Object Details
maker
Remington Rand
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
Credit Line
Gift of American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
date made
ca 1955
ID Number
MA.336299
accession number
305981
catalog number
336299
Object Name
sorter
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
glass (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 108.5 cm x 161 cm x 47 cm; 42 23/32 in x 63 3/8 in x 18 1/2 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Tabulating Equipment
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
web subject
Mathematics
Labor Unions
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_694441