Punch Card Machine Demo

CMoA has recently expanded the punch card exhibit! A Jacquard Loom, one of the earliest uses of punched cards, helped to make woven fabric more affordable. Herman Hollerith’s invention of electromechanical processing of cards tabulated data for the 1890 census. Punched cards were widely used throughout much of the 20th century for record-keeping and data processing. The IBM family of punch card machines was used for data processing across many industries and academia. Punched cards were even used for matchmaking at the University of Iowa in 1963!

Come learn more about the history and punch your own souvenir card on an original IBM 029 to take home during the demo.

keyboard_arrow_up