From the Stuyvesant Barber Shop, Kingston, NY, this cash register is made of brass and oak in the original unpolished state. Cash Register, National #1099870-442. Circa 1915. Working
Weight: 145.0lbs
Date: Early 20th C.
Material: Mahogany, Brass
Size: H. 26.0xW.19.0xD.16.5\\\"
History: The first cash register was invented by James Ritty and John Birch following the American Civil War. James was the owner of a saloon in Dayton, Ohio, USA, and wanted to stop employees from pilfering his profits. The Ritty Model I was invented in 1879 after seeing a tool that counted the revolutions of the propeller on a steamship. With the help of James\\\' brother John Ritty, they patented it in 1883.The first registers were entirely mechanical, without receipts. The employee was required to ring up every transaction on the register, and when the total key was pushed, the drawer opened and a bell would ring, alerting the manager to a sale taking place. Those original machines were nothing but simple adding machines.National Cash Register expressly built for a merchant in Nové Mesto nad Metují, Austro-Hungary, 1904Shortly after the patent, Ritty became overwhelmed with the responsibilities of running two businesses, so he sold all of his interests in the cash register business to Jacob H. Eckert of Cincinnati, a china and glassware salesman, who formed the National Manufacturing Company. In 1884 Eckert sold the company to John H. Patterson, who renamed the company the National Cash Register Company and improved the cash register by adding a paper roll to record sales transactions, thereby creating the receipt. The original purpose of the receipt was enhanced fraud protection. The business owner could read the receipts to ensure that cashiers charged customers the correct amount for each transaction and did not embezzle the cash drawer.In 1906, while working at the National Cash Register company, inventor Charles F. Kettering designed a cash register with an electric motor.A leading designer, builder, manufacturer, seller and exporter of cash registers in the 1950s until the 1970s was London-based (and later Brighton-based) Gross Cash Registers Ltd., founded by brothers Sam and Henry Gross. Their cash registers were particularly popular around the time of decimalisation in Britain in early 1971, Henry having designed one of the few known models of cash register which could switch currencies from £sd to £p so that retailers could easily change from one to the other on or after Decimal Day. Sweda also had decimal ready registers where the retailer used a special key on decimal day for the conversion.

This register appears to be in excellent condition, with some minor marks on the wood. Drawer is worn but does hold. Crank turns and will register the correct number.