Summit Adding Machine

Object Details

Description: By the mid-20th century, printing adding machines with a block of ten keys sold much more cheaply than full-keyboard machines. Mindful that it was losing sales, Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Detroit set out to manufacture its own ten-key machine. The Burroughs Patent Division acquired examples and blueprints of a recently introduced British adding machine, the Summit.; This manually operated machine has 11 white plastic keys numbered 1 to 11 (for Sterling currency), as well as a 0 bar. Four black keys are on the right and a correction key is on the left. A place indicator is above the keyboard and a printing mechanism behind it. This includes a paper tape 6 cm. (2 3/8”) wide, a black ribbon, and a serrated edge for tearing the paper tape. The rightmost type bar prints symbols. A metal cover fits over the ribbon and mechanism. Left and right wheels turn the tape and advance the paper. A place for a crank exists, but no crank is present. The machine allows one to enter numbers up to nine digits long and prints nine-digit totals.; The machine is marked on the front: Summit. It is also marked there: MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN. It has serial number: #1895. A red Burroughs Patent Department tag attached to the machine reads: #300. Compare to 1982.0794.76.
Location: Currently not on view

1950

Physical Description: steel (overall material); paper (overall material); plastic (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 19 cm x 26 cm x 42 cm; 7 15/32 in x 10 1/4 in x 16 17/32 in

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National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-1604-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa