Images(2)

Tag, Identification

Object number2016.96.25

Manufacturer Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company (1886 - 1945)

OriginTrafford, PA

MediumBrass(?); Plastic; Paper; Ink

Credit LineGift of James Sutherland

DescriptionNearly square brass(?) Westinghouse identification tag. Left, right, and bottom edges are folded over and hold a transparent piece of plastic with salmon-colored paper behind. Brass(?) grommet at top center. Paper has printed black text with site name and tag information. Reverse of tag has imprinted Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company logo.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 1.75 × 1.625 × 0.125 in. (4.4 × 4.1 × 0.3 cm)
InscriptionsPaper insert has black printed text "TRAFFORD / SECTION TF-30 / CHECK NO. #140 / BADGE NO. None / 5B".
MarksReverse of tag has imprinted logo with text "W / WESTINGHOUSE / ELEC. & MFG. CO."

Paper insert has one Westinghouse logo in each top corner.
Historical NotesPart of a collection of materials that document the early development of computer technology at Westinghouse where donor James Sutherland was an engineer. Sutherland was a design engineer for computers at Westinghouse in the 1960s. He earned a degree in electrical engineering, served in the United States Air Force, and then began to work for Westinghouse in 1959. He worked in the logic group and designed the Control and Indexing Units for the Westinghouse PRODAC-IV (Programmed Digital Automatic Controller). The computer used NOR logic elements, developed by Westinghouse’s Buffalo plant, to run. With permission Jim took parts of these computers home and eventually built a home computer called ECHO IV (Electronic Home Computing Operator), it is now in The Computer Museum in Boston. ECHO IV was recognized as the first home computer by the Annals of Computing History and The Computer Museum in Boston.

Previous owner James F. Sutherland

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