National Cash Register 1925 & 1953 Review / HowTo

Two mechanical National Cash Register machines: model 711 from 1925, and model 122(2) from 1953.
This is episode 78 of my video series about old calculating devices.
End song inspired by "Hotter than a Molotov" by The Coup. • The Coup: Hotter Than ...
John Patterson photo by Flickr user Scott Ableman. commons.wikime..., CC-BY-SA 2.0
ebay photos from this listing: www.ebay.com/i...
Jimcracks quote from Gerald Carson, "The Machine That Kept Them Honest", American Heritage magazine, Vol 17, issue 5, 1966. www.americanhe...
Woman cashier photo by Myrtle Beach TheDigitel, from www.flickr.com..., CC-BY 2.0
Cat cash register photo by Coolarts223, from www.deviantart..., CC-BY 3.0
Chris Staecker webarea: faculty.fairfi...

[@Mural]

Help themselves to a lil somethin!! Never knew that about cash registers, what a fascinating fact

The ending 😂

[@Nashvillain10SE]

The whole thing! 😂

[@JustSomePasserby]

Agreed. That last line made me laugh.

[@chriswalford4161]

The newer ones, at least, had a feature where you pre-select a combination of buttons - press them down to a detent - and they’d “play the whole chord” when pressed hard on the last one, so you didn’t have to use 3 fingers or two hands to operate the thing. That was quite important in pre-decimal U.K. currency, because you had pounds/shillings/pence to ring up.

[@felixecho]

Thanks for the end, Prof.

[@jaapsch2]

In an antiques shop near me there is a nice one which also prints out receipts. It is probably about 30% larger than your second register, so it is way too large for me to even consider purchasing. But it looks soooo good...

[@BROTRRer]

You need to send the newer machine to LockPickingLawyer so he can get it open and rate how difficult it is to lockpick it. That'd be a cool collaboration

[@gun5188]

I have a model 710 that I took apart and got moving again. it’s the same as your 711 but my numbers are different 1-9 and then 10c up to a dollar thanks for the video I now know that I can push multiple keys.

[@alanesq1]

I have one of the second type myself and can agree they are a very big lump to try and find a home for, mine ended up displacing the cat from his favourite sitting place. Mine has the key which is number E79438 (in case by some chance yours is the same?). I spent some time getting it working but of course I can't remember a lot about it now having worked on so many of my machines since, I think if you take the base plate off the money draw can be easily released. I think the pop up number mechanism is most likely what is locking it up. These machines are surprisingly complicated inside considering they don't even add up for you.

[@kray3883]

Sounds like software where someone copy-pasted without understanding how the original worked, and then when they try to modify it they make it more complicated and worse. Which fits with the company being patent theives...

[@Pallethands]

Its good to see you cashing in on those sweet NCR youtube views

[@johnsrabe]

Like old typewriters, hotels, and cruise ships … this is the kind of thing people think other people should take care of.

[@Jimorian]

My first retail job in 1988, we used an "old" NCR machine, probably 60s or early 70s vintage. This one had rows of keys for each digit, and did add things up in the end. We had to add sales tax manually from looking at a chart supplied by the state, but it did have a tax button to show what that line was for. Add all items, subtotal, add tax, total. It was electric, but it _could_ be run by a crank if necessary, which we did still have for it. My Google-Fu hasn't yet found the right model, but could be something in the Class 6000 series.

[@jaredini]

Class 25?

[@ehidontno]

I still use an old mechanical cash register in my retail job in 2024

[@ChrisStaecker]

@ehidontno where?

[@sebvgmailcom]

Topical: "Tenure" and "tender" (as in legal tender) have similar etymologies, (tenere--to hold--and tendere--to stretch) which makes sense here since one would think you're stretching your luck but you're gonna hold on to that sweet sweet gig.

[@BillRicker]

Sad that outreach like this channel isn't considered by tenure commitees. But glad you've got it so you can do this ❤

[@jamiehardt3061]

Random trivia: NCR invented SCSI. Steven Spielberg's father was an electrical engineer for NCR in the 60s and invented the computerized cash register.

[@tillmanscollection7504]

WOW I LIKE YOUR CASH REGISTERS !! I HAVE A BIG COLLECTION IN THE U.K Thanks for showing them Robbie ( TILLMANS COLLECTION )

[@andrewkarminski2860]

Great video!

[@MattMcIrvin]

When I was little I had a toy cash register that looked almost exactly like a miniature replica of that first one, with the tabs that popped up. (And it functioned exactly like the real one, as far as I can tell--except that it didn't have that counter on the inside. As far as I know...)

[@SIDEKICKDUSTY]

I would bet the shiny black glassy material is bakelite, but I'm no expert

[@punzer]

WD-40 in the cracks.

[@umi3017]

And some Lishi tool for the lock.

[@ChrisStaecker]

@punzer @@umi3017 I tried to lubricate, but it didn't work... and I have thought about investing in some lock picks- I have a couple other things with locks on them that I'd love to be able to open. (BTW I've heard that WD-40 is bad for machines like this. It lubricates great but dries and hardens if it sits still for a long time. So: good for cars, bad for a machine that I'll use a few times then leave in the basement for a decade. I use sewing-machine oil, which is meant to sit around without hardening.)

[@Ravlen1]

The Lockpicking Lawyer over on the other KZbins has plenty for sale and videos demonstrating them.

[@ChrisStaecker]

@Ravlen1 yes- I’m a fan!

[@Mural]

​@@ChrisStaeckerdefinitely a good choice to use a stable, fine oil like that.

[@danielpakk]

Hey man, your Napier's Bones video just hit the 1x10^6 mark! How are you going to celebrate?

[@johnsrabe]

1:24 blame him for the Power Point.

[@kaylalipii]

Why would someone strip off the original paint? :0

[@sorenstaecker]

0.769 laughs per minute. solid. could have seen some improvement if you told the whole story of why you have two that you happened to procure within a few days of each other. would've brought the laughs per minute to a great 0.962

[@Pillowcase]

Ohhh so that's NCR

[@BillRicker]

I got one that was not only jammed but also so customized as to be unsalvageable 😢

[@alienmoonstalker]

Cashiers hated them because they couldn't steal anymore! jk

[@jurjenbos228]

I always had nostalgic feelings for these things, but I now realize their history is a bit sad.