adding machine
Identifier
2025.019.0001abDescription
The Burroughs' Portable Adding Machine Class 8 - Serial 8-1062937. Built in Detroit, Michigan, in 1926, Price in 1926 was $100.00. This type of hand-operated "full keyboard" adding machine was common in many offices around the country starting in the 1920s. Surprisingly, this model did not have subtraction capability but was one of the most widely sold adding machines at the time. The inventor of the adding machine was William S. Burrough's (1857-1898) who was raised north of Lowell on Burroughs Rd. His family lived here from 1860-1871 and then moved back to New York. William completed the first working model of the machine in 1884 and received the patent in 1888. Burroughs founded the American Arithmometer Company in 1886--then became the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. In 1986, Burroughs merged with the Sperry Corporation to become the Unisys Corporation. Burroughs was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1986 but he died of TB in 1898.Materials
metal, paper tapeOrigin Date
1926Origin Place
Detroit
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