• Width:
  9 1/4" Inches
• Height:
  21 3/8" Inches
• Depth:
  15 1/2" Inches
• Period:
  19th Century
• Origin:
  America

This antique detail adder cash register by the National Cash Register Co. (NCR) of Dayton, Ohio, is a fantastic piece of Americana. The beautiful nickel-over-iron case and original top sign are designed in the firm's Ionic motif. This particular machine, model number 11, is a detail adder, and is one of the first registers NCR ever created. The register has a total of 11 keychecks, including a "No Sale" keycheck. When a sale is made, the bell rings and the cash drawer pops open. The drawer boasts an all-wood interior with five compartments. The register is also distinguished by the fact that it retains its original top sign which reads "Amount Purchased." National Cash Registers in such wonderful, complete condition, especially earlier models like this detail adder, are true treasures of American culture. 

The detail adder allowed shopkeepers to accurately keep track of sales made during the day, as well as the number of sales made. The mechanism itself has two rows of numbered wheels. Each time a key is pressed, the lower wheel indexes one notch, and if it goes all the way around, the upper wheel also moves one space forward. At the end of the day, the store owner would have to look at each wheel and notate the numbers in the top and bottom rows and then add them together to see the daily sales. A separate counter kept track of the number of sales made, allowing the owner to further analyze the success of business that day. The proprietor would then reset the wheels to zero by turning the rod at the side of the detail adder mechanism.

An identical register is pictured in the 1898 National Cash Register Co. catalog, page 41.

The register bears a label with the model number "11" and the serial number "155935" which dates this machine to December, 1898.

9 1/4" wide x 15 1/2" deep x 21 3/8" high