Remington Rand

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Remington Rand (1927–1955) was an early American computer manufacturer, best known as the original maker of the UNIVAC I, and now part of Unisys. For a time, the word "univac" was recognized as a generic synonym for "computer". Remington Rand also made office equipment and electric shavers. The Remington Rand Building at 315 Park Avenue in New York City was a 20-floor skyscraper completed in 1911.

[edit] History

Rock Ledge estate in Rowayton, Connecticut, company headquarters from 1943 to 1964. Retired General Leslie Groves, who had headed the Manhattan Project, served as president during part of this time, and early research for the UNIVAC computer took place nearby on the estate.

Remington Rand was formed by the merger of the Remington Typewriter Company, Rand Kardex Company, and Powers Accounting Machine Company in 1927. From its inception until 1958, it was led by founder James Rand, Jr.

1950 Remington Rand acquired the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, the makers of the ENIAC, and in 1952 they acquired Engineering Research Associates ERA. The Companies were both pioneers in Computers. Remington Rand has become one of the biggest computer companies in the States.

Remington Rand was acquired by Sperry Corporation in 1955 to form a company then known as Sperry Rand (later shortened to Sperry). Sperry merged in 1986 with Burroughs to form Unisys.

From 1942 to 1945, Remington Rand was one manufacturer of the M1911A1 .45 caliber automatic pistol used by the United States Armed Forces during World War II. Remington Rand produced more M1911A1 pistols than any other wartime manufacturer.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Remington Typewriters

The Remington Typewriters were the first typewriters introducing the QWERTY keyboard layout. They were still produced by Remington Arms. Sholes who invented the QWERTY keyboard layout wanted to sell his invention for $50,000 to the Western Union company, which were not interested in typewriters. Remington Arms then bought the design exclusively from Sholes and began with the production of typewriters. The Remington No.1 was the first model released. All keys were uppercase.

The invention of the typewiter started a new industry, as typewriters boosted performance. As a result there were not only economic factors, there was also a social impact. In 1870 there was a female employment rate of 4.5%, in 1880 there was an employment rate of 40%, and in 1930 there was a female employment rate of 95.6%.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The UNIVAC

The UNIVAC I (UNIVersal Automatic Computer I) was the first commercial computer made in the United States. It was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the ENIAC. Design work was begun by their company, Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, and was completed after the company had been acquired by Remington Rand. (In the years before successor models of the UNIVAC I appeared, the machine was simply known as "the UNIVAC".)

The first UNIVAC was delivered to the United States Census Bureau on March 31, 1951 and was dedicated on June 14th that year.^[1] The fifth machine (built for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission) was used by CBS to predict the result of the 1952 U.S. presidential election. With a sample of 1% of the voting population it predicted Eisenhower's win.

In 1949, Remington Rand designed the Remington Rand 409, a plug-board programmed punch card calculator (but not introduced as a product until 1952 as the UNIVAC 60 then in 1953 as the UNIVAC 120 with double the memory).

[edit] Other products

Remington Rand also made electric razors. The Remington brand of razor was originally produced by a division of Remington Rand, starting in 1937. Sperry Corporation sold the division in 1979 to Victor Kiam, who became the company spokesman of the new Remington Products Company. His line, "I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company" became one of the more memorable advertising slogans of the early 1980s. Remington Products was sold in 2003 to the battery manufacturer Rayovac. Rayovac is now Spectrum Brands.

[edit] References

1. ^ Reference: CNN's feature on the 50th anniversary of the UNIVAC.

• James M. Utterback: Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation, ISBN 0875847404
• Arthur L. Norberg, Computers and Commerce: A Study of Technology and Management at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company, Engineering Research Associates, and Remington Rand, 1946–1957 (History of Computing) (Hardcover), ISBN 026214090X
• James W. Cortada, Before the Computer: IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the Industry They Created, 1865–1956 (Studies in Business and Technology), ISBN 0691050457

[edit] See also

• Remington Rand strike of 1936–1937
• UNIVAC

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Rowayton Historical Society Web page on Remington Rand operations in Norwalk, Connecticut
• 12 oral history interviews with Remington Rand executives and employees. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

  * Robert Emmett McDonald;
  * Willis K. Drake;
  * Arnold A. Cohen;
  * Erwin Tomash;
  * Terence Maxwell;
  * Walter L. Anderson;
  * Hugh Duncan;
  * William W. Butler;
  * John E. Parker;
  * Frank C. Mullaney;
  * Earl Edgar Masterson.

• Transcript of UNIVAC Conference 17-18 May 1990. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. A two-day oral history conference examined the effect of the UNIVAC on computing and the computer industry in the mid-1950s. The meeting involved over twenty-five engineers, programmers, marketing representatives, and salesmen who were involved with the UNIVAC, as well as customers such as General Electric, Arthur Andersen, and the U.S. Census.
• Engineering Research Associates-Remington Rand-Sperry Rand Records. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.