National Cash Register Toolmaking Department

Reverse reads: "Photography courtesy of National Cash Register Co. Dayton, Ohio Nat Cash Register Toomaking Dept. Courtesy NCR Dayton in WPA Guide Ohio" James Ritty invented the ‘mechanical money drawer' in 1879, but it didn't catch on until after John Patterson purchased the company from Ritty in 1884, for $6, 500. Following the practice of the car works, he insisted on fine, accurate workmanship. He searched for artisans and drew them to Dayton with high wages. In 1886 Patterson built a new factory, located at 1400 Main Street in Dayton, Ohio. Originally designed by Frank Andrews the new National Cash Register Company Plant had walls of 80% glass supported by columns of brick-veneered steel. It was the first daylight factory building in America and set a new standard of working conditions and a created a new style of architecture. The company grew so large that its several buildings eventually totaled 51 acres of floor space. In 1906, Charles F. Kettering began working at the cash register plant, where he developed a quick-starting electric motor for cash register. Three years later, he quit the job to give him more time creating his next invention – the automobile self-starter During the World War NCR devoted a large part of its facilities to making precision tools used in war manufactures, and over the years, continued to grow and evolve. In 1968, employee John L. Janning invented liquid crystal displays (LCD), and in 1974, NCR commercialized bar-code scanners. AT&T aquired NCR in 1991, changed the name to AT&T Global Information Solutions (GIS) in 1994, and changed it back to NCR in 1996. In 2003, they were granted a patent for signature capture and they continue to succeed, concentrating their efforts on the software and services business. NCR's corporate headquarters moved to Duluth, GA in 2009.