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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Hermes Baby Rocket Typewriter
- Description
- This portable Hermes Baby Rocket brand typewriter was manufactured by Hermes-Presica, a division of Paillard Incorporated, around 1966. Paillard Incorporated was based in Switzerland, but the factory that produced this typewriter was located in Sackingen, Germany. Hermes manufactured a variety of typewriter models under both the “Baby” and “Rocket” brand name, and the design was so popular that it was licensed to several other manufacturers. This Rocket typewriter was a portable version that came with a case cover and handle. Hermes advertised that the green color of their machines was found to be “the most relaxing to the eye…least likely to interfere with the operator’s efficiency.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1999.0185.01
- catalog number
- 1999.0185.01
- accession number
- 1999.0185
- serial number
- 9041458
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
IBM Electric Model 01 Typewriter
- Description
- This electric typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation around 1935. IBM purchased Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. in 1933, taking over its Rochester, New York factory. After a variety of improvements IBM issued the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 in 1935. The innovation of electric typewriters was that each type bar hit the paper with the same force, and that force was more powerful than manual typewriters. This was especially useful in business situations as multiple carbon copies could be produced. IBM continued producing typewriters, including the very popular Selectric model, throughout the 20th century until 1990.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- International Business Machines Corp.
- ID Number
- ME.312858
- catalog number
- 312858
- accession number
- 169125
- serial number
- 27559
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Graphophone
- Description
- This is a business dictation machine that uses wax cylinders to record and play back sound. The basic design for the machine emerged from research at the Volta Laboratory, Washington, D.C., the sound research facility established by Alexander Graham Bell with his associates Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter.
- Tainter refined the design, patented several versions of it, and oversaw the manufacturing of the first six experimental graphophones at Bergmann & Co in New York in 1885. He also supervised the making of commercial models in a sewing machine factory in Bridgeport, Conn., beginning in 1887. In these early commercial machines, the dictation apparatus sits atop a sewing machine table and employs a treadle to rotate the mandrel holding the cylinder recording.
- On this machine from 1888, the treadle is marked "American Graphophone Company"; the governor is marked "Patented July 20th 1886." The recorder-reproducer is marked: "The Phonograph-Graphophone m'f'd by the American Graphophone Company for Jesse H. Lippincott, Sole Licensee/ Type C No. 03042" and numerous patent dates.
- Reference:
- Wile, Raymond R. "The Development of Sound Recording at the Volta Laboratory," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 21, No. 2, 1990, pp. 208-225.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1888
- maker
- American Graphophone Company
- ID Number
- ME.287825
- catalog number
- 287825
- accession number
- 58498
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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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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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
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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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Columbia No. 2 Typewriter
- Description
- This Columbia No. 2 typewriter was manufactured by the Columbia Typewriter Company of New York after 1886. The typewriter was invented by Charles Spiro, and covered by patent number 322,989 and 335,392. The Columbia typewriter was an index typewriter, meaning that the letters were selected with a pointer, manipulated by the index finger, and imprinted by pressing another key. The absence of the keyboard made the typewriter simpler to operate, but sacrificed speed and efficiency. The machine also had variable spacing, allowing each letter to take up a varying amount of space, for instance, an “I” take up less space than an “M.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1890
- maker
- Columbia Typewriter Co.
- ID Number
- ME.326233
- catalog number
- 326233
- accession number
- 257824
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Royal Key Model
- Description
- This model of a Royal Typewriter Company typewriter key demonstrates the key and type bar action in Royal Typewriters.
- The Royal Typewriter Company was founded in 1906 by Thomas Fortunes Ryan and Edward B. Hess, with Ryan providing the capital and Hess providing the inventiveness. Hess owned over 150 patents, many of which were assigned to the Royal Typewriter Company. Hess’s most noteworthy patents related to increasing the ease of typing, including an accelerating typebar, anti friction roller escapement, Magic Margins, and selective touch control. In 1954 Royal merged with the McBee Corporation, operating as Royal Mcbee until 1964. In 1964 Royal McBee was acquired by Litton Industries, which used Royal as a brand until 1968.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- ME.311045
- catalog number
- 311045
- accession number
- 136502
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Remington Remette Typewriter
- Description
- This Remette brand typewriter was manufactured by the Remington Rand Corporation from the late 1930s until the early 1940s. The Remette was a portable typewriter that came in a black leather carrying case. The Remette has a full size “QWERTY” keyboard, with the type bars visible in semi-circle above the brand name “Remette.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1991.0696.01
- catalog number
- 1991.0696.01
- accession number
- 1991.0696
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Royal KHM Typewriter (Cutaway)
- Description
- The Royal KHM model typewriter was produced by the Royal Typewriter Company of Hartford, Connecticut in 1934. The Royal KHM was very similar to the Royal 10, but notable differences include a lack of glass sides, no scooped center, and covered ribbon spools. This version has had pieces removed so the inner workings of the typewriter can be seen.
- The Royal Typewriter Company was founded in 1906 by Thomas Fortunes Ryan and Edward B. Hess, with Ryan providing the capital and Hess providing the inventiveness. Hess owned over 150 patents, many of which were assigned to the Royal Typewriter Company. Hess’s most noteworthy patents related to increasing the ease of typing, including an accelerating typebar, anti friction roller escapement, Magic Margins, and selective touch control. In 1954 Royal merged with the McBee Corporation, operating as Royal Mcbee until 1964. In 1964 Royal McBee was acquired by Litton Industries, which used Royal as a brand until 1968.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Royal Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.311043
- catalog number
- 311043
- accession number
- 136502
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Hammond Multiplex Typewriter
- Description
- This Hammond Folding Multiplex typewriter was manufactured by the Hammond Typewriter Company of New York beginning in 1923. The typewriter uses Hammond’s patented type-shuttle and hammer typing mechanism where the printing is done by a hammer in the back of the machine striking a type-carrying shuttle in the front of the machine, with the paper and ink ribbon in between to receive the impression. This Hammond Folding Multiplex contains two additional Hammond innovations. It is called a Multiplex because the typewriter contains two type shuttles that can easily be rotated into use, allowing the typing of two complete alphabets in different typesets on each machine. This typewriter’s keyboard could also fold up to allow a cover to be attached to the base, allowing the typewriter to be carried. The keyboard is in a three row QWERTY array.
- James Bartlett Hammond filed patents for his type-shuttle and hammer typing mechanism present in Hammond typewriters in 1879, receiving patent number 224088 on February 3rd, 1880 and patent number 232402 September 21st, 1880. The Hammond Typewriter Company was founded in 1880, and produced its first machine by 1884, winning a gold medal at the New Orleans Centennial Exposition that same year. The Hammond Typewriter touted its superior strength and durability due to its unique type-shuttle and hammer typing mechanism. The replaceable type-shuttle also contributed to the Hammond’s popularity with the ability to print in a variety of typesets in various sizes, including math formulae, special symbols, and foreign characters with an easy replacement of the type shuttle, or an even simpler rotation of a wheel in the Hammond Multiplex.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1921 - 1929
- maker
- Hammond Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.334775
- catalog number
- 334775
- accession number
- 314637
- serial number
- F234590
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Underwood Standard Portable Typewriter
- Description
- This Underwood Standard Portable Typewriter was manufactured between 1919 and 1929 by the Underwood Typewriter Company. The Underwood Portable had a three-bank QWERTY keyboard, and unlike the more popular Corona 3, the carriage and platen did not have to be folded to become portable. The typewriter had a cover with a handle that allowed it to be easily transported.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1922 - 1923
- maker
- Underwood Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.328708
- catalog number
- 328708
- accession number
- 274352
- serial number
- 82746
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Underwood Model 5
- Description
- The Underwood Model 5, introduced in 1899, is the result of almost thirty years of innovation and improvements in typewriter manufacture. It became the ubiquitous office machine for another thirty years, and its sales led Underwood to dominate the market. The Model 5 became the modern standard of how a typewriter worked and what it looked like.
- The first successful commercial typewriter, developed by Christopher Scholes and Carlos Glidden, was brought to the public in 1874 by the Remington Company. Two elements from that first machine remained dominant in the design of eventual typewriters: the QWERTY keyboard, a pattern of letters on the keyboard, and the telegraph type key movement. At first sales were slow, but the typewriter industry grew as businesses expanded along with their need to retain records, and process paperwork at fast speeds. More and more people, mostly women, learned the new skill of typing, creating a new class of clerical worker, according to historian JoAnne Yates.
- There were a handful of typewriter manufacturers by the end of the 1880s such as Remington, a leader in the industry, L.C. Smith & Brothers, Caligraph, Hammond, and a number of smaller firms. As the number of manufacturers grew, so too did the improvements, including the addition of a shift key to activate upper and lower case letters, the size and weight had been reduced but until 1895, but typists could not see what they had typed until the typed page advanced forward.
- In the early 1890s, Franz X Wagner, a German immigrant, engineered the first reliable "visible" typewriter that allowed the typist to see the text as they typed. Wagner had already designed several earlier typing machines. John T. Underwood, producer of office supplies such as carbon paper and ribbons, purchased Wagner's design and manufactured it as the Underwood Model 1 in 1895. Unlike earlier machines, which had an up strike type bar from underneath the paper, the new design in
- After six years and two other models that improved touch, and tab function and provided quieter operation, Underwood came out with the Model 5 in 1900. Compared to earlier machines of the 1870s, this machine is plain. The machine in the collection was produced in 1910. It has a black frame with gold lettering and stripping.
- Date made
- 1914
- maker
- Underwood Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.312108
- accession number
- 161692
- catalog number
- 312108
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Flying Fish Typewriter
- Description
- This is a Flying Fish typewriter that was manufactured in Shanghai, China by the China National Light Industrial Products Import and Export Corporation in 1975. The typewriter has finger-shaped turquoise keys, tab-buttons for margin settings, with a black, red, and white ribbon selector.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1974-1975
- maker
- Light Industrial Products Import-Export Corp.
- ID Number
- ME.334952
- catalog number
- 334952
- accession number
- 320831
- 320831
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Friden 5610 Computyper
- Description
- This Friden 5610 Computyper was manufactured by the Friden Division of the Singer Company around 1969. This machine is actually two-in-one, the Friden 5610 Computyper and the 2205 Flexowriter. The Flexowriter was also sold apart from the Friden 5610 as a teleprinter. The Flexowriter consists of an electric typewriter with paper tape reader and punch mechanism. The Flexowriter would produce a coded data tape that could be read by the Computyper to automate various business activities. The Computyper was marketed as a data processor for business use, automatically producing invoices, sales totals, product sales analysis, taxes, costs, profits, and special charges.
- date made
- 1970 -1978
- ID Number
- 1979.0823.01
- catalog number
- 1979.0823.01
- accession number
- 1979.0823
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Hammond Folding Multiplex Typewriter
- Description (Brief)
- One (1) Hammond Folding Multiplex typewriter
- New York, New York, about 1923
- Description: Aluminum frame with keys arranged to fold. Contained in a case. Standard keyboard. Complete with four sets of type.
- Description
- This Hammond Folding Multiplex typewriter was manufactured by the Hammond Typewriter Company of New York beginning in 1923. The typewriter uses Hammond’s patented type-shuttle and hammer typing mechanism where the printing is done by a hammer in the back of the machine striking a type-carrying shuttle in the front of the machine, with the paper and ink ribbon in between to receive the impression. This Hammond Folding Multiplex contains two additional Hammond innovations. It is called a Multiplex because the typewriter contains two type shuttles that can easily be rotated into use, allowing the typing of two complete alphabets in different typesets on each machine. This typewriter’s keyboard could also fold up to allow a cover to be attached to the base, allowing the typewriter to be carried. The keyboard is in a three row QWERTY array.
- James Bartlett Hammond filed patents for his type-shuttle and hammer typing mechanism present in Hammond typewriters in 1879, receiving patent number 224088 on February 3rd, 1880 and patent number 232402 September 21st, 1880. The Hammond Typewriter Company was founded in 1880, and produced its first machine by 1884, winning a gold medal at the New Orleans Centennial Exposition that same year. The Hammond Typewriter touted its superior strength and durability due to its unique type-shuttle and hammer typing mechanism. The replaceable type-shuttle also contributed to the Hammond’s popularity with the ability to print in a variety of typesets in various sizes, including math formulae, special symbols, and foreign characters with an easy replacement of the type shuttle, or an even simpler rotation of a wheel in the Hammond Multiplex.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1923
- maker
- Hammond Typewriter Company
- ID Number
- ME.315035
- catalog number
- 315035
- accession number
- 213958
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
IBM Electromatic Typewriter
- Description
- This Electromatic brand typewriter was manufactured by the International Business Machines Corporation beginning in 1935. The Electromatic typewriter was first manufactured in 1924 by the North East Electric Company. The North East Electric Company produced the motor and base, and used a Remington model 12 as the typewriter. The North East Electric Company became the Electromatic Typewriter Company before being purchased by IBM in 1933. In 1935 IBM produced the Electromatic Model 01 for the first time. The Electromatic operated with a motor controlling all aspects of typing, from the type bar to the carriage returns, allowing the user to operate the typewriter without their fingers ever leaving the keyboard.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1940
- ID Number
- 1987.0544.01
- catalog number
- 1987.0544.01
- accession number
- 1987.0544
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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