JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
This is one of the most important hole punchers in the history of holes, and also in the history of counting and figuring out what to do with counted things. Do you know who filed this drawing as part of their patent report, and what famous contribution this thing made?
Answer: the drawing for the hole puncher was actually a key puncher, and was submitted by Herman Hollerith (1860-1929) for his tabulating machine, which was an early electromechanical calculator and one of the most important of its kind for decades to come. It was an iconic invention: Hollerith was the first on the scene with a workable punched card tabulating machine, and stored the data on the punched cards which were then sorted and tabulated. It was famously successful when applied to the U.S. national census of 1890. Hollerith developed the process into a business--the Tabulating Machine Company--which was of course a huge success, with Hollerith ultimately selling his company to the "Father of Trusts" Charles Flint, in 1911 (for the equivalent of about $60 million in 2017 dollars). In 1924 Flint's family of companies ( including The Tabulating Machine Company, International Time Recording Company, Computing Scale Company of America, and the Bundy Manufacturing Company) were reorganized and renamed International Business Machines.
Image source: https://www.google.com/patents/US395782
A close-up of the holes:
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