On January 30, 1883, James Ritty, a saloonkeeper in Dayton, Ohio, and John Birch received a patent for the invention of the cash register. James Ritty invented what was nicknamed the “Incorruptible Cashier” or the first working mechanical cash register. The machine used metal keys with denominations printed on them to signify the amount of the sale. There was a bell to signal the sale. It also had a totalizer that added up all the cash values of the key presses for a day. His invention came with the familiar “ching” sound referred to in advertising as “The Bell Heard Round the World”.
After reading a description of the cash register designed by James Ritty and sold by the National Manufacturing Company, John H Patterson purchased some of the machines for use in his retail store. He then decided to buy the entire company and the cash register patent for $6,500. He changed the company’s name to the National Cash Register Company in 1884. Patterson’s eccentric and aggressive personality made him a successful businessman. Eighty-four companies sold cash registers from 1888 to 1895, but only three companies survived for any length of time. With Patterson’s desire to create bigger, better and more tamper-proof cash registers, his company was the most successful cash register company of all the cash register companies in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
Patterson went on to improve Ritty’s cash register invention, adding backup paper rolls to cross-check the day’s transactions at each price point. This worked by incorporating a punch machine into each cash register while the paper would have separate invisible columns representing cents and dollars. For instance, if the paper had two punches in the dollar column and 50 punches in the cents column, the total would be Two dollars + fifty cents. When a transaction was completed, a bell would ring on the cash register and the amount was stored on a large dial in the front of the machine. In each sale, a paper roll was punched so the salesperson could keep track of sales. At the end of the day, the salesperson could add up the holes and thus calculate their daily cash. In 1906, a cash register was designed with an electric motor, making it the first electric-operated cash register.
During the period from 1888 to 1915, cash registers, encased in fancy cast metal housings, spread to nearly every retail establishment. This period was most typified by cast brass cash registers, many of which are still available on the antique market today.
There were cash registers made of materials other than brass. Cast iron, wood, and even stamped metal were used. Finishes included polished brass, nickel plating, antique copper, paint, and even silver and gold plating. Brass dominated the National Cash Register Company’s product line, accounting for up to 95% of the total market.
It is hard to imagine any kind of store without a cash register. However, before 1879, merchants did not have such a device. Very few business owners actually knew whether they were operating at a profit or a loss. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the cash register became a huge benefit to companies. The cash register was not only a deterrent to theft, but it was also the instrument of a new analytical method that led to the systematic use of information to generate profits.
Throughout the 1900s many advancements were made in cash registers. They not only became more difficult for thieves to steal from, but also made the retail and restaurant trades easier and more profitable for the business owner. Today, options like touch screen computers, scanning thousands of inventory items, processing credit cards, and printing items to kitchen printers make owning and operating a business much more efficient.
Many Cash Register companies manufacture, market, and sell cash registers today. Some of those cash register companies include SAM4s, Samsung, Sharp, Casio, Royal, TEC, and Sanyo.
In the past few years, the cash register industry has changed significantly with the advent of Point of Sale Systems, or computerized cash registers. These Point of Sale Systems are utilized in all types of industries, but are prevalent in Retail Stores and Restaurants. The Point of Sale Systems, or computerized cash registers utilize touch screen point of sale terminals, allowing items to be scanned for easy checkout, enabling customers to process credit cards and gift cards with one step, and allowing business owners to keep track of their inventory. With recent changes in technology in the Cash Register and Point of Sale industry we can expect many great things to happen in the future.
