Object Details
maker
Tabulating Machine Company
Description
This cast-iron object has a metal base that holds, at the top front, a sheet of plastic with holes in it, marked with the categories of the 1890 U.S. Census of population. In back of this is a holder for a punched card. A long arm, pivoted at the back, extends over the card and the plastic sheet. It has two projections on it. One fits into holes in the plastic sheet and the other punches holes in the card.The action is similar to that of a pantograph - hence the device is called a pantograph punch.
A mark on the plastic template reads: THE TABULATING MACHINE COMPANY, WASHINGTON, D.C. (/) System Patented January 8, 1889.
For related objects see MA.312895 and MA.312897. Compare 2011.3121.01 and MA.317982.03.
The Tabulating Machine Company was formed by Herman Hollerith in 1896 and merged to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911.
Reference:
Leon E. Truesdell, The Development of Punch Card Tabulation in the Bureau of the Census 1890–1940, Washington: U.S. Department of Commerce, 1965, pp. 43–44.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of International Business Machines Corporation
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
MA.312896
accession number
171118
catalog number
312896
Object Name
card punch
Physical Description
plastic (card template material)
metal (overall material)
wood (knob material)
Measurements
overall: 5 in x 19 1/4 in x 12 1/4 in; 12.7 cm x 48.895 cm x 31.115 cm
place made
United States: District of Columbia, Washington
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Tabulating Equipment
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
web subject
Mathematics
Census
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_694411