I operated what we affectionately called the batch machine at a bank in Los Angeles. Here's what it looked like (that's not me, no one ever snapped a photo of Nancy, the batch operator).
I got to be really fast on the batch machine. Here's how it worked - I would get this big stack of checks and deposits. The checks were entered, then the deposits. If they balanced, the checks went into certain slots. I had to memorize which slot was which. The deposits went into another slot. After everything was entered, the checks and deposits went to some clearinghouse somewhere. Then they came back to the bank and each check was manually filed and checked against the customer's signature. Sounds kind of archaic, doesn't it? But it was 1961, afterall.
I loved working at the bank on Larchmont Blvd. Isn't it a cute street?
Larchmont Blvd. bordered a really rich neighborhood in Los Angeles called Hancock Park. Lots of our customers were really, really wealthy. People like Nat King Cole banked there.
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| Nat King Cole's house in Hancock Park |
and Dimitri Tiomkin (composer of the theme song from High Noon).
But I digress. Let's get back to the batch machine. It was developed by Bank of America some time between 1950 and 55 to speed up banking.
The early model was called ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting). "The project that resulted in this engineering achievement made the automation of checking accounts practical and reliable, revolutionizing the world of banking system and ushering in the age of data processing machines for businesses."
ERMA's principal users were data clerks (that's me!) who were focused more on the information they processed than the machine processing it (that's for sure!).
In 2001 ERMA received an award recognizing its outstanding contribution toward the standard of living, peace and prosperity (Hey, I was only doing my job!).
If you'd like to read all the nitty gritty about ERMA's development, click here: ERMA.
If you'd like to read about switchboards and other early machines, click here: Sepia Saturday.
It's a great post. I have heard many a story of my wife's Aunt Hulda who was a phone operator for a town. She kept track of everybody and would tell people that it was a waste of her time to dial someone because she knew they were not home.
ReplyDeleteHulda sounds like she had complete control over her "universe". it's amazing, the power that the telephone operator had in those days.
DeleteI love your approach - it is like a form of mechanical family history. I suppose what we are seeing in your batch machine is a kind of great uncle once removed of the computer I am currently using to write these comments.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Alan.
DeleteThanks for coining the term "mechanical family history". Brilliant.
Nancy
You have disappointed me. I was really looking forward to a photo of Nancy, the batch operator but alas... no such luck today. Working the batch machine must have made quite an impression on you. Judging by what you wrote about its workings, I bet you would still be able to write a user manual for this contraption.
ReplyDeleteDid Nat ever sing a song for you when he came in to pay for his mortgage?:)
Sorry to disappoint you. No one ever came in the bank with a camera. And no, I never heard Nat singing while he waited in line to deposit his checks. But maybe he wasn't singing because of this:
Delete"Federal agents seized Nat King Cole's Hancock Park $75,000 home for alleged non payment of $146,000 in delinquent income taxes. They also seized his car."
Also - in 1946 when he bought the home, the neighbors put up quite a protest - a black family moving into this all white neighborhood! They must have been really happy when the federal agents arrived. How times have changed.
My husband is a banker, but I've never been "behind the scenes" like you've presented here. That batch machine had to have brought relief after years of ledger books and balancing manually. Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI was so intimated by that big batch machine. I didn't think I'd ever learn to operate it. But I actually got quite proficient. It was kind of like learning the computer in the beginning. Although I'm still not too proficient working my Mac.
DeleteThat was certainly interesting, I used to wonder if they really "checked" the info on those checks. I had a couple of my checks go through without my signature on them when I forgot to sign. Of course, that was some time ago as I very rarely write a check anymore!
ReplyDeleteOne of my jobs at the bank besides working the batch machine was filing the checks and matching signatures. The banks stopped doing that years ago. I don't know how they tell if a check is forged these days. I guess they have enough work trying to figure out identity theft with credit cards now!
DeleteI was really interested in your batch machine. Back in 1961 I was in my first job in a steelworks where the data from a steelplant was processed by a Hollerith punched card computer; it was entertaining evey week to see our production data churned out by a machine. The girls checking the punched cards manually for errors never got any credit - the nmachine got all the plaudits just like Erma.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't remember ever getting an award for mastering ERMA. Not even any thanks. But I did get a weekly paycheck and I guess at the time, that's all that mattered.
DeleteI wonder if your Hollerith was a cousin of Erma's.
I learnt something from your post and that batch machine sounded ferocious - congratulations on mastering it! I always liked dealing with phone enquiries at work, but hated telephone systems where I had to transfer someone or put them on hold - I never seemed to get the grasp of the right buttons.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know what you mean about grasping those phone buttons. I had an impossible time trying to set up conference calls!
ReplyDeleteI love the name "ERMA"--it makes the machine sound like it had a personality of its own.
ReplyDeleteYes, I love the name too. But we never called "her" Erma, it was just the batch. I never heard the name Erma until I did the research for this post.
ReplyDeleteLoved learning about the batch processing machine. I just saw an advertisement last night allowing you to scan your checks to deposit them. Imagine that! I bet it is easier than using the batch processing machine. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, times sure have changed, haven't they?
DeleteThanks for dropping by.
Very interesting! It is fun to get a behind the scenes look into banking in the 60s.
ReplyDeleteYou were "batching" the year I was born! I nearly dropped my iPod when I saw the name, Dmitri Tiomkin, as my mom and I were just discussing him yesterday regarding his score for the Spencer Tracy film, "The Old Man and the Sea". I also know him for "The Guns of Navarone" and many other great scores.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been rather exciting to work in that bank.
What an amazing coincidence. I'll bet Dmitri Tiomkin's name doesn't get that much attention these days. So funny that you and your mom just happened to be talking about him. Kind of spooky, don't you think?
DeleteSounds like you were on the cutting edge of banking automation back then! Did you continue working for the bank or move on to other employment?
ReplyDeleteOh, and I think it's quite fun that you worked on a switchboard. Was it difficult to operate? During a funny scene in one of my favorite movies, "Auntie Mame" with Rosalind Russell, Mame hilariously shows how difficult a switchboard can be.
No, I didn't stay at the bank for long. I went on from there to the advertising agency where I learned the switchboard. From there, many more jobs.
DeleteI love Auntie Mame - one of my favorite movies. No the switchboard is not that hard to operate. Mame was just not the working type of gal.
Oh my how lucky you were! I once worked in a bank in downtown Minneapolis, and I (actally all of us) hoped someone famous like that would enter our bank! I mean even Robert Redford came to Minneapolis often! But it wasn't to be! I do agree it is a cute street too- and Nat's house! Wow!!!
ReplyDeleteI never cease to be amazed at your "check"ered past and your many talents. Great post as always.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great trip down memory lane with something I'd never heard of before, the batch machine...yes, those checks would have been sorted by hand once upon a time. Way back when people had checks returned to them with their statements, now so few write checks that it may be a Sepia prompt someday. The name Larchmont took me back to CA days, our very first home in northern CA was in Larchmont Hills.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I never gave it a thought since my life's work took me far from banking. The medical profession. I will read all the links you have here.
ReplyDeleteQMM
Interesting post and yes, Larchmont does look lovely.
ReplyDeleteNat King Cole, eh!?!
;)~
HUGZ
A very interesting post. Occupational stories bring these forgotton technologies alive and relevant again. Do you suppose someone has preserved a batch machine in some museum? And will some young woman 100 years in the future have to learn how to demonstrate it?
ReplyDelete