72392 IBM 1401 COMPUTER & DATA PROCESSING FOR THE ROPER CORPORATION

Dating to the 1960s, this IBM produced film tells the story of the George D. Roper Corporation, a manufacturer of gas and electric stoves, and how its business was transformed by high tech data management. The film features IBM’s Clyde Janson, who helped install IBM’s 402 and 602 computers at Roper in 1958. Also shown are O56 Verifiers and O52 Keypunch, 557 interpreter, 519 reproducer, O83 and O84 sorter, and O88 Collator, and the processing system. The computer being used is the 1401, including a CPU, typewriter, printer, keypunch, and two 7330 Magnetic Tape Drives and a 1405 Ramack. 450 programs generate 1000 reports monthly covering order billing, sales analysis, payroll, etc.

The IBM 1401 was a variable wordlength decimal computer that was announced by IBM on October 5, 1959. The first member of the highly successful IBM 1400 series, it was aimed at replacing electromechanical unit record equipment for processing data stored on punched cards. Over 12,000 units were produced and many were leased or resold in less developed countries after they were replaced with newer technology. The 1401 was withdrawn on February 8, 1971.

Commonly used by small businesses as their primary data processing machines, the 1401 was also frequently used as an off-line peripheral controller for mainframe computers. In such installations, with an IBM 7090 for example, the mainframe computers used only magnetic tape for input-output. It was the 1401 that transferred input data from slow peripherals (such as the IBM 1402 Card Read-Punch) to tape, and transferred output data from tape to the card punch, the IBM 1403 Printer, or other peripherals. This allowed the mainframe’s throughput to not be limited by the speed of a card reader or printer.

Elements within IBM, notably John Haanstra, an executive in charge of 1401 deployment, supported its continuation in larger models for evolving needs (e.g., the IBM 1410) but the 1964 decision at the top to focus resources on the System/360 ended these efforts rather suddenly. Then, faced with the competitive threat of the Honeywell 200 and the 360’s incompatibility with the 1401 design, IBM pioneered the use of microcode emulation, in the form of ROM, so that some System/360 models could run 1401 programs.

During the 1970s, IBM installed many 1401s in India and Pakistan where they were in use well into the 1980s. Some of today’s Indian and Pakistani software entrepreneurs started on these 1401s. The first computer in Pakistan, for example, was a 1401 installed at Pakistan International Airlines.

Two 1401 systems have been restored to operating order at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, complete with a raised floor typical of the mainframe era (and modern data centers), used to hide cabling and distribute cooled air.

Roper Industries’ historical roots reach back to its founder, George D. Roper, and the company he started in 1919, the Geo. D. Roper Corporation. Founded in Rockford, Illinois, as a manufacturer of gas stoves and gear pumps, Geo. D. Roper Corp. became best known for its production stoves, developing into a flourishing concern that eventually manufactured electric and gas kitchen ranges, power gardening tools, and a host of other home-related goods. In 1957, Florence Stove sold its manufacturing facility in Florence, Massachusetts, and transferred production to Illinois, then purchased the inventories of finished products, receivables, and all capital stock of Geo. D. Roper Corp. The entire new operation took the name Geo. D. Roper Corp. in 1958.

Sears not only was Geo. D. Roper Corp.’s largest customer but also owned nearly half of the Illinois-based appliance manufacturer. This relationship between Sears and Geo D. Roper Corp. was strengthened when Geo D. Roper Corp. merged with a wholly owned Sears subsidiary, Newark Ohio Co., in 1964.