Object Details
maker
Tabulating Machine Company
Description
During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the U.S. Census. Hollerith's tabulating system included a punch for entering data about each person onto a blank card, a tabulator for reading the cards and summing up information, and a sorting box for sorting the cards for further analysis.
This third part of the system, the sorter, is shown on the right in the photograph. It is an oak box with 26 vertical compartments arranged in two rows. Each compartment has a brass cover that is held in place by an electric catch connected to the tabulator. The sorter is connected by a cable to the tabulator. Once a card is read by the tabulator, a compartment opens in the sorter, indicating where the card should be placed for further counting. The front and back sides of the sorter open so that one may remove stacks of cards from the compartments.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of International Business Machines Corporation
date made
1890
ID Number
MA.312897
accession number
171118
catalog number
312897
Object Name
sorter
Physical Description
metal (covers material)
oak (cabinet material)
rubber (cord material)
Measurements
overall: 32 1/2 in x 30 1/2 in x 12 1/2 in; 82.55 cm x 77.47 cm x 31.75 cm
place made
United States: District of Columbia, Washington
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Computers & Business Machines
Tabulating Equipment
Data Source
National Museum of American History
web subject
Mathematics
Census
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_694412