NATIONAL cash register; United States, 1903. NATIONAL... Lot 37

NATIONAL cash register; United States, 1903. NATIONAL cash register; USA, 1903. Serial number 768782-537-3-C. With certificate of authenticity dated 1978. Measurements: 88 x 78 x 54 cm. National cash register, made in the USA for the foreign market in 1903. It has three drawers in the cabinet of the base, marked with the letters A, B and C, that allow to take up to three different accounts. The machine is made of brass, with decorative motifs in relief, mainly classical motifs such as palmettes, vegetal scrolls and acanthus leaves. It also has an upper cartouche, with a sinuous modernist profile, on which the inscription 'Amount of your Purchase' can be read. It still has all the buttons, in red, black and yellow, and on the upper part we can see the representation of two hands with shirt cuffs, pointing to the indicators for the payment method and amount (in pesos), also visible on the back. It has two sheets of translucent glass at the base, and stands on a beautifully veined piece of furniture, with the aforementioned letters A, B and C on the front of the drawers, in beautiful modernist typography. At the end of the 19th century, most businesses were growing, acquiring dimensions that went beyond the family sphere, where it was usual for only one or two people to handle the money. Larger businesses began to worry about petty theft by their employees, so it was soon a logical conclusion to use mechanical systems for cashing up establishments. James Ritty (Dayton, Ohio), a café owner, is now credited with creating the first cash register. After realising that he was losing money in his business, he and his brother John invented and patented the first cash register on 4 November 1879. Together, in the following years, they developed new models, including the one known as "The Incorruptible Cashier". Success was slow in coming, however, as they failed to make a successful name for themselves until 1885 when they attracted the attention of a new partner, John Patterson, with whom they founded The National Manufacturing Company (shortly afterwards The National Cash Register Company). Despite the reluctance of shop owners, and especially their employees, Patterson succeeded in paving the way for the new invention and made the cash register the centrepiece of the shop, the focus of public attention. This was achieved by showing the customer the attractiveness of the new invention (through beautiful and ornate designs), and also by creating systems that helped employers to prevent employee theft. Thus, National would begin to manufacture cash registers with bases of fine woods, sometimes richly ornamented with marquetry, and cash registers of metals such as bronze, brass, copper and also plain metal, albeit adorned with engraved motifs or beautiful enamelled designs. In addition, these machines came with a two-year guarantee, which meant that they were well received by shop owners. Nevertheless, many of these early cash registers have survived, in working order and in good condition, to the present day, and in fact have remained in use for generations. Thanks to this success, many other companies began to manufacture cash registers; soon more than two hundred new firms would appear, although National would be the largest and most reputable.