| Credit line |
Gift of Larry Honaker, 1999.42 |
| Date |
ca. 1973 |
| Description |
1999.42.1--Mechanical IBM card punch for visually impaired programmers based on the Hollerith Keypunch Code. This code is similar to braille and was fairly easy for braille readers to learn. (Sighted programmers used a typewriter keyboard.) A label on top of the punch reads "Wright Punch Model 2600, Wright Line, Worcester, Mass. USA." It also lists the key numbers, and letter and symbols code. The card punch has 13 keys attached to a movable carriage. Letters and punctuation marks are made by pressing multiple keys, and a spacing key advances the carriage. The keys punched holes into the IBM card placed beneath the carriage. Eighty columns can be punched.
1999.42.2--Card reader into which the punched card is placed for reading by visually impaired programmers. A sliding bar, attached to the top frame of the reader, moves across the columns of holes in the punched card. A braille stylus is moved down into a vertical slot on the sliding bar until it drops into a hole in the card. The programmer feels the reference hole to the right or left of the vertical slot to determine the holes punched in each column. A click can be felt as the bar moves across a column. Notches in the frame of the card reader allow the sliding bar to move in 10 column increments. Column 1 can be read by sliding the bar all the way to the right; column 80 can be read by sliding the bar all the way to the left. The card punch has a black carrying case. The lid is hinged and has a handle on top of it. A card holder is attached to the inside of the lid. Metal clasps keep the case securely closed. |
| Dimension notes |
6 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 5 7/8 in. card punch ; 5 5/16 x 18 x 4 1/2 in. case ; 5 x 9 1/8 x 1 3/4 in. card reader |
| Made |
Wright Line |
| Object ID |
1999.42.1-2 |
| Object Name |
Punch, Card |
| Place of Origin |
Worcester |
| Provenance/History |
The donor used the card punch and card reader early in his career as a programmer. Larry Honaker attended Southern Business College in Orlando and, later, Columbus Technical Institute in Pittsburg, where he graduated in 1974. He worked for the Defense Department in Central Design Headquarters, Defense Electronic Supply. The Wright Punch Model 2600 was in use there until around 1986, when programmers began using electronic terminals with opticons for reading screens.
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| Subjects |
Blind
Computer programming
Punched card systems |
| Title |
Wright Punch Model 2600 card punch and card reader |
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