The tabulating machine was an electromechanical machine designed to assist in summarizing information stored on punched cards. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census. Later models were widely used for business applications such as accounting and inventory control. It spawned a class of machines, known as unit record equipment, and the data processing industry.
Hollerith 1890 tabulating machine with sorting box.
Hollerith punched card
IBM Type 285 tabulators in use at U.S. Social Security Administration circa 1936
Early IBM D11 tabulating machine, with covers removed
A punched card is a piece of card stock that stores digital data using punched holes. Punched cards were once common in data processing and the control of automated machines.
A 12-row/80-column IBM punched card from the mid-twentieth century
Close-up of a Jacquard loom's chain, constructed using 8 × 26 hole punched cards
Carpet loom with Jacquard apparatus by Carl Engel, around 1860. Chain feed is on the left.
Woman operating the card puncher, c.1940