Photocopiers, Calculators, etc.

*A.R.C. Chicago. Teaching Center Office in Action: Dictating, answering the telephone*. December 1917. American National Red Cross photograph collection. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

There are many office gadgets and equipment both big and small. Some of the large categories are covered elsewhere in the guide, while this section features a select group of smaller or niche items. We have included materials on calculators, photocopiers and cash registers that are "office" machines for a particular type of business. Though important in the everyday functioning of the office, smaller items like staplers, carbon paper, rubber bands, files, dictating machines, hole punches are not included. The technological marvels like light bulbs/electricity, elevators, and air conditioning that really impacted all aspects of modern life including offices are out of scope of this guide.

Books

The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.

The American digest of business machines, combined with the American trade guide of store and office machines; a compendium of makes and models with specifications and principles of operation described, and including used machine valuations
Call Number: HF5548 .A5
Published/Created: 1924
Available online from Internet Archive External
The preface of this indicates that $100 million was spent yearly on business machines at least at that point and the goal of this title was to organize information for purchasers. It is organized by machines type like adding machines, calculating machines, cash registers, check writers, duplicating machines, time recording devices, bookkeeping machines, etc.
Antique Office Machines by Thomas A. Russo
Call Number: 2001087586
ISBN: 0764313460
Published/Created: 2001-06-20
The counting inventions progressed through the abacus, early mechanical calculators, and other ingenious devices culminating in today's computers. In this new book, This title chronicles 600 years of calculating devices, providing valuable information for historians and collectors alike. Stretching from ancient times to the earliest computers and includes hundreds of color photographs, descriptive captions, and a guide to current values.
Before the Computer : IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the industry they created, 1865-1956 by James W. Cortada
Call Number: HD9801.U542 C67 1993
ISBN: 0691050457
Published/Created: 1993
This title is focused on what the author calls "office appliance industry," with a focus on NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand. He relates the modern systems to earlier typewriters, tabulating machines, adding machines, and calculators. He also describes how many of the practices of the office appliance industry evolved into those of the computer world.
Bizarre and Outlandish Gadgets and Doohickeys by Maurice Collins
Call Number: 2016946371
ISBN: 9780764351327
Published/Created: 2016-11-28
Hundreds of 19th- and 20th-century curiosities and contraptions are cataloged from the first Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851 to the post-WWII Festival of Britain. There are twenty-two sections divided into time- and money-saving devices, kitchen utensils, gadgets for ladies and gentlemen, trains, bikes, autos, and many more. Some of which could be considered forerunners of modern-day conveniences like smartphones and computers.
A Brief Illustrated History of Machines and Mechanisms by Emilio Bautista Paz; Marco Ceccarelli; Javier Echávarri Otero; José Muñoz Sanz Luis
Call Number: TJ15 .B7413 2010
ISBN: 9789048125111
Published/Created: 2010-05-11
This title is not limited to office equipment but is much broader in scope and take a more a technical perspective rather than a strictly history of science perspective. It is broken up into a few distinct parts: Anonymous developments; Chinese inventions and machines; Mechanical engineering in antiquity; Medieval machines and mechanisms; The machine renaissance; Machines in the first colonial empires; Machinery during the industrial revolution; A vision on machines. There is a good bibliography with references to early writing on the various machines included.
Business Equipment Journal
Call Number: HF5521 .B8
Holdings: 1908-1915
The audience of this title was stationers and those selling equipment and furniture to businesses. It covered general trade news as well as bigger topics that had the potential of affecting how these companies operated, like the legislation that created the FTC.
The Business Machines and Equipment Digest
Call Number: HF5548 .E8
Published/Created: 1927
This publication includes detailed information about typewriters and other office products. The audience was business executives and those in the business equipment industry. This is a loose-leaf that was frozen at the time of publication. It is broken into several tabs including:
Tab machines: address machines, coin changing machines, check writers, combination autograph-cash registers, cash registers, calculating machines, etc.
Accounting Machines, bookkeeping; tabulating-analysis
General Advertising
Furniture, equipment and supplies
The Calculating Machine (Die Rechenmaschinen) by Ernst Martin; Peggy Aldrich Kidwell (Editor); Michael R. Williams (Editor)
Call Number: QA75 .M3513 1992
ISBN: 0262132788
Published/Created: 1992-03-20
The online version of Martin’s book Internet Archive External
This final volume in the Charles Babbage Institute Reprint series brings to light an extremely rare German account of the calculating machine industry in the first quarter of this century when the use of office machines became common in American and European business, government, and science.
The Evolution of Useful Things by Henry Petroski
Call Number: T212 .P465 1992
ISBN: 0679412263
Published/Created: 1992-11-10
Publisher description
This title was written by the author of "The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance" and includes chapters on a variety of items. Chapter 4 looks at the history of the pin (like push pins) and the paper clip with images from patents. Chapter 5 has a small bit about the Post-it notes. The notes for each chapter are a helpful guide to the resources used and referenced (like patent numbers).
Fifty Machines That Changed the Course of History by Eric Chaline
Call Number: TJ15 .C48 2012
ISBN: 9781770850903
Published/Created: 2012-10-11
These are not generic inventions but rather specific, branded machines whose names in many cases have become synonymous with the machine or its purpose. There are eight categories relating to their sphere of influence: Industry, Agriculture, Media, Transport, Science, Computing, Energy and Home. Each section describes the machines, what led to their invention, and the effects on society. There are diagrams, illustrations, photographs and "Key Feature" insets enrich the coverage. Some of the inventions include: Underwood No. 1; the candlestick telephone; Westinghouse’s alternating current system that brought electrical power and lighting to homes and workplaces; the Marconi radio, the Motorola DynaTAC cellphone, and more.
A History of the Logarithmic Slide Rule and Allied Instruments by Florian Cajori; Robert K. Otnes (Introduction by)
Call Number: 94072299
ISBN: 1879335522
Published/Created: 1994-08-01
The slide rule, with its many variations, has been vital to mathematics and engineering since its invention in the 17th century. Interest in this field has grown dramatically and collectors can still find much material at affordable prices. Unfortunately there has been little information available except for manufacturers manuals and catalogs, making this reprint of Cajori's classic particularly valuable. Also included with this reprint of the 1910 edition is Cajori's extensive article On the History of Gunter's Scale and the Slide Rule during the 17th Century, published by the University of California in 1920, which sets forth his subsequent findings. There is also a helpful explanatory introduction by Dr. Robert K. Otnes, editor of the Journal of the Oughtred Society.
Office Collectibles by Thomas Russo
Call Number: HF5521 .R87 2000
ISBN: 0764311778
Published/Created: 2000-06-30
The title is primarily geared toward collectors but it presents a useful picture on those machines used in offices. Looks at: typewriters, adding machines, calculators, check protectors, copiers, duplicators, coin changers, and dictating machines. Items like ribbon tins, medals and awards, novelties, and office-related toys bring offices of the past to life, along with some of the related ephemera such as books, catalogs, correspondence, etc.
Today's Business Machines by Harrison Fisher
Call Number: HF5548 .F5 1959
Published/Created: 1959
Available online from the Hathi Trust External
This title looks at those machines in use in office in 1959 including typewriters; dictating machines; mail handling machines; duplicating machines; microfilming machines; adding/calculating machines (including cash registers); accounting machines; punchcards; and digital computers.

Photocopiers, Calculators Internet Resources

Below are a few links for resources related to various office machines, equipment, gadgets, and the like. Some resources are web based articles, others are resources for more detailed information.

50 Years of Progress External
An advertisement with an interesting timeline of the company in the September 19, 1929 issue of the Evening Star had an article on the history of the cash register from its inception in 1879. It provides and early perspective on the cash register and contains an ink drawn illustration of eight National Cash Register’s machines and how they changed throughout that 50 year time period. The text also includes a bar graph that describes various technological changes over that 50 year period; however, the print is difficult to read.
Business Products Council External
This is an association that was formed in 1967 and currently it represents companies in the business of copier/office equipment, document imaging and workflow solutions, print management, managed network services, etc.
Chester F. Carlson papers External
Ceshter Carolson a patent attorney, developed the copier long before the one developed by Xerox and his papers are at the New York Public Library.
Clocking In, Clocking Out
This is a blog post from the Library's Inside Adams about the history of the employee work clock.
Computer History Museum External
This is a physical museum but their website contains a number of digital resources like photographs, short stories, and a timeline. Includes information on Babbage's Computing Machines (Difference Engine), They also produce a blog and have some multimedia presentations.
Early Office Museum External
This site includes written histories and images for the history of Offices & Clerical Labor, Vintage Photos of Office Interiors & Business College Classes, Typewriters, NCR Bookkeeping Machines, Adding & Calculating Machines, Tabulating Machines, Copying Machines, Filing Equipment, Desks, Communications Equipment, Dictating Machines, Staplers, Paper Fasteners, Paper Date, Time, Number & Name Stamps, Pens & Accessories, Pencils, etc.
HathiTrust Digital Library External
You will find different types of digitized resources, many of which will not be limited access to view. Items can include: catalogs like "The book of better business " (1917); manuals handbooks like "Handbook of instruction for operators of Burroughs adding and listing machines" (1911); magazines like "Burroughs Magazine" and "Business Equipment Topics"; and books like "The Story of the typewriter, 1873-1923" (1923).
Much of the newer material may be limited because of copyright ownership.
International Dial Time Recording Clock External
This is an image of the clock in the Smithsonian collections with a short history of the machine and the work of timekeepers-- clerks. They have an additional image of a clock from the International Time Recording Company.
Internet Archive External
This is a non-profit library with millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. This is a good resources for those looking for some of the older material.
"The Inventor's Department" External
This is an article written by Joseph B. Baker for Scientific American it provides a brief description of various office equipment of that era, including a machine printing typewritten circular letters; a typewritten letter duplicator; a machine for reproducing typewritten letters by stencil; an addressing machine; a key-operated calculating machine; and a substitute for the penknife. On the last page it describes a water-driven vacuum machine. Source Scientific American, Vol. 103, No. 18 (OCTOBER 29, 1910), pp. 344-346. Full access to JSTOR requires a subscription.
"Labor-saving Duplicating Machines for the Office" External
This article, written by H.S. McCormack, a well-known expert on business efficiency and office management for Scientific American (Vol. 107, No. 15 October 12, 1912; pp. 302-303, 310-311). The article provides photos and descriptions of a mimeograph machine, a flat-bed duplicator, a photographic device that duplicates drawings, and a combination letter-writing and addressing machine. The news article is bordered by several advertisements, one for an Underwood typewriter and another for Edison rotary mimeograph machine. Full access to JSTOR requires a subscription.
The Museum of HP Calculators External
This is a good resource for a listing of the various calculators produced by HP but also includes some images, manuals, and other related information.
"Necessity is the Mother of Invention"
This is a blog post from the Library's Inside Adams and contains links to Library collection to start researching cash registers.
A New Writing Instrument External
A two-page article published in Scientific American that describes four new product inventions, one of them is called the MacKinnon Pen. The pen could be considered a forerunner for today’s ballpoint pen. The article credits Mr. C. T. Stephens, Ithaca, N. Y. as the patent holder. Scientific American does not credit the article to a specific writer. Scientific American, Vol. 42, No. 17 (APRIL 24, 1880), p. 261.
Smithsonian External
The Smithsonian collects and tells the story of American history in all aspects. This includes the inventions that power America from the light bulb, to computers, and the telephone. The Spotlight stores are good for specific stories and in person in their American Enterprise exhibit. Also, see their Open Access External.
Vintage Calculators Web Museum External
This website covers many different types of calculators and isn't limited to one specific brand. It includes many images and information about specific models.
What a Difference the Difference Engine Made: From Charles Babbage’s Calculator Emerged Today’s Computer External
This is an article from Smithsonian Magazine (February 1996) that looks at Babbage's invention and connects it to the history of computers.

Research the Companies

It may also be important to research the companies that manufacture the various types of machines and gadgets using books, articles, and other related resources. For example, annual reports of IBM will be quite helpful in understanding the history of computers as well as other equipment they manufactured. If you want more guidance on company research the Business Reference Section published the Doing Company Research guide which will help with finding more current current company information. The Doing Historical Company Research guide can help you to understand a bit more of the detective work required of anyone researching companies from decades ago that may no longer be active.

History of the Office and Office Equipment: A Resource Guide

Photocopiers, Calculators, etc.

Books

Photocopiers, Calculators Internet Resources

Research the Companies