Photo Services: Processing the Questionnaires

Processing the Questionnaires

Key-Punching and Sorting | FOSDIC | Computer Technology | Miscellaneous

Key-Punching and Sorting

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1900-010
Description: Microfilming Records from the 1900 Census. Census Bureau employees use Recordak Microfilming machines to photograph 76 million records from the 1900 census. The microfilmed records can easily be searched to supply citizens with proof of age documentation needed to obtain Social Security and retirement benefits and passports.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1930-002
Description: Tabulating the 1935 Business Census. A Census Bureau employee uses a card punch to transcribe data from a 1935 Business Census questionnaire to punch cards for mechanical sorting and tabulation. The use of punch cards to tabulate census data began following the 1890 census and continued into the 1960s when computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-004
Description: Mechanically Sorting Punch Cards for Tabulation (1940). A battery of mechanical sorters prepare punch cards containing 1940 census data for tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-005
Description: Mechanically Sorting Punch Cards for Tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. In this photo, a Census Bureau employee operates a sorter to prepare punch cards containing vital statistics and mortality data for tabulation.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-011
Description: Creating 1940 Farm and Ranch Punch Cards. Census Bureau employees create thousands of punch cards containing the data supplied on the 1940 Farm and Ranch census questionnaire. Upon completion, the punch cards were boxed and shipped to other departments for sorting and mechanical tabulation.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-012
Description: Preparing 1940 Census Data for Publication. Census Bureau employees proofread and edit tabulations using mechanical calculators prior to publication.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-013
Description: Sorting 1940 Farm and Ranch Punch Cards. A battery of mechanical sorters prepare punch cards containing data from the 1940 Farm and Ranch Census for tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-016
Description: Card Punching (1940)
A Census Bureau employee demonstrates the use of a “pantograph” card punch used in earlier censuses. An operator using a pantograph translated handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards were then sorted and tabulated.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-025
Description: Census Bureau Machine Tabulation Division. Employees of the Census Bureau’s Machine Tabulation Division inspect 1940 census punch cards prior to sorting and mechanical tabulation.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1950-007
Description: Preparing Punch Cards for Tabulation. A Census Bureau employee transcribes data contained on the 1950 census questionnaire to punch cards using a key punch. Upon completion, each punch card is sorted and the data are mechanically tabulated. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1950-008
Description: An “Electronic Statistical Machine.” The “electronic statistical machine” used following the 1950 census combined the operations of the mechanical sorter (right-rear) and counting machine (left-rear) into one operation. The Census Bureau estimated that 500 people working by hand, would spend their entire lives doing the work of this single machine following the 1950 census.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1960-014
Description: IBM 27 Card Proof Punch (1960). A Census Bureau employee uses a card proof punch to process 1960 census returns.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1935-017
Description: Census Bureau employee operating an IBM Type 75 Counting Sorter (ca. 1935). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.).
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1935-018
Description: An IBM Type 75 Counting Sorter (ca. 1935). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.).
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1930's-022
Description: Sorting Punch Cards (ca. 1930s). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.).
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1950-027
Description: Sorting Punch Cards (1950). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.)
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1954-019
Description: Preparations for the 1954 Census of Agriculture. A Census Bureau employee instructs members of the Machine Tabulation Division on the sorting of punch cards containing information collected during the 1954 Census of Agriculture using an IBM 101 Electronic Statistical Machine. The “101" combined the functions sorting, counting, accumulating, balancing, editing, and printing of summaries of facts recorded on punch cards within a single machine.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1960-028
Description: Sorting Punch Cards using an IBM Electronic Statistical Machine (1960). The Census Bureau used IBM 101 Electronic Statistical Machines to sort, count, accumulate, balance, edit, and print summaries of facts recorded on punch cards.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1935-029
Description: Card Punching (ca. 1935)
A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1930's-030
Description: Card Punching (1930s)
A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1930-031
Description: Card Punching (1930)
A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1930's-032
Description: Card Punching (1930s)
A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-035
Description: Card Punching (1940)
A Census Bureau employee demonstrates the use of a “pantograph” card punch used in earlier censuses. An operator using a pantograph translated handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards were then sorted and tabulated.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940's-006
Description: Mechanically Sorting and Tabulating Punch Cards. On the left, Census Bureau employees mechanically sort punch cards containing census data. After sorting, the high-speed, mechanical tabulating machines (left) tallied the data contained on the punch cards. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1935-003
Description: Mechanically Sorting Punch Cards for Tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. In this photo, a Census Bureau employee operates a sorter to sort and prepare punch cards containing vital statistics and mortality data for tabulation.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-020
Description: Hollerith Tabulator, 1904. A Census Bureau employee uses a Hollerith Tabulator to tabulate results from the 1900 census. The results of the tabulation are displayed on dials and he is manually operating a “pantograph” with his left hand and a card reading press with his right hand. The pantograph punched holes in cards for tabulation. The press contained metal pins that passed through the punched cards holes completing an electrical circuit when each pin made contact with a well of mercury below each hole, tabulating the data each hole represented on the dials.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1900-021
Description: Hollerith Tabulator (left) and Sorter (right), ca. 1900. The Census Bureau used versions of the Hollerith Tabulators and Sorters to tabulate census data from 1890 until replaced by computers. This tabulator, used following the 1900 census, displayed data “read” from punch cards on the tabulation dials.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

FOSDIC

High Res | Low Res
#FOSDIC001
Description: FOSDIC (Film Optical Sensing Device for Input to Computers). First developed in 1953 for the 1960 Census of Population and Housing. This equipment scans reels of micofilmed census questionnaires to capture responses which are transferred to magnetic tape readable by computers.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Population and Housing: 1960, Procedural History)
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res | Low Res
#FOSDIC190091
Description: FOSDIC (Film Optical Sensing Device for Input to Computers). First developed in 1953 for the 1960 Census of Population and Housing. This equipment scans reels of micofilmed census questionnaires to capture responses which are transferred to magnetic tape readable by computers.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Population and Housing: 1960, Procedural History)
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

Computer Technology

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1950-015
Description: UNIVAC. Built by Remington-Rand and delivered to the Census Bureau on March 31, 1951, UNIVAC was the world’s first commercial computer. Built using more than 5,600 computer vacuum tubes, 18,000 crystal diodes, and 300 relays, UNIVAC sped the Census Bureau ability to tabulate the vast quantities of data produced by the 1950 census.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

Miscellaneous

High Res | Low Res
#PIO-P1940-001
Description: Census Bureau employee reviewing a 1940 Census Occupied Dwelling Schedule. The 1940 Census was the first in which housing inquiries were collected via a separate census. One census worker would ask the housing questions as well as the population question. The information collected by the two schedules was collected, however, by the same enumerator, at the same time as those for the population schedule.
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO)
Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1900-010 Description: Microfilming Records from the 1900 Census. Census Bureau employees use Recordak Microfilming machines to photograph 76 million records from the 1900 census. The microfilmed records can easily be searched to supply citizens with proof of age documentation needed to obtain Social Security and retirement benefits and passports. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1930-002 Description: Tabulating the 1935 Business Census. A Census Bureau employee uses a card punch to transcribe data from a 1935 Business Census questionnaire to punch cards for mechanical sorting and tabulation. The use of punch cards to tabulate census data began following the 1890 census and continued into the 1960s when computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-004 Description: Mechanically Sorting Punch Cards for Tabulation (1940). A battery of mechanical sorters prepare punch cards containing 1940 census data for tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-005 Description: Mechanically Sorting Punch Cards for Tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. In this photo, a Census Bureau employee operates a sorter to prepare punch cards containing vital statistics and mortality data for tabulation. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-011 Description: Creating 1940 Farm and Ranch Punch Cards. Census Bureau employees create thousands of punch cards containing the data supplied on the 1940 Farm and Ranch census questionnaire. Upon completion, the punch cards were boxed and shipped to other departments for sorting and mechanical tabulation. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-012 Description: Preparing 1940 Census Data for Publication. Census Bureau employees proofread and edit tabulations using mechanical calculators prior to publication. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-013 Description: Sorting 1940 Farm and Ranch Punch Cards. A battery of mechanical sorters prepare punch cards containing data from the 1940 Farm and Ranch Census for tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-016 Description: Card Punching (1940) A Census Bureau employee demonstrates the use of a “pantograph” card punch used in earlier censuses. An operator using a pantograph translated handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards were then sorted and tabulated. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-025 Description: Census Bureau Machine Tabulation Division. Employees of the Census Bureau’s Machine Tabulation Division inspect 1940 census punch cards prior to sorting and mechanical tabulation. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1950-007 Description: Preparing Punch Cards for Tabulation. A Census Bureau employee transcribes data contained on the 1950 census questionnaire to punch cards using a key punch. Upon completion, each punch card is sorted and the data are mechanically tabulated. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1950-008 Description: An “Electronic Statistical Machine.” The “electronic statistical machine” used following the 1950 census combined the operations of the mechanical sorter (right-rear) and counting machine (left-rear) into one operation. The Census Bureau estimated that 500 people working by hand, would spend their entire lives doing the work of this single machine following the 1950 census. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1960-014 Description: IBM 27 Card Proof Punch (1960). A Census Bureau employee uses a card proof punch to process 1960 census returns. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.

High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1935-017 Description: Census Bureau employee operating an IBM Type 75 Counting Sorter (ca. 1935). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.). Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1935-018 Description: An IBM Type 75 Counting Sorter (ca. 1935). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.). Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1930's-022 Description: Sorting Punch Cards (ca. 1930s). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.). Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1950-027 Description: Sorting Punch Cards (1950). Card sorters read portions of each card that passed through them and routed the cards to separate bins or pockets according to the data contained on the card. For example, if a tabulation of age groups was desired, punched cards containing extracts of the ages within each household were fed into the card sorter. The sorter could be “programmed” to read those columns on the card that indicate age and sort each card into bins corresponding to a pre-set age category (i.e., ages 0-6, 7-14, etc.) Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1954-019 Description: Preparations for the 1954 Census of Agriculture. A Census Bureau employee instructs members of the Machine Tabulation Division on the sorting of punch cards containing information collected during the 1954 Census of Agriculture using an IBM 101 Electronic Statistical Machine. The “101" combined the functions sorting, counting, accumulating, balancing, editing, and printing of summaries of facts recorded on punch cards within a single machine. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1960-028 Description: Sorting Punch Cards using an IBM Electronic Statistical Machine (1960). The Census Bureau used IBM 101 Electronic Statistical Machines to sort, count, accumulate, balance, edit, and print summaries of facts recorded on punch cards. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1935-029 Description: Card Punching (ca. 1935) A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1930's-030 Description: Card Punching (1930s) A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1930-031 Description: Card Punching (1930) A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1930's-032 Description: Card Punching (1930s) A Census Bureau employee translates handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards are then sorted and tabulated. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-035 Description: Card Punching (1940) A Census Bureau employee demonstrates the use of a “pantograph” card punch used in earlier censuses. An operator using a pantograph translated handwritten information on the census schedule to holes on a punch card using a “card puncher.” The punch cards were then sorted and tabulated. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940's-006 Description: Mechanically Sorting and Tabulating Punch Cards. On the left, Census Bureau employees mechanically sort punch cards containing census data. After sorting, the high-speed, mechanical tabulating machines (left) tallied the data contained on the punch cards. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1935-003 Description: Mechanically Sorting Punch Cards for Tabulation. The Census Bureau began using punch cards to sort and tabulate census data following the 1890 census. The machinery used to handle the punch cards grew steadily faster until computers and magnetic computer tape replaced punch cards in the 1960s. In this photo, a Census Bureau employee operates a sorter to sort and prepare punch cards containing vital statistics and mortality data for tabulation. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1940-020 Description: Hollerith Tabulator, 1904. A Census Bureau employee uses a Hollerith Tabulator to tabulate results from the 1900 census. The results of the tabulation are displayed on dials and he is manually operating a “pantograph” with his left hand and a card reading press with his right hand. The pantograph punched holes in cards for tabulation. The press contained metal pins that passed through the punched cards holes completing an electrical circuit when each pin made contact with a well of mercury below each hole, tabulating the data each hole represented on the dials. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.
High Res \| Low Res	#PIO-P1900-021 Description: Hollerith Tabulator (left) and Sorter (right), ca. 1900. The Census Bureau used versions of the Hollerith Tabulators and Sorters to tabulate census data from 1890 until replaced by computers. This tabulator, used following the 1900 census, displayed data “read” from punch cards on the tabulation dials. Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office (PIO) Free to use in news media and public information products.