Hardware Detail

Item Reference:	HW0129
Machine Type:	001	Serial Number:	5-4580
	Hollerith keypunch type 1 suffix 5
	The Punched Card was invented by Herman Hollerith as a means of automating the US Census. Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company which later became part of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). CTR was later still renamed International Business Machines (IBM). Punch cards became the main means of entering data and creating programmes for accounting machines and computers until the 1970s.Until the advent of magnetic media, data storage would consist of rooms full of boxes of punch cards. Data retrieval could be a nightmare! The Card is 80 columns wide and each column represents a number or character. (This is the reason that early “Green Screen” Video Display Units (VDUs) were 80 columns wide.) This is a manual Card Punch for entering data in the form of punched holes in a Punch Card. Later punches were powered and even programmable. The museum has on display 024 and 026 card punches. Later models included the 029 and 129.
Date of Origin:	c1900	Donor:
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Location:	On Loan - BPT	Contact Details: Fiona Jenk	Until: March 2032