Computers & Business Machines

Book, Office Equipment Catalogue, First Annual Edition

Description

The full title of this catalogue well reflects its content. It is: Office Equipment Catalogue A Compilation of Condensed and Standardized Catalogue Data of Office Appliances and Devices, Furniture and Equipment, Office Supplies, Buisness Systems and Business Services, that contribute directly or indirectly to Office Efficiency, the uses of which are not obvious, with a General Directory of such Equipment, Materials, Systems and Services, Classified and Cross-Indexed, and A Book Section - Cataloguing and briefly describing a list of the Most Important Business Books selected by the Publishers, for the convenient reference of practising [sic] Accountants, Purchasing Agents, Systematizers and Office Executives." This copy of the book is from the Patent Library of the Marchant Calculating Machine Company.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1924

maker

Office Equipment Catalogue, Inc.

ID Number

1979.3084.159

catalog number

1979.3084.159

nonaccession number

1979.3084

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Notebooks, American Office Machines Research Service, Vol I and II

Description

These two spring binders offer a cumulative record of changes in the market for office machines in the United States over the years immediately preceding World War II. American Office Machines Research Service on New York offered both a monthly notice (those numbered 1 to 38, dating from August, 1937 to August, 1940 are included), an introduction to different kinds of office machines, and detailed descriptions of available models, updated as new models were released. Adding machines, calulating machines, cash registers, typewriters, filing equipment, and time recorders are among the tkinds of objects included.The dimensions are for each of the two volumes.

Compare 1979.3084.162 and 1984.3084.163.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1937-1940

maker

Office Machines Research, Inc.

ID Number

1979.3084.162

catalog number

1979.3084.162

nonaccession number

1979.3084

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Webb Adder

Description

This two-wheeled stylus-operated non-printing adding machine is made of silver-colored metal. It has one large wheel with the numbers from 00 to 99 stamped around the edge. The second, smaller wheel has the numbers from 0 to 49 stamped evenly around its edge. A ring of holes is just inside each ring of numbers. A metal frame and plate cover the back and outer edges of the two wheels, revealing numbers in a small window between the wheels. Numbers are added by rotation of the wheels, up to sums of 4999. The frame is serrated around the edge. There is no stylus. The large wheel is marked: The Adder (/) C.H. WEBB. The plate is marked: PAT’D NOV 5TH 12TH 1889. The serial number stamped on the back is: 5136.

Charles Henry Webb of New York first patented an adding machine in 1868. This improved version of the device is described in a patent he took out on November 12, 1889, and in one obtained by Lester C. Smith on November 5 of that year. This example was used by the civil engineer Chauncey B. Schmeltzer who taught at the University of Illinois.

References:

C. H. Webb, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 414959, November 12, 1889.

Lester C. Smith, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 414335, November 5, 1889.

P. Kidwell, “The Webb Adder,” Rittenhouse, 1 (1986) 12-18

E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 63.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1890

patentee

Webb, Charles H.

ID Number

MA.317925.01

accession number

317925

catalog number

317925.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Pamphlet, Underwood Sundstrand Presents the Right Machine with the Right Keyboard...The Only Complete Line of 10 Key Adding Machines

Description

This undated illustrated pamphlet describes the ten-key adding machine made by Underwood Sundstrand adding and bookkeeping machines sold by the Adding Machine Division of Underwood Corporation.Tthe cover is red, gray and black.

Location

Currently not on view

ID Number

1990.3188.07

nonaccession number

1990.3188

catalog number

1990.3188.07

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Gem Adding Machine

Description

This small stylus-operated non-printing adding machine has seven chains in parallel columns. The links visible in each column are numbered from 1 to 9. A stylus is placed in a link of the chain and pulled down to enter a digit. Above the columns are seven windows to show results On the right is a knob which may be intended for zeroing. The device sits in a small steel stand that has four rubber feet. The stylus is missing.

The machine is marked on the bottom: PATENTED MARCH 1ST 1904 - MARCH 27TH 1906. (/) UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN PATENTS PENDING. It is marked on the left side: No. 8445 (/) AUTOMATIC ADDING MACHINE CO. (/) NEW YORK U.S.A. It is marked on the stand: GEM. A paper tag has Felt & Tarrant adding machine collection number 37.

According to U.S. Census records, Abraham Isaac Gancher was born in Russia of Russian parents in about 1875. He came to the United States in 1892 and initially worked as a leather salesman. He and his wife, Rebecca Gancher, mariied in 1899. Gancher became interested in adding machines a few years later. He was active in the Automatic Adding Machine Company through at least 1918. Nobyoshi A. Kodama, who took out early patents used in the GEM, had pulled out of the picture by 1908.

Compare to 1981.0935.01.

Gancher went on to patent and sell a printing adding machine that was also sold by Automatic Adding Machine as the Gancher. See U.S. patents 1047199 (1912) and 1178227 (1916).

References:

Ads in Scientific American, vol. 95, October, 1906, p. 314; vol. 96, March 2, 1907, p. 203; and vol. 96, Mar. 30, 1907.

Nobyoshi A. Kodama, “Automatic Adding and subtracting Apparatus,” U.S. Patent 783,586, March 1, 1904. Kodama was a subject of the Emperor of Japan living in New York City, New York. He assigned half of the patent to Rebecca Gancher of New York, N.Y.

Nobyoshi A. Kodama and Abraham I. Gancher, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 816,342, March 27, 1906. Kodama was a subject of the Mikado of Japan. Both he and Gancher, a U.S. citizen, were living in Manhattan, New York. The patent was assigned to Automatic Adding Machine Company of New York, N.Y.

Abraham I. Gancher and Albert T. Zabriskie, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 847,759, March 19,1907. This patent describes the stand. It was assigned to Automatic Adding Machine Company of New York, N.Y.

Abraham I. Gancher, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 1015307, January 31, 1912.

Norman Klein, "40,000 Words on Post Card? It's Easy, Says Champion," New York Evening Post, Friday, December 23, 1932. The article gives information about Abraham Gancher.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1906

maker

Automatic Adding Machine Company

ID Number

MA.323621

accession number

250163

catalog number

323621

maker number

8445

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Arithstyle Adding Machine

Description

This small metal instrument has nine columns of chains. The two rightmost are silver-colored, the next three copper-colored, the next three silver-colored, and the leftmost copper-colored. In back of the chains are nine numeral wheels with the digits from 0 to 9 on them. Digits are marked in red and in black on plastic strips to the right and to the left of the chains. A zeroing wheel is on the right side. A movable metal decimal marker is attached to the machine between the chains and the numeral wheels. The metal stand has a rubber covering along the two edges of its base. The black wooden case is covered with leather and lined with fabric-covered paper.

The machine is marked on a plastic inset in front of the chains: GOLDMAN’S (/) ARITHSTYLE (/) TRADE-MARK (/) Copyright. 1911. by Arithstyle Company. It is marked on the back: 11790. It is marked on the lid: Arithstyle Company (/) NEW YORK CITY.

The Arithstyle was the invention of Henry Goldman, who was born in Vienna in 1859, came to the United States in 1881, and published on improved bookkeeping and office machines. By 1898, he had invented his own adding machine, dubbed the arithmachine, which he manufactured in Chicago. In 1905, Goldman left the Unted States for Berlin, where he arranged to have his adding machine manufactured as the Contostyle. The Arithstyle was a similar machine, manufactured in New York on Goldman's design. Goldman died in New York in 1912.

For instructions, see 1983.0170.02.

Reference:

P.A. Kidwell, "'Yours for Improvement' - The Adding Machines of Chicago, 1884-1930," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 23 #1, 2001, pp. 3-21.

"Henry Goldman," Buero-Industrie, 1914, #13.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1911

maker

Arithstyle Company

ID Number

1983.0170.01

accession number

1983.0170

catalog number

1983.0170.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Leaflet, The Underwood Ten-Key Touch Story

Description

This illustrated leaflet, printed on yellow, black & white paper, presents sample problems for operators just beginning to do addition problems on anUnderwood ten-key adding machine.

Location

Currently not on view

ID Number

1990.3188.08

nonaccession number

1990.3188

catalog number

1990.3188.08

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Webb Adder

Description

This stylus-operated non-printing adding machine has two brass wheels, one considerably smaller than the other. It sits in a wooden frame. The large wheel adds sums up to 99, and the smaller one is for hundreds and thousands. The numbers 00 to 99 are stamped evenly counterclockwise around the edge of the larger wheel (these numbers are covered by the plate). Inside these is a circle with 100 holes. Inside the holes is a second set of numbers from 0 to 99, displaced by 180 degrees from the first set. The smaller wheel has the numbers from 0 to 49 stamped around it in two concentric circles, with a circle of 50 holes in between. It represents hundreds. The nickel-plated brass plate covers the outermost edges of both wheels, and is screwed to the frame. Over the edge of the larger wheel, the rim of the plate is divided counterclockwise from 0 to 99. Over the smaller wheel, the edge of the plate has marked divisions from 0 to 9. The result appears in a window between the two wheels, and may be as large as 4999. There is a hook at the left side of the instrument that could be used to suspend it.

The instrument is marked on the front: C.H.WEBB. N.Y. It is also marked there: THE ADDER PATD MARCH 10TH 1868. It has serial number A 5353 stamped on the back. The device was given to the Smithsonian in 1956 by Rudolf Schneider of Washington, D.C. A mark on the back reads: R. Schneider (/) 1885.

Charles Henry Webb (1834-1905) was a journalist, playwright, poet, and roamer. He patented a second version of this device in 1889. Rudolf Schneider (1865-1956), the donor of the object, was a German-born mechanic who came to the United States in 1882. From 1885 he worked for the D. Ballauf Manufacturing Company of Washington, D.C. Schneider became owner of the company in 1914 after the death of Mr. Ballauf. In 1944, he sold the firm to two employees, but continued to use a desk and experimental workshop. He gave the Webb adder to the Smithsonian Institution in the year of his death.

References:

C. H. Webb, “Improvement in Adding Machines,” U.S. Patent 75322, March 10, 1868.

“Machine for Addition,” Journal of the Franklin Institute, 60 (1870): pp. 8-9.

P. Kidwell, “The Webb Adder,” Rittenhouse 1 (1986) 12-18.

E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 63.

“R. Schneider, Proprietor of Factory,” Washington Post, September 4, 1956, p. 26.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1868

maker

Webb, Charles H.

ID Number

MA.314846

accession number

211156

catalog number

314846

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Webb Adder

Description

This is a two-wheeled steel and nickel-plated brass adding machine. It is stylus-operated and non-printing. The large wheel has 00 to 99 stamped around the edge. The smaller wheel has 0 to 49 stamped around its edge. A ring of holes is inside each ring of numbers. A metal plate covers the outer edges of the two wheels, revealing sums in a small window between them. The numbers 0 to 99 also are stamped around the window for the larger wheel. Numbers are added by rotating the wheels, up to sums of 4999. The carry mechanism is that patented by L. C. Smith (patent 414335). The frame is serrated around the edge, and smooth on the back. A metal piece is attached to the frame at the top. There is a stylus. The machine is marked: “THE ADDER.” It has serial number 549. There are no references to any patent numbers on the device, nor is Webb mentioned. The example comes from the Draper family of New York.

References:

C. H. Webb, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 414959, November 12, 1889.

Lester C. Smith, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 414335, November 5, 1889.

P. A. Kidwell, “The Webb Adder,” Rittenhouse, 1 (1986), pp.12-18.

E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 63.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1890

patentee

Webb, Charles H.

ID Number

MA.335358

accession number

304826

catalog number

335358

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Jeffers Adding Machine

Description

This U.S. patent model for a lever-set non-printing adding machine has a frame of two brown round end pieces joined by a central shaft and by two pieces of brass at the outside. The shaft carries six toothed wheels that may be rotated with the fingers. Each wheel has 30 teeth and is joined to a brass ring on its right. Around the rim of each ring is a slip of paper with the digits from 0 to 9 printed on it three times. One third of each ring is covered by a metal piece which has a window at the bottom and the digits from 1 to 9 engraved on it. To enter digits, wheels are rotated forward the distance indicated by these digits. Through the action of a carry mechanism, the total appears in the windows.

Milton C. Jeffers, who took out this patent in 1863, was a resident of New York, N.Y. He is probably the Milton C. Jeffers who lived from about 1823 until dying in New York City in 1896, and who took out two further patents for agricultural machinery. A Milton C. Jeffers is listed in New York City directories of the period as an agent and as a broker.

References:

U.S. Patent 40,105, September 29, 1863.

U.S. Patent 74,379, February 11, 1868.

U.S. Patent 108,484, October 18, 1870.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1864

patentee

Jeffers, Milton C.

maker

Jeffers, Milton C.

ID Number

MA.309322

accession number

89797

catalog number

309322

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Webb Adder

Description

This two-wheeled steel stylus-operated non-printing adding machine has a large wheel with the numbers 00 to 99 stamped around the edge. A smaller wheel has numbers 0 to 49 stamped around its edge. A ring of holes is inside each set of numbers. A metal plate covers the outer edges of the two wheels, revealing sums in a small window between them. The numbers 0 to 99 also are stamped around the window for the larger wheel. Numbers are added by rotation of the wheels, up to sums of 4999. The carry mechanism is that patented by L. C. Smith. The frame is smooth around the edge, and patterned on the back. The stylus is missing and there are no maker’s marks.

This instrument is from the collection of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company.

References:

Lester C. Smith, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 414335, November 5, 1889.

P. Kidwell, “The Webb Adder,” Rittenhouse, 1 (1986), pp. 12-18.

E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 63.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1890

patentee

Webb, Charles H.

ID Number

MA.323618

accession number

250163

catalog number

323618

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Webb Adder

Description

This two-wheeled stylus-operated non-printing adding machine is in a wooden frame. The large brass wheel has a ring of holes and the numbers 00 to 99 stamped around the edge. The numbers 0 to 99 also are stamped around the window for the larger wheel. Numbers are added by rotation of the wheels. Answers are recorded on a pedometer-like dial that has separate windows for ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. The frame is screwed to the cover plate. There is a stylus. The large wheel is marked: C.H.WEBB. N.Y. It is also marked: “THE ADDER" PATD MARCH 10TH 1868. The back has the serial number: C1053. The dial is a modification of the instrument. It is marked on paper attached over the small wheel: N.Y.STANDARD WATCH COMPANY.

Charles Henry Webb (1834-1905) was a journalist, playwright, poet, and roamer. He patented a second version of this device in 1889. This example was owned by the Draper family of New York.

References:

C. H. Webb, “Improvement in Adding Machines,” U.S. Patent 75322, March 10, 1868.

“Machine for Addition,” Journal of the Franklin Institute, 60 (1870): pp. 8-9.

P. A. Kidwell, “The Webb Adder,” Rittenhouse, 1 (1986), pp. 12-18.

E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 63.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1868-1889

patentee

Webb, Charles H.

maker

Webb, Charles H.

ID Number

MA.335359

accession number

304826

catalog number

335359

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Leaflet, Condensed Instructions For Operating The Corona Portable Adding Machine

Description

This worn illustrated pamphlet gives instructions for operating an adding machine distributed by Portable Adding Machine Co., Inc., of New York, N.Y.

For a related object, see 200.0221.01. For a longer version of the documentation, see 2000.0221.02.

Location

Currently not on view

ID Number

2000.0221.03

accession number

2000.0221

catalog number

2000.0221.03

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Contex Adding Machine

Description

This non-listing adding machine has a gray plastic case and gray and white plastic keys. The ten white numeral keys are on the top right, with the zero bar three times as long as the others. To the left of the numeral keys are four function keys marked C, X, Div, and -. A red plastic place marker is controlled by two keys beneath it. The large actuating bar is on the right. Results appear in 11 windows at the front of the machine. Numbers up to ten digits long can be entered. A twelfth window, to the right of the others, shows the number of times the actuating bar has been pressed. Instructions for operating the machine are given on a sticker attached to the bottom. The four plastic feet are rubber-covered.

The machine is marked on the front and on back: BDC CONTEX. It has serial number on a paper tag attached to the back: 516272. It is marked on the back: BOHN DUPLICATOR CORP. (/) New York 16, New York, U.S.A. (/) MADE IN DENMARK (/) PATENTS PENDING. Bohn would later distribute electronic calculators.

Given to donor Michael Sherman by a friend, Jack Schuss, but never used by donor.

Reference:

Accession file.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1965

distributor

Bohn Duplicator Corporation

ID Number

1995.0018.01

accession number

1995.0018

catalog number

1995.0018.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Parts Catalog, Underwood Sundstrand Portable Electric Adding Machines Fraction & L-S-D

Description

This well-worn catalog is stapled together and punched along the left side. A "Serviceman's Part Order" is stapled to one page.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1940-02-09

maker

Underwood Elliot Fisher Company

ID Number

1990.3188.01

nonaccession number

1990.3188

catalog number

1990.3188.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Golden Gem Adding Machine

Description

This small, stylus-operated non-printing adding machine has a black steel frame and seven metal chains. A stylus is placed in the link next to a digit and pulled down to the bottom of the column to enter the digit. Sums appear in seven windows above the chains. There is a clearance knob on the right side and a bent metal piece that can be used to prop up the instrument. The green leather case is stored with the instrument. The stylus is missing.

The instrument is marked on a tag on the right edge of the top: GOLDEN GEM (/) ADDING MACHINE. It is marked on a tag on the left edge of the top: AUTOMATIC ADDING MACHINE MFRS. (/) NEW YORK, U.S.A.. It is marked on the bottom edge of the top: PAT. MAR.1-04-MAR.27-06-MAR.19-07 (/) UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN PATENTS PENDING. The serial number, stamped on the right side, is 400805.

Compare to MA.323621.

This example of the Golden Gem formerly belonged to John L. Newbold, father-in-law of the donor, who had owned Merchants Moving and Transfer Company.

References:

Ads in Scientific American, vol. 110, Jan. 17, 1914 (according to this ad, the machine cost $10 and over 80,000 in use); vol. 112, April, 1915, p. 370 (according to this ad, the machine still cost $10 and over 100,000 were in use).

Accession file.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1910

maker

Automatic Adding Machine Company

ID Number

1981.0935.01

accession number

1981.0935

catalog number

1981.0935.01

maker number

400805

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Pamphlet with Sheets, Operating Principles of the Underwood Sundstrand Automatic Printing Calculator

Description

The cover of this pamphlet is red, gray and black. The six stapled pages give instructions on operation of an Underwood Sundstrand calculator (i.e. adding machine). One loose page has the hand-written title "Can't-possible-go-wrong" procedure, followed by typed instructions. The other loose page isentitled LYCOMING SCALE.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1951

ID Number

1990.3188.06

nonaccession number

1990.3188

catalog number

1990.3188.06

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Burns Addometer

Description

This U.S. patent model for a lever-set non-printing adding machine has wooden sides and metal covers for the back and the lower front. Four large toothed wheels are used for setting numbers, with five registering wheels in front and below these. Between each of the large wheels is a strip of metal; the digits from 0 to 9 are indicated along the edges of these strips. Each of the four right registering wheels is attached to a spur wheel with ten teeth that meshes with a large toothed wheel. Placing a finger in one of the teeth of a large wheel and rotating it forward advances the registering wheel proportionally. The number entered is visible in a row of windows at the front of the model. The four registering wheels to the left have on their left side a ring of ten equidistant pins that are used in carrying.

The patent tag for the machine reads: 21243 (/) J. Burns (/) Addometer (/) Patented Aug 24 (/) 1858 (/) Calculator.

On March 26, 1867, Jabez Burns of New York City took out U.S. Patent 52934 for an improved powder mixer. The model for this patent is in the Medical Sciences collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It seems likely that this is the same person who invented the addometer and the same Jabez Burns who was born in Ireland in about 1827, came to new York at age 18 in January of 1845, and worked variously as a cartman, peddler, accountant, and inventor. He had a son, also called Jabez Burns.

References:

Jabez Burns, "Addometer," U.S. Patent 21243, August 24, 1858.

U.S. Census records 1850, 1860. Civil War draft regisration records, June, 1863. New York City directories.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1858

maker

Burns, Jabez

ID Number

MA.308911

accession number

89797

catalog number

308911

Data Source

National Museum of American History