Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 January 1919 — Made First Cash Register. [ARTICLE]

Made First Cash Register.

A man named Jacob Ritty, a merchant of Dayton, 0., took a vacation trip to Europe. While crossing on the steamer, he sauntered one day Into the engine room and noticed a device that mechanically recorded the number of revolutions of the propeller shaft. Immediately came the idea to the mind of Mr. Ritty: “Why not invent a machine that would record each coin put into the cash drawer?” When he returned home he invented the first "cash register.” John H. Patterson was keeping a grocery store In a small town 80 miles from Dayton. He heard of the Ritty contrivance, sent an order for one, and that was the Inventor’s first order. The machine was crude, but It Interested Mr. Patterson and he saw how it could b£ perfected. “If it’s good for my stbfe,” he argued, “why not for all stores?” Forthwith he went to Dayton, bought the Ritty interest out,'and started the National Cash Register Co., which has now 1,800,000 machines and every year turns out more than 60,000 cash registers.