Highlights From Our Collection - September 2011

Gold Hill Store Cash Register
The National Cash Register Company
Dayton, Ohio, 1896

This is a 31 key cash register made by the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio in 1896, serial # 183765. It has thirteen patent dates and was used in the Gold Hill Store in Boulder County which was run by Frank Boyd, who took over the Kirkbride Store when he married George & Jane Kirkbride's daughter, Mary. J. Scott Brown, who married Frank & Mary Boyd's daughter, Elizabeth (Betty), donated the register to the Museum in June of 1970.

Early History of the National Cash Register Company

The first mechanical cash register was invented in 1879 by James Ritty. Mr. Ritty’s company was bought in 1884 by John Henry Patterson and his brother Frank and was named the National Cash Register Company. It became one of the new modern American companies using aggressive sales methods and new business techniques. The company introduced a sales training school in 1893 and a comprehensive social welfare program for its factory workers.

By 1888, the National Cash Register Company was multi-national and by 1911 had sold one million machines and employed almost 6000 employees. In 1914 they developed one of the first automated credit systems.

The National Cash Register Company manufactured various military necessities during the two Great wars, “small” computers, liquid crystal displays, ATMs, and more. They flourish to this day.

This 1895 photo taken in front of the Kirkbride store (left) and Gold Hill Drug Store (flat roof).

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