Ancient Equipment

Let's look in on the Statistical Department at the National Grange Mutual Liability and Fire Insurance Company.  Their office was in Keene, New Hampshire, and this card is from the 1930's or 40's.  These ladies are doing a fine job of data processing, with the assistance of a state of the art card sorting machine, which is probably an IBM Type 80 card sorter.  The purpose of this machine was to take a stack of what were once called "Hollerith cards," then called "IBM cards," and now called "antique bookmarks" and sort them into alphabetical or numerical order based on the holes punched in them.  The photograph above  is from the actual operator's manual from IBM.

In retrospect, the amazing thing about this machine is that it was entirely mechanical, but still could run through 450 cards per minute.  There were no transistors, no tubes, no circuit boards, no silicon -- just good old wheels, gears, brushes, levers, and a big 'ol motor that is visible on the bottom left side of the machine.  If you wanted to sort a stack of cards into order, and they had, let's say, a 5 digit number punched on them, you had to run the whole thing through the machine 5 times, once for each digit.  If you dropped some cards or messed up half way through, you had to start all over again.  That's all the machine did. It didn't punch the holes in the cards, it didn't add them up k-- it just sorted them.

Well into the 1980's stand alone card sorters (later models, of course) were still in use in computer centers everywhere, sorting checks, cards, deposit slips and more.  I got to run one while working in a computer center during the summer of 1979.  It was noisy, generated lots of dust, and every once in a while it sprayed the cards all over the place.  Old school computing at its best!

The Office

In honor of the final episode of "The Office" tonight, here's an advertising postcard from offices-past.  Our executive is using his "Easier to Use" Soundscriber, the dictaphone with the unique green disks.  Read all about it here, while saying goodbye to the gang at Dunder-Mifflin  tonight!

Mad Men Ditto Machine

Here's a joyous secretary thrilled with the copies coming from her RoNEo Duplicator.  According to the back of the card, they are" world-famous for their Beauty of Design, Efficiency and Simplicity of Operation and Overall Economy.  RoNEo is CLEAN to operate and the only Duplicator to reproduce continuous tone photographs.  Try RoNEo for complete Satisfaction."

I couldn't find any contemporary information about this machine, other than it a brand in the UK going back to the early 1900's.  However, I did find a reverent, interesting video of a similar A. B. Dick machine in action.  The video falls just a tad short of fetishing the duplicating machine, from the removal of the dust cover, application of the purple fluid and the climactic arrival of the aromatic copies in the output tray.  Enjoy:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM5nEp48dsw

A Calculating Post

Here's a great linen card from the New York World's Fair of 1939, showing the Marchant Calculating Company Display.  According to the back of the card, the exhibit was located located in the Business Systems and Insurance Building, adjacent to the Trylon and Perisphere -- the "Theme Center" of the New York World's Fair.

Back then, calculators were mechanical, noisy, and expensive.  I made the mistake of googling Marchant and came across tons of information on mechanical calculator history and "fan sites," spending a lot of time browsing as a result.  Here's a model of a Marchant calculator around the same year as the Fair:



More Vintage Office Equipment

From the back of the card:

Check these features and compare: Automatic Inking, 3 minute color change, No drum, no ink pad, Prints post card to legal size, 3-way copy adjustment, Printing area 8 x 14, Automatic cutoff counter, No make-ready or clean up, Printing press quality. The BDC Rex Rotary M4 is always clean, can never leak or cake. Full One Year Guarantee. Electric automatic inking - $345, Hand automatic inking - $250, Hand manual inking $210. Lucas Bros. Inc. Ask for a free demonstration in your own office.

Can you smell the purple ink?

Office of the Past

Here's the "Simplifind" filing system, for "records that come to you." Today, lots of deskfuls of these records would fit in your pocket on a jump drive!

Office of the Past

Here's the latest in Dictaphones -- the Traveler Soundscriber. It's battery operated and features cool green disks branded nicely with the logo.

I just discovered more information about this on an item currently listed on Ebay! See this link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Soundscriber-Dictating-1950s-Rare-CD-Manual-Model-5R-/380160832115?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item588359f273

This is a "trick" postcard, as the back reveals...it's actually a postcard sample from the publisher, with the following description on the back:

"This copy you are reading represents the approximate amount and layout included in the cost of your post card order. Anything in excess of this, or differing in layout, will carry an extra charge.
This card is a standard post card format. Cards will always be printed in this form unless otherswise specified."

Hmmm, I wonder how well this one helped their postcard sales!

Voice Mail Circa 1975

Here's the latest innovation...Your Complete 24-hour electronic message center. All you have to do is put the machine next to the phone, so that the plastic arm is pressing down on the switchhook, and put the receiver in the machine. Then put a carnation near the phone since it's not beautiful enough on its own, and no one would be interested in it unless it was more aesthetically pleasing. Well, maybe we should just read the actual back of this advertising postcard from the 70's, to really understand this new technology:

"Telephone your own Telephone To Find out who called while your were out; To Change the message you want your callers to receive. No more missed phone calls - Your telephone is always answered courteously in your own voice - Every phone message, sales order, etc. accurately and confidentially recorded -- 24 hour customer telephone service possible with RSVP - Save on secretarial help - Own your own RSVP for less than the cost of an answering service - VOICE-ACTIVATED! The RSVP Secretary will continue to record your caller's messages as long as they continue to speak...and will hand up ONLY and the END of the message - RSVP is completely portable -- no direct wire connections -- no line charges."

I love these chrome advertisements for office equipment. I have a number of new ones to post in the near future, including dictaphones, filing systems, and desks!