Tabulating Machine Company Card Punch Used at the Bureau of the Census
date: label: date made
content: ca 1918
name: label: maker
content: Tabulating Machine Company
notes: label: Description
content: This machine was used to punch paper cards for use in data entry for tabulating machines. The tabletop machine accommodates 24-column cards and punches round holes. On the right are ten digit, a V and X keys. Pushing one key at the back moves a card one space to the left and depressing a second one all the way to the left. All the keys have rubber key tops. Cards were manually inserted and removed by the operator. The machine rests on an iron base that fits into a wooden stand painted black.
label: Description
content: A tag attached to the front reads: THE TABULATING MACHINE COMPANY (/) NEW YORK CITY. A mark on the card bed on the left reads: 8-28 (/) 36666.
label: Description
content: According to the catalog card, the machine was a product of the Tabulating Machine Company and was first used by the Bureau of the Census prior to 1920, possibly in 1917 or 1918, to prepare punched cards for vital statistics. The 1920 population Census cards were punched on the older-style pantograph punch.
label: Description
content: The Tabulating Machine Company was formed by Herman Hollerith in 1896 and merged to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: web subject
content: Mathematics
label: web subject
content: Census
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Tabulating Equipment
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.316864
label: accession number
content: 229657
label: catalog number
content: 316864
objectType: label: Object Name
content: card punch
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 cm x 37 cm x 16.5 cm; 6 5/16 in x 14 9/16 in x 6 1/2 in