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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Notebook, Powers Accounting Machine Corporation, Parts Catalog
- Description
- This black, leather-covered notebook contains detailed photographs of tabulating machine drawings and of individual parts, as well as list of parts. The images are mounted on cloth pages. The book refers to similar catalogs for punching machines and sorting machines, but these were not received. The cover is marked in gold.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1923-05-01
- maker
- Powers Accounting Machine Corporation
- ID Number
- 1992.3214.03
- nonaccession number
- 1992.3214
- catalog number
- 1992.3214.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Remington Rand Type 315-1Collating Reproducer, for Use with a Remington Rand Model 3 Tabulating Machine
- Description
- This punched card machine, called a collating reproducer, mechanically feeds and reads punched cards from two hoppers for determining whether one card is greater than, equal to, or less than the other. It combined two sets of cards in numerical order. If the sequence control is turned off, it can be used to reproduce a set of cards. One card hopper is at the top front, the other at the middle front. Segregated cards went into receivers at the back.
- A mark on a tag attached to the machine reads: Model 3 Type 315-1. A mark on a second card reads: A.F.L.-C.I.O (/) HEADQUARTERS (/) 39.
- According to Diebold, this device sold for $12,000 in 1956, and rented for $150 monthly.
- This machine is part of a system owned by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, an important American labor union formed by the merger of the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. in 1955.
- Reference:
- John Diebold & Associates, "Remington Rand Type 315-1 Collating Reproducer," Automatic Data Processing Equipment, Chicago: Cudahy Publishing Company, 1957. The report, dated December 14, 1956, is in section 4A 660.3, pp. 1–7.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1955
- maker
- Remington Rand
- ID Number
- MA.336301
- accession number
- 305981
- catalog number
- 336301
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Remington Rand Model 20 Type 321 Card Sorter, for Use with a Remington Rand Model 3 Tabulating Machine
- Description
- This electrically powered machine is part of a Remington Rand punched card data processing system. The sorter could arrange Remington Rand punch cards into any sequence, usually a numerical, alphabetic, or alphanumeric sequence. It has a gray metal exterior and several bins, arranged horizontally, into which the cards are sorted.
- A mark on a tag attached to the machine reads: Model 20 Type 321. A mark on another tag reads: A.F.L.-C.I.O (/) HEADQUARTERS (/) 38. Another mark reads: Remington Rand.
- This machine is part of a system owned by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, an important American labor union formed by the merger of the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. in 1955. According to Diebold, in 1956 a 321 automatic sorter that sorted 420 cards per minute sold for $3,452 and rented for $50 per month.
- Reference:
- John Diebold & Associates, "Remington Rand Type 320 and 321 Automatic Sorters," Automatic Data Processing Equipment, Chicago: Cudahy Publishing Company, 1957. The report, dated 1956, is in section 4A 660.4, pp. 1–4.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1955
- maker
- Remington Rand
- ID Number
- MA.336299
- accession number
- 305981
- catalog number
- 336299
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Pamphlet, The Remington Rand Collating Reproducer
- Description
- This illustrated leaflet describes the use of the Remington Rand Univac collating reproducer in card tabulation. It has form number U908 (TM908).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- late 1950s
- author
- Remington Rand Univac. Division of Sperry Rand
- ID Number
- 1997.3012.04.04
- nonaccession number
- 1997.3012
- catalog number
- 1997.3012.04.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Leaflet, IBM Card Punch
- Description
- This illustrated leaflet described a mid-twentieth century IBM card punch. It has IBM form number 520571904-10-8-54.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1954?
- author
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1997.3012.01.02
- nonaccession number
- 1997.3012
- catalog number
- 1997.3012.01.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Leaflet, New IBM Card-Controlled Tape Punch And Tape-Controlled Card Punch
- Description
- This publication describes a device which copies information from cards onto punched tape, for transport from one location to another. It also describes a second device, which copies information from punched tape onto cards.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1948
- maker
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1995.3080.04.15
- nonaccession number
- 1995.3080
- catalog number
- 1995.3080.04.15
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Group of Sheets, Documentation Relating to Herman Hollerith
- Description
- These paper documents relate to the career of American inventor and entrepreneur Herman Hollerith. They include:
- 1. Two blueprints and a drawing giving wiring diagrams for a Hollerith tabulating machine. Both blueprints are marked: The Tabulating Machine Co. (/) Washington, D.C. One blueprint is dated March 17, 1911.
- 2. A typed but unsigned copy of an employment agreement between Herman Hollerith and the Computing-Tabulating-Recording-Co., dated July 5, 1911.
- 3. A copy of a letter from Herman Hollerith, Jr., the son of Herman Hollerith, to Samuel C. Metcalf of Brooklyn, N.Y, dated May 25, 1921. Included are typed abstracts from correspondence of Herman Hollerith relating to the Auditing Machine Company. Dates range from 1904 to 1921.
- 4.Copies of two February, 1931, letters relating to surrender of shares in the Auditing Machine Company by Herman Hollerith's sons.
- 5. A letter of February, 1931 from L.H. Sutton to Herman Hollerith, Jr., identifying the one patent granted to Herman Hollerith between 1918 and 1929.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1911-1931
- ID Number
- 1977.0114.08.03
- accession number
- 1977.0114
- catalog number
- 1977.0114.08.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Remington Rand Type 312-1 Interpreter, for Use with a Model 3 Remington Rand Tabulating Machine
- Description
- This machine, part of a Remington Rand punched card system, is roughly the size and shape of a corner mailbox (but much denser) and has a gray metal exterior. It interpreted the punched holes in a 90-column punched card and registered this interpretation by printing numbers and letters along the top of the card. The card feed is at the center front and the card receiver, at the back. A door on the right side opens to allow one to remove the wiring unit chamber. The wires sense whether there is a hole in a given position of a card, and determine what is printed and where by the printing unit below it.
- A tag attached to the machine reads: Model 3 (/) Type Number 312-1. Another tag attached to the machine reads: A..F.L.-C.I.O (/) HEADQUARTERS (/) 40.
- Three loose pieces are with the machine.
- This machine is part of a system owned by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, an important American labor union formed by the merger of the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. in 1955.
- Reference:
- Remington Rand, Type 312 Punched-Card Interpreter Operating Instructions, New York: Remington Rand, no date.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1955
- maker
- Remington Rand
- ID Number
- MA.336300
- accession number
- 305981
- catalog number
- 336300
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Universal Business Machines Horizontal Card Sorter
- Description
- By the mid-20th century, a few firms challenged the dominance of IBM and Remington Rand Univac in the tabulating machine business. One of these was Universal Business Machines, Inc., of Columbia, S.C.This is a card sorter designed and sold by that company.
- The horizontal sorter has a keyboard that fits onto the left front with a set of three rows of letter keys and a number pad to the right of these. The cards apparently are fed from the left and sorted into 27 open compartments, 14 in an upper row and 13 in a lower row. These compartments are covered with metal flaps. The first row has compartments labeled A*0, B*1, C*2, D*3, E*4, F*5, G*6, H*7, I*8, J*8, K, L, M, and REJ. The second row has bins labeled N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. Metal panels at the front of each row of bins can be lowered to remove cards.
- A mark on the left front of the sorter reads: MANUFACTURED BY (/) UNIVERSAL BUSINESS MACHINES, INC. (/) COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. Another mark there reads: SERIAL NO 5531 (/) MODEL NO V1526. A mark on the right front reads: UNIVERSAL SORTER. A mark on the left side reads: TREASURY DEPARTMENT (/) US INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. Marks in chalk on the back read: KEEP and: NO SCRAP.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1960
- maker
- Universal Business Machines
- ID Number
- MA.336182
- accession number
- 1977.0191
- catalog number
- 336182
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Forms and Printouts Relating to Remington Rand Univac
- Description
- The materials were owned by an employee of Remington Rand Univac.This number includes:
- 1. a blank invoice, to serve as a printout of Florida Wholesale Drug, Inc.
- 2. an undated printout on form-fed paper entitled Operating Statement
- 3. an undated printout on form-fed paper entitled Cash Disbursement Journal.
- 4. a form-fed document, dated 7-12-63 entitled Univac 1004 Card Processor Demonstration
- 5. an undated five-page glossary of terms associated with the use of magnetic tapes
- 6. a copy of an article reprinted from the September 8, 1962, issue of Business Week. The topic of the article is "Growing market in used computers."
- 7. photocopy of an article from The Miami News for April 11, 196q. The article describes an "electronic brain" used by the local Metro system and is entitled "Using The Wring Brain, Metro Told."
- Some documents are folded.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1960s
- ID Number
- 1997.3012.07
- catalog number
- 1997.3012.07
- nonaccession number
- 1997.3012
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Pamphlet, Wholesale House Punched Card Machine Accounting Manual
- Description
- his pamphlet introduces the use of tabulating machines at the Western Auto Supply Company in Kansas City, Missouri. It has Remington Rand form number SP TM-4282.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1955
- ca 1954
- maker
- Remington Rand Inc.
- ID Number
- 1997.3012.06
- catalog number
- 1977.3012.06
- nonaccession number
- 1977.3012
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Group of Sheets, Legal Documents and Correspondence of James Powers
- Description
- These sheets include a deed for a purchase of property in Virginia by tabulating machine inventor James Powers in 1898, as well as correspondence of Powers from the period 1913-1927 – most from the 1920s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1898,
- 1898, 1913-1927
- ID Number
- 1991.3180.04
- nonaccession number
- 1991.3180
- catalog number
- 1991.3180.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Eight Photographs of Powers Tabulating Equipment
- Description
- The donor found these eight photographs of Powers accounting equipment loose in the notebook that now has museum number 1992.3214.01. Three photographs are unmounted and five are mounted on cloth.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1911-1926
- maker
- Powers Accounting Machine Corporation
- ID Number
- 1992.3214.02
- nonaccession number
- 1992.3214
- catalog number
- 1992.3214.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Notebook of Photographs of Pwers Tabulating Equipment
- Description
- This leather-covered notebook contains photographs of Powers tabulating equipment. They are mounted on cloth.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1911-1926
- maker
- Powers Accounting Machine Corporation
- ID Number
- 1992.3214.01
- catalog number
- 1992.3214.01
- nonaccession number
- 1992.3214
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Remington Rand Tabulating Machine, Model 3, Type 3200
- Description
- This machine is roughly the size and shape of a corner mailbox but much denser. It has a gray metal exterior. Its purpose was to translate and print statements from the numerical and alphabetical information fed in on punched cards. The printing mechanism is on top and the hopper for cards, at the center. Controls for determining what is printed are in front of the print mechanism and on the right side.
- A mark on the front reads: Remington (/) Rand. A mark on a metal tag on the left front reads: Model 3 (/) Type Number 3200. A mark on another tag reads: A.F.L.-C.I.O (/) HEADQUARTERS (/) 37.
- This machine is part of a Remington Rand accounting system owned by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, an important American labor union formed by the merger of the A.F.L. and the C.I.O. in 1955. According to Diebold & Associates, in 1956 the model 3200 alone cost $19,900 to $26,000. It also could be rented for $305 to $455 a month.
- References:
- John Diebold & Associates, "Remington Rand Model 3 Alphabetic Tabulator," Automatic Data Processing Equipment, Chicago: Cudahy Publishing Company, 1957. The report, dated June 29, 1956, is in section 4B 660.1, pp. 1–6.
- Remington Rand Univac, Manual of Instructions for Operation the Remington Rand Alphabetical Tabulator Model 3, New York: Remington Rand Univac, no date. Remington Rand purchased Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company, developers of the UNIVAC computer, in 1950.
- Sperry Rand Corporation, Remington Rand Univac Model 3 Tabulator, Sperry Rand Corporation, 1960. This is part of 1997.3012.04, and it did not come with the object. Sperry merged with Remington Rand in 1955.
- Accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1955
- maker
- Remington Rand
- ID Number
- MA.336296
- accession number
- 305981
- catalog number
- 336296
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Pamphlet, New IBM Accounting Machine
- Description
- This illustrated pamphlet, copyrighted in 1949, describes the newly introduced IBM 407 accounting machine. The document has IBM form number 52-5721-2 20M.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- author
- IBM
- ID Number
- 1997.3012.01.01
- nonaccession number
- 1997.3012
- catalog number
- 1997.3012.01.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Photographs of Powers Tabulating Equipment
- Description
- These black and white photographs, some backed with cloth, show tabulating equipment designed by American inventor James Powers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1991.3180.08
- nonaccession number
- 1991.3180
- catalog number
- 1991.3180.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Tape to Card Converter, Type 308-56, for Use with a Remington Rand Model 3 Tabulating Machine
- Description
- This desk-sized machine punched cards for input into a tabulating machine from information encoded on paper tape. It was part of a Remington Rand Model 3 accounting system, and was sold under the designation of a tape to card converter.
- The device includes two tape control units. Each one of these has dimensions: 22.5 cm. w. x 63 cm. d. x 23 cm. h. They are gray metal boxes with one reel for tape at the front and a protruding tape holder at the back. They sat on the left side of the machine. Both reels and holders may be removed. There are four buttons in the front of these devices. It seems likely that one was for five-channel paper tape and the other for 6-channel paper tape. The card feeder is at the center. An array of keys makes it possible to use the device as an ordinary punch.
- References:
- John Diebold & Associates, "Remington Rand Type 308-5 Tape-to-Card Converter," Automatic Data Processing Equipment, Chicago: Cudahy Publishing Company, 1957, section 3A 660.2, pp. 1–5.
- Remington Rand Univac, Introduction to UNIVAC Punched-Card Data Processing, no date, no place, p. 35.
- Remington Rand Univac Division of Sperry Rand Corporation, Remington Rand Common-Language Data Processing, New York: Remington Rand Univac, no date. This is 1977.3012.04.27.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1955
- maker
- Remington Rand
- ID Number
- MA.336297
- accession number
- 305981
- catalog number
- 336297
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
U.S. Patents of James Powers
- Description
- These paper documents with metal binding rings and ribbons are seven U.S. patents granted to American tabulating machine inventor James Powers in the years 1912-1930.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1912-1930
- patentee
- Powers, James
- ID Number
- 1991.3180.05
- nonaccession number
- 1991.3180
- catalog number
- 1991.3180.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Documentation, IBM Tabulating Machines
- Description
- This documentation on tabulating machines includes material on the IBM Collator, the IBM 405 tabulating machine, the IBM 921 automatic carriage, the IBM 513 reproducing punch, the IBM International Collator, the IBM 601 multiplier, and the IBM 705 electronic data processing machine. Other material is from the Bureau of the Census and dates from the 1940s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- IBM
- U. S. Census Bureau
- ID Number
- 1995.3080.04
- nonaccession number
- 1995.3080
- catalog number
- 1995.3080.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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