Before “Tap to Pay”

 The register allowed clerks to enter sales amounts and categorize purchases by department. When the hand crank was turned, an intricate system of gears, levers, and linkages recorded the transaction and automatically opened the corresponding drawer in the cabinet below. This helped merchants organize sales records and manage different departments long before electronic registers and computers existed.



More than a century later, this remarkable machine still works exactly as it was designed. Visitors can watch as the hand crank activates the mechanism and opens the correct department drawer, demonstrating the craftsmanship and engineering that kept this register in service well into the 1950s.

Check Out Exhibits from Past Months!