[SIGCIS-Members] Seeking Information on Adding Machines, Mechanical Calculators, etc. Designed and Used in the U.S. Prior to 1877

Fri Dec 23 12:10:48 PST 2022

At CBI we have the Burrough Adding Machine/Burrough Corporation Records, a
large collection of 800 or so boxes. The collection goes back to its
origins as the American Arithmometer in the mid 1880s. It started in St.
Louis and a name change and move to Detroit came in the early 1900s.

Best, Jeff

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On Fri, Dec 23, 2022 at 1:56 PM Deborah Douglas via Members <
members at lists.sigcis.org> wrote:

> We have one of those arithmeters in our collection
> <https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/object/2006.004.001?query=arithmeter&resultIndex=0>.
> Debbie Warner wrote a good article in the small journal Rittenhouse about
> this particular instrument.   Look for J.A.V. Turck’s 1921 “Origin of
> Modern Calculating Machines” and Ernst Martin’s “The Calculating Machines:
> Their History and Development” (1925 but translated and published by MIT in
> 1992.  Peggy Kidwell is the true expert on this subject!
>
>
>
> Debbie Douglas
>
>
>
>
>
> *Deborah G. Douglas, PhD *• Director of Collections and Curator of
> Science and Technology, MIT Museum; Research Associate, Program in Science,
> Technology, and Society • Room E28-320B • 314 Main Street • Gambrill Center
> • Cambridge, MA 02142 • ddouglas at mit.edu • 617-253-1766 telephone •
> 617-253-8994 facsimile • http://mitmuseum.mit.edu • she/her/hers
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of JoAnne
> Yates via Members <members at lists.sigcis.org>
> *Date: *Friday, December 23, 2022 at 2:08 PM
> *To: *Foster, David <davidfos at ttu.edu>, members at lists.sigcis.org <
> members at lists.sigcis.org>
> *Subject: *Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Seeking Information on Adding Machines,
> Mechanical Calculators, etc. Designed and Used in the U.S. Prior to 1877
>
> Hello, Dave—
>
>
>
> On pp. 25-26 (and associated footnotes) of my book *Structuring the
> Information Age: Life Insurance and Technology in the Twentieth Century, *I
> talk about devices used by insurance firms and actuaries in the late 19th
> century, including the “Arithmeter” that American actuary Elizur Wright
> invented (based on European models) and began marketing to insurance firms
> in 1869. It didn’t compete well with its British rival, Tate’s
> Arithmometer, but some American insurance firms used it during this period.
>
>
>
> Good luck on your paper,
>
>
>
> JoAnne
>
>
>
>
>
> JoAnne Yates
>
> Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management, Emerita
>
> Sloan School of Management
>
> MIT E62-335
>
> 100 Main St.
>
> Cambridge, MA 02142
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> *On Behalf Of *Foster,
> David via Members
> *Sent:* Friday, December 23, 2022 12:49 PM
> *To:* members at lists.sigcis.org
> *Subject:* [SIGCIS-Members] Seeking Information on Adding Machines,
> Mechanical Calculators, etc. Designed and Used in the U.S. Prior to 1877
>
>
>
> Hello SIGCIS!
>
>
>
> I have the opportunity to do a research paper for a Spring term
> historiography course and I’d like to depart from the themes of the
> assigned readings and return to research in the realm of computing history.
> Given the chronological constraint of 1877 as the upper year, I can get
> just a bit into the beginning timeframe of James Cortada’s *Before the
> Computer* and had been thinking that devices like de Colmar’s
> Arithmometre (1820) must have made their way across the Atlantic and
> inspired some emulation or other ideas. The good people at the reference
> section of the LOC have given me some useful background and I’ve rec’d some
> valuable tips on patent search and organization methodologies. I have just
> started to search the patent history (calculators, adding machines, etc.),
> but any advice or insights on 19th century American “computing” from the
> group are greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
> Happy Holidays & New Year!
>
>
>
> Regards, Dave
>
>
>
> *Dave Foster*
>
> PhD Student
>
> Department of History
>
> *Texas Tech University*
>
> davidfos at ttu.edu
>
> linkedin.com/in/david-w-foster
>
> 806-282-4856
>
> [image: 47HZJ4QTcZx7w2e2Swgm4zzzgs9v9DxTQbyVFNkAgAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC]
>
> Learner | Intellection | Context | Ideation | Input
>
>
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