a white wooden display board.

A mechanism of this type was used in the NCR Model 79 cash register (see object MA.316701). NCR went on to develop a more compact mechanism that could represent eight totals, rather than just one, on a single shaft. See object MA.316704.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1894

maker

National Cash Register Company

ID Number

MA.316703

accession number

225455

catalog number

316703

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Counter from a Hollerith Tabulating Machine

Description

This is a single counter from a Hollerith tabulating machine. It has square brass pieces on top and bottom, with a brass mechanism in between. A paper-covered metal dial on top is divided around the edge into 100 equal parts. Two hands are on the face of the dial. Advancing the small hand by 100 (one revolution) advances the large hand by one. Hence the counter can read up to 9,999.

A mark around the center of the dial reads: THE HOLLERITH (/) ELECTRIC TABULATING SYSTEM (/) PATENTED, 1889.

Compare to the dials on MA.312895.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1890

ID Number

MA.335638

catalog number

335638

accession number

1977.0114

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Franklin Typewriter

Description

This Franklin typewriter was manufactured by the Franklin Typewriter Company of New York, New York around 1898. 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 was a series of radial type-bars that carried a plurality of types. 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 Victor 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. This typewriter is similar in style to models 7 and 8, produced from 1898 until 1904.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1898

maker

Franklin Manufacturing Company

ID Number

ME.318462

catalog number

318462

accession number

235473

Data Source

National Museum of American History

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

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

Hollerith Card Sorter

Description

During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the U.S. Census. Hollerith's tabulating system included a punch for entering data about each person onto a blank card, a tabulator for reading the cards and summing up information, and a sorting box for sorting the cards for further analysis.

This third part of the system, the sorter, is shown on the right in the photograph. It is an oak box with 26 vertical compartments arranged in two rows. Each compartment has a brass cover that is held in place by an electric catch connected to the tabulator. The sorter is connected by a cable to the tabulator. Once a card is read by the tabulator, a compartment opens in the sorter, indicating where the card should be placed for further counting. The front and back sides of the sorter open so that one may remove stacks of cards from the compartments.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1890

maker

Tabulating Machine Company

ID Number

MA.312897

accession number

171118

catalog number

312897

Data Source

National Museum of American History

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