National cash registers were used by large stores and retail shops for over 100 years. They were similar to modern devices: they printed receipts so that the buyer and the seller could see the purchase sum. Their work was accompanied by a melodious bell ringing sound that was the trademark of all National cash registers.
The National cash register was first patented by James Ritty on November 4, 1879. He needed a mechanism that would reliably record the cash transactions: Ritty owned a bar and suspected his employees of stealing money. The idea of a cash register came to him while he was on a steamboat trip: he became intrigued by a mechanism that counted how many times the ship’s propeller went around. As soon as he got home, James and his brother John invented such a mechanism, patented the invention, and began producing such devices, first at home, and then at their own small factory.
John Patterson, a store owner from California, appreciated the benefits of cash registers, bought their patent and launched the production of such devices under the National Register Company brand. Patterson added a drawer for money and a bell that would ring each time the drawer was opened. The regular ringing of the bell meant that the store was doing well.
Cash registers were brought to Russia around the same time. National cash registers were very popular in Russia, including in the towns of the Vyatka Governorate. They were used until 1933. Only in 1934 did the Soviet Union start producing its own cash registers.
Pyotr Pavlovich Klobukov, a hereditary merchant from Vyatka, established the first department store in Vyatka in 1909. The store had a luxurious interior and exterior design. The foyer was furnished with palm trees growing in pots, and on the third floor, there was a sewing workshop that could complete an order as quickly as in one day. The store offered a wide variety of goods, and cashiers used National cash registers. The cost of this expensive device paid off quickly. Wealthy merchants also strove to buy such cash registers for their shops.
The National cash register was first patented by James Ritty on November 4, 1879. He needed a mechanism that would reliably record the cash transactions: Ritty owned a bar and suspected his employees of stealing money. The idea of a cash register came to him while he was on a steamboat trip: he became intrigued by a mechanism that counted how many times the ship’s propeller went around. As soon as he got home, James and his brother John invented such a mechanism, patented the invention, and began producing such devices, first at home, and then at their own small factory.
John Patterson, a store owner from California, appreciated the benefits of cash registers, bought their patent and launched the production of such devices under the National Register Company brand. Patterson added a drawer for money and a bell that would ring each time the drawer was opened. The regular ringing of the bell meant that the store was doing well.
Cash registers were brought to Russia around the same time. National cash registers were very popular in Russia, including in the towns of the Vyatka Governorate. They were used until 1933. Only in 1934 did the Soviet Union start producing its own cash registers.
Pyotr Pavlovich Klobukov, a hereditary merchant from Vyatka, established the first department store in Vyatka in 1909. The store had a luxurious interior and exterior design. The foyer was furnished with palm trees growing in pots, and on the third floor, there was a sewing workshop that could complete an order as quickly as in one day. The store offered a wide variety of goods, and cashiers used National cash registers. The cost of this expensive device paid off quickly. Wealthy merchants also strove to buy such cash registers for their shops.
