Remington Rand Model 3 Card Punch

From the early 20th century, a few American offices used punched cards to enter data onto accounting machines. In 1929 the Powers Accounting Machines Division of Remington Rand, Inc., introduced a "double deck" punch card for data entry. It had two sets of 45-column rows, for a total of 90 columns. This desk-sized, electrically powered device punched both 45 and 90 column cards. Keys at the right front set the machine. Pressing the "TRIP" bar in front of these activated the punch. The machine could be set to punch duplicate data, or to duplicate cards. With special key tops, not present on this version of the machine, one could enter alphabetic data, not simply numbers.

The machine has a mirror, which should be mounted, for viewing cards.

A tag on the front of the machine reads: Remington Rand. It lists patent numbers ranging from 1,643,779 (issued September 27, 1927) to 2,203,355 (issued June 4, 1940). A red tag attached to one edge reads: 020300 14946 4. A metal tag near one corner reads: VA9-14946.

References:

L. Heide, Punched-Card Systems and the Early Information Explosion 1880–1945, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009, esp. pp. 76–96.

Powers Accounting Machines Division of Remington Rand, Inc., "Powers Reference Manual," Buffalo, N.Y.: Powers Accounting Machines, 1935.

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