Before the
Cash Register was invented, storekeepers used a wide variety of cashboxes and drawers to hold receipts from sales and money needed to make change.
A need for quick and accurate total of daily transactions for each sale was needed. Because there was no way to easily audit transactions, dishonest cashiers frequently removed cash when the store owner was not present.
Wooden Cash Box
When Cash Registers were made available to the retail stores in the 1880s, they were resented by salesclerks. The clerks objections were understandable since the new devices were called "thief catchers". By recording every sale, cash registers made it difficult for dishonest employees to steal money.
Business owners welcomed the machines, not only because they helped keep cash intake even with goods outflow, but also because they aided bookkeeping and inventory control. Between 1884 and 1916 more than 1.5 million were sold.
Pre-1916 vintage cash registers were made with elaborately patterned brass and bronze covers or fine wooden cabinets and are highly prized by collectors. Old and ornate cash registers can cost several thousands dollars and even a small candy store model may bring almost that much if it works perfectly. However, many nice
antique brass cash registers can be purchased for less than $1000.00.
The cash register was invented by James Ritty, a saloon keeper in Dayton, OH. In 1879 he and his brother patented a machine called the "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier". One of Ritty's customers was Dayton merchant John Patterson, who bought two of his machines to stop
thief that was draining the profits from a family owned store.
Between 1888 and the early 1900s as many as 85 companies manufactured cash registers. Here are just a few.
Hallwood - Columbus, Ohio.
American Cash Register Company
Michigan Cash Register Company
Ideal Cash Register Company - Bound Brook, NJ
Federal Cash Register Company - Kansas City, MO
Hallwood Cash Register
For more information about the National Cash Register Company please....Click Here!
Because of the success of Ritty's invention John Patterson purchased the controlling interest in what became the National Cash Registers Company. Patterson formed NCR into one of the first modern American companies, introducing new aggressive sales methods and business techniques. Patterson established the first sales and repair training schools in 1893 and introduced a comprehensive social welfare program for his factory workers.
