Object Details
maker
Burroughs
Description
This version of the Burroughs Class 7 bookkeeping machine was designed specifically for calculating taxes and payrolls. It has a gray metal case. At the front are two sets of digit keys, one gray and one white, as well as several function keys on the left. These keys are in two rows. To the left is a key mounted so that the stem moves horizontally.
Behind and above the digit keys is a space bar and four rows of a QWERTY typewriter keyboard. The “uppercase” symbols are not conventional. Behind the typewriter keyboard is a lever that can be set for any of seven registers. At the center behind the typing keys is a lever that can be set at “INACTIVE” or at any number from 9 to 15. Behind this is a wide carriage and a complex mechanism. The motor is under the machine.
The machine has no stand.
Marks on the front and the back read: Burroughs. A red tag attached to the machine reads: PATENT DEPT. (/) #203. A metal tag at the front of the machine has the serial number: A3857. This suggests a 1934 date. A mark on the gray plastic cover reads: Burroughs B. A mark on a white paper tag attached to the machine reads: For information (/) regarding this machine (/) see (/) H. Brown Room 587.
A card in the accession file indicates that this is a Style 72 07 22 machine.
References:
Accession file.
Price and Style Guide for Class 7 Machines, Burroughs Corporation Papers, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Burroughs Corporation
date made
ca 1934
ID Number
1982.0794.38
catalog number
1982.0794.38
accession number
1982.0794
Object Name
bookkeeping machine
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
metal (overall material)
glass (overall material)
rubber (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 36.5 cm x 73 cm x 66 cm; 14 3/8 in x 28 3/4 in x 25 31/32 in
place made
United States: Michigan, Detroit
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Bookkeeping Machines
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Business
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_690653
