Adding-Listing Machines

Adding and Listing Machines

Eureka Adding Machine Carriage with Burroughs Adding Machine, 1905

William S. Burroughs (1855-1898) invented an adding and listing machine with a full keyboard in the early 1880s, submitted a patent application in 1885, co-founded the American Arithmometer Co. in 1886 to produce the machine, and received a patent for his invention in 1888. After its Bankers' and Merchants' Registering Accountant machine failed in trials in 1890, the American Arithmometer Co. marketed its improved Burroughs Registering Accountant in 1892 for $475 (Kidwell 2000). In 1905, the company was renamed the Burroughs Adding Machine Co.

In 1894, an article -- clearly referring to the Burroughs Registering Accountant -- reported that "An ingenious adding machine, recently introduced in Providence banks, is said to be infallible in results, and to do the work of two or three active clerks. Inclosed in a frame with heavy plate-glass panels, through which the working of the mechanism can be seen, the machine occupies a space of 11 by 15 inches and is nine inches high. On an inclined keyboard are 81 keys, arrange in nine rows of nine keys each. The printing is done through an inked ribbon." (The Bankers' Magazine, Aug. 1894) An 1899 discussion of modern banking methods stated that "great assistance has been derived from certain mechanical labor-saving contrivances, among which I will mention the typewriter, the registering accountant or adding machine, and the telephone. The registering accountant is of comparatively more recent introduction, but I think I can safely say it has proved itself one of the most useful instruments even introduced to the banks." (Bankers' Magazine, Feb. 1899)

The following table provides data on worldwide sales of Burroughs machines from 1895 through 1926. Through 1910, the data cover only adding-listing machines. Beginning in 1911, the data also cover calculators and other types of bookkeeping machines.

Year	Number Sold	Total Sold Since 1895 (from Column to Left)	Other Cumulative Data	Year	Number Sold	Total Sold Since 1895	Other Cumulative Data	Year	Number Sold	Total Sold Since 1895	Other Cumulative Data
1895	286	286	.	1901	2,122	6,424	Over 8,000 in use	1907	13,300	.	54,834 in use in August
1896	418	704	.	1902	3,163	9,587	.	1908	1 every 10 minutes every business day.	63,574 sold by Jan.	60,000 firms using by Sept.
1897	498	1,202	.	1903	4,446	14,033	Used in accounting departments of 10,000 banks, mercantile houses, factories, wholesale and retail stores, etc.	1909	15,763	.	Used by 70,000 firms
1898	729	1,931	Used by 2,000 commercial houses, banks, etc.	1904	5,008	19,041	17,000 in use during year	1910	.	.	103,750 users
1899	972	2,903	Used by 2,000 commercial houses, banks, etc.	1905	7,804	26,845	Over 22,000 in use in March.	1911	.	.	Over 130,000 users
1900	1,399	4,302	Over 5,000 users in Sept.	1906	.	.	40,263 in use in October	1925	.	.	Over 750,000 in use
.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1926	.	.	1,000,000th made

A 1900 ad stated that Burroughs Registering Accountants had been used "in the largest banks in New York City" for five years. A Sept. 1900 ad stated that the Burroughs Registering Accountant was "Used by over 5000 banks, small as well as large." In March 1905, Burroughs claimed that "there are over 22,000 of these machines now in constant use among banks, mercantile houses, department stores, factories, gas and electric light companies, railroads, express companies, lumber dealers, etc." In 1906, Burroughs claimed that as of October 5 of that year, 40,000 of its machines were in use in over 30,000 concerns and that "ninety per cent of all adding machines sold are Burroughs." Burroughs advertised an electric model in 1906. At that time, Burroughs machines ranged in price from $300 to $500 depending on model. Burroughs manufactured its 50,000^th machine in 1907 and claimed that the 13,300 machines that it sold during 1907 exceeded "the combined sales of all other makes of adding machines during all the years of their existence." In 1908 Burroughs offered 58 models, "One built for every line of business." The many models varied in number of columns, the width of the paper onto which they printed, whether they were designed for computations involving fractions, feet and inches, pounds and ounces, etc., and whether they had features such as counters and split keyboards. In 1908 Burroughs also stated that "Nine out of ten adding machines in use are Burroughs." In 1910 Burroughs offered 74 models with between 6 and 17 columns of keys and began advertising some of its models as bookkeeping machines. In 1911 there were 78 Burroughs models ranging in price from $175 to $850. In 1916 there were 98 models, including a machine with 17 columns of keys priced at $615-$715. In 1928, Burroughs claimed that 100,000 Burroughs Portables had been sold. In 1935, Burroughs offered 450 standard models.

[Insert Oldsmobile ad from System 1904]

To put the prices of Burroughs adding machines in the early 20th century into perspective, consider the fact that in 1904 the Oldmobile Standard Runabout was $650, while the Oldsmobile Light Tonneau Car was $950.

During the first decade of the 20th century, Burroughs faced competition from both key-driven calculators and a number of rival adding-listing machines, including Dalton, Pike, Standard, Universal, and Wales. Unlike Burroughs, these competing machines had "visible" printers that printed in view of the operator. Pike, Universal, and Wales machines had full keyboards like the machines produced by Burroughs. By contrast, Dalton and Standard machines had ten-key keyboards.

In 1908, Burroughs acquired the Universal Adding Machine Co., which described its products as "A Typewriter Carriage on an Adding Machine." In 1909, Burroughs acquired the Pike Adding Machine Co. and in the same year began to sell Burroughs Pike visible adding machines. In 1911, Burroughs introduced its Burroughs Class 3 visible adding machines based on the Pike design. In 1914, following an antitrust suit, Burroughs was enjoined from buying competing companies.

Also in 1911, Burroughs introduced a key-driven calculator that looked very much like a Felt & Tarrant Comptometer. In 1912, the Burroughs Calculator was $150. Felt & Tarrant sued Burroughs for patent infringement based on the similarity of the cases, and Burroughs modified the appearance of its calculator.

In 1921, Burroughs acquired the Moon-Hopkins Billing Machine Co. Moon-Hopkins and other combination typewriter-adding machines are discussed and illustrated in the Early Office Museum's exhibit on Special Purpose Office Typewriters.

A company named the "Columbian Adding Machine Co." issued stock certificates in 1897 and existed in New Jersey in 1898. We do not know whether it actually produced an adding machine.

In 1906, it was reported that "Among listing machines the Burroughs may be said to easily lead the list in numbers of machines made and sold. The Universal Adding Machine is probably next, followed by the Standard machine and the Wales Adding machine." Other listing machines on the market in 1906 were Mallman's Addograph (Chicago), American Addograph (Philadelphia), Bundy Adding Machine (Binghamton, NY), Commercial Adding Machine (Cleveland), Comptograph (Chicago), Pike Adding Machine (Orange, NJ), and Wendling-Hock Machine, made by the California Adding Machine Co. (San Francisco). However, it was reported that the latter machines "are as yet practically unknown to the general public, and it is rare to see them in either banks or business houses." (The Business Man's Magazine, Aug. 1906, p. 62) The Addograph was produced by the Mallman Addograph Mfg. Co. during 1903-08 and sold for $275. (P. Kidwell, "'Yours for Improvement'--The Adding Machines of Chicago, 1884-1930," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, July-Sept. 2001, pp. 3-21) E. H. Beach, Tools of Business, 1905, also mentions an electrically controlled McCaskey Calculating and Listing Machine, manufactured by the McCaskey Electric Calculator Co, Chicago, IL. Referring to this full set of adding-listing machines, Beach states "These machines are necessarily expensive in construction and vary in prices from $185 to $400." By comparison, Beach states, "Among the non-listing machines,...The Comptometer, Mallman Addometer, The Mechanical Accountant, The Beach Calculating Machine....are sold at prices from $75 to $150."