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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Termatrex Card Reader
- Description
- The Termatrex card reader has a metal case painted green with a translucent white plastic top. The case contains fluorescent lights. A yellow-edged template and plastic rule are atop the box. A grid of lines allows one to read the number corresponding to the location of a hole on a punched card, or set of punched cards, below the template. One then could refer to a report filed with this number.
- A mark on the rule reads: TERMATREX INFORMATION AND DATA SYSTEMS. Another on the upper right corner of the box reads: JONKER. The Smithsonian propertay tag reads: 80089.
- For a fuller description of the system, with references, see the description of the drill at 1993.0132.01. For cards, see 1993.0132.03. For documentation, see 1993.3065.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1969
- maker
- Jonker Business Machines, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1993.0132.02
- catalog number
- 1993.0132.02
- accession number
- 1993.0132
- 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
-
Termatrex Card Punch
- Description
- This "drill" punched cards for the Termatrex, an optical data storage and retrieval system designed in the mid-20th century as a less expensive alternative to contemporary computers. Each card in the system represented a characteristic used to describe items of interest. Each item had an assigned position on a group of cards. If it had the characteristic represented by the card, a hole was drilled at the appropriate position. Lining up cards associated with one group of objects and placing them on a card reader, holes transmitting light corresponded to those objects in the group with all the characteristics of interest.
- This particular Termatrex system was used at the Smithsonian’s Conservation Analytical Laboratory to retrieve treatment reports. Cards represented such characteristics as materials, treatment techniques, and methods of inspection. A different set of cards indexed the reprint file of literature on conservation.
- The Dutch-born engineer Frederick Jonker (1919–2002) developed the Termatrex system in his basement in the mid-1950s. He formed Jonker Business Machines in 1960, and sold this system to the Smithsonian Institution in 1969. After the company went bankrupt in 1969, REMAC International Corporation took over distribution and maintenance. The Termatrex remained in use at CAL until 1986, when it was replaced by microcomputers.
- The card punch has a metal base painted white and an outer case painted green. A cylindrical housing in the center holds the punch. Two wheels on the right front rotate to move the mechanism horizontally, either from side to side (the top wheel) or from front to back (the bottom wheel). A black plastic tray below the mechanism holds the card to be punched. A plastic sticker across the front of the machine reads: TERMATREX. A tag attached to the back reads: MODEL NO. 301 SERIAL NO. 364. A mark stamped on the bottom of the base reads: D-001237-1
- For the card reader and card rack, see 1993.0132.02 and 1993.0132.02. For related documentation, see 1993.3065.
- References:
- F. Jonker, "Selection Method and Apparatus for Indexing Documents and the Like with Extreme Rapidity," U.S. Patent 3,092,113, June 4, 1963.
- F. Jonker, "Integration of Superimposable Cards," U.S. Patent 3,162,468, December 22, 1964.
- F. Jonker, "Printing of Superimposable Card systems," U.S. Patent 3,171,021, February 23, 1965.
- F. C. Porter, "New Departure in Data Retrieval," The Washington Post, March 18, 1960, p. B4.
- R. J. Samuelson, "Jonker Corp. Files for Bankruptcy," The Washington Post, December 16, 1969, p. D7.
- Accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1969
- maker
- Jonker Business Machines, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1993.0132.01
- catalog number
- 1993.0132.01
- accession number
- 1993.0132
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Termatrex Card Rack with Punch Cards
- Description
- This green vertical file holds five groups of plastic cards with cards colored differently in each group. A small tab is attached to the top of each card. A mark on the bottom of one card reads: TERMATREX SYSTEMS R (/) RANDOM NUMERIC CARD (/) RE-ORDER NO. RN-TC-1000. A mark on another card reads: c 1960 JONKER Corporation (/) GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND (/) PRINTED IN U.S.A. A mark on the rack reads: JONKER.
- For a description of the Termatrex data retrieval system, with references, see 1993.0132.01. For a card reader, see 1993.0132.02. For documentation, see 1993.3065.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1969
- maker
- Jonker Business Machines, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1993.0132.03
- catalog number
- 1993.0132.03
- accession number
- 1993.0132
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
IBM Port-a-Punch Card Punch
- Description
- From 1958, IBM Corporation sold portable, stylus-operated card punches like this one to prepare the cards used in data processing equipment.
- The tan instrument consists of a plastic frame that holds 13 long plastic rectangles along its length. A transparent plastic template which has an array of evenly spaced holes fits over the rectangles, and cards are placed over this. A plastic stylus with a metal point punches holes. The object and a card with instructions fit in a cardboard box. A mark on the punch reads: IBM PORT-A-PUNCH. A mark on the end of the box reads: International Business Machines Corporation [/] Part No. 456861.
- Card 1990.0113.04 (an IBM D10687 punch card) was designed for use with this card punch.
- The materials in this accession were used to reduce data accumulated in Robert A. McConnell’s research on parapsychology.
- References:
- Accession file.
- Web site of the IBM Archives, accessed October 16, 2012.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1960s
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1990.0113.02
- catalog number
- 1990.0113.02
- accession number
- 1990.0113
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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