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[ 1907 Dupligraph Photos ]

Early Office Museum
Antique Check Protector Gallery
~ 1900-1920s ~

Book typewriters, which printed on flat platens, were sometimes used to type checks. A 1906 book referred to the possibility of a flat typewriter "with special type covered with points, which will partially perforate the check." (E. W. Thompson, Book-keeping by Machinery, New York, 1906, p. 109) We do not know whether such a typewriter was marketed.

Ad Illustration Click to Enlarge	Model, Years Patented, Years Advertising Observed, Manufacturer	Photograph Click to Enlarge
.	Columbia Check Protector Kruse & Weiss Motor Co. New York, NY
1902 ad	Protectograph Check Protector Patented 1896-1913 ~ Design Patent 1901 ~ Advertised 1902-24 G. W. Todd & Company Rochester, NY 1902 ad In 1910, the company claimed that 85,000 Protectographs were in use. A 1913 ad stated "For fourteen years the Protectograph system has safeguarded the biggest bank accounts in the world," but the earliest ad we have found was 1902. This 1913 ad further stated: "Used by the U.S. Treasury and other Government departments, by at least 90 per cent of the commercial banks, and by some 150,000 progressive business houses, large and small." (System, Sept. 1913.) Two months later, a Protectograph ad stated that "nearly 250,000" Protectograph machines were in use. (System, Nov. 1913.) Below machine in photo to right is a specimen of what the machine prints on checks. When the dial is set to 2000 as shown, the machine prints: NOT OVER TWO THOUSAND $2000*
.	Defiance Check Protector Patent Application 1899 ~ Patent issued 1907 Defiance Machine Co. Rochester, NY This machine is 13" tall and weighs 30 lb.
1901 ad Insert image from System 1904	Beebe Indelible Check Protector Patented 1896-97 ~ Advertised 1901-09 Beebe Indelible Check Protector Company Minneapolis, MN There is more than one model of the Beebe. See the next row. It is not clear to us when each was sold. We may have attributed some advertisements to the wrong model, or both models may have been advertised in some years. Also, we do not know when the company moved from Minneapolis, MN, to Rochester, NY. Any information you have that might clear up these questions would be appreciated.
	Beebe Indelible Check Protector Patented 1896-1905 ~ Advertised c. 1904-1924 Beebe Check Protector Co. Rochester, NY Subsequently, Todd Protectograph Co., Rochester, NY (1924)
Insert image from System 1903	Baby Defiance Check Protector (a.k.a. Defiance Draft and Check Protector, Defiance Check Protector, Indelible Slotted Cut Check Protector) Patented 1897-1904 ~ Advertised c. 1902, 1903-20 Defiance Machine Company, Rochester, NY Some models advertised c. 1902-c.1904 had a lever rather than a plunger on top. A model advertised c. 1906 had round dials on both sides of the machine.
.	The Challenge Check Protector The Challenge Manufacturing Co. Rochester, NY Courtesy of Larry Wilhelm
	New Printamount Patented 1905 ~ Advertised 1903-04 Wesley Manufacturing Co., New York, NY (1903) E. E. Angell & Co., Boston, MA (1904) Embosses onto the check "NOT MORE THAN X DOLLARS $X$"
Insert image from System 1904	Protecticheck Advertised 1903-04 (top left), 1905 (bottom left) Rochester Metal Mfg. Co. Rochester, NY Model advertised in 1903-04 stamps on the check "NOT OVER $X," where X is from 5 to 5,000.	.
Insert image from System 1904	D. & G. Check Perforator Advertised 1904 The D. & G. Supply Co. Chicago, IL	.
.	Mahler Indelible Check Perforator and Protector Marketed 1905 Louis F. Mahler, St. Louis, MO	.
	Defiance Check Writer (a.k.a. Defiance Commercial Check Writer, Defiance Dividend Check Writer) Advertised 1906-24 Defiance Machine Co., Rochester, NY	.
	International Check Protector Patented 1896-1905 ~ Advertised 1909-24 G. W. Todd & Co. Rochester, NY Used principally for foreign exchange.
.	Universal Check Protector Patented 1907-11 Universal Manufacturing Co. Boston, MA
.	Dupligraph Check Protector Patented 1907 (US Patent No. 849,038) ~ Advertised c. 1909 Angell Mfg. Co.,Boston, MA According to the patent, the object of this 'Printing and Embossing Apparatus' was to "emboss the figures or other characters on the sheet and at the same time deposit ink or other coloring-matter on both sides of the sheet, the embossing having the effect of somewhat stretching the paper over the area on which the color is deposited, so that the color will be more or less visible through the paper, whereby any attempt at erasure will cause an increased amount of color to be visible, and so such attempt will be frustrated and detected." The inventor, Edwin E. Angell, obtained patents for a wide variety of items during the last decade of the 19th century and first decade of the 20th century. We have seen Dupligraphs with the following serial numbers: 209 495 849 900 926 988 1273
	Zono Check Protector Advertised 1910 Zono Manufacturing Co. Pasadena, CA	.
.	Safety Check Protector (a.k.a. New Safety Check Protector) Patented 1907-09 ~ Advertised 1911 (Safety), 1924 (New Safety) Safety Check Protector Co., Boston, MA Subsequently, Todd Protectograph Co., Rochester, NY (1924)
1911 ad. Courtesy of the Museum of Business History and Technology.	Underwood Combination Check Writing and Perforating Machine Advertised 1911 Typewriters with pin-point type were in use by 1910 and until at least 1955. In 1910, the US Treasury Department purchased a Monarch No. 2 typewriter with pin-point type for $80. In 1914 ordinary typewriters with pin-point type were in use for production of stencils. A 1918 product directory indicates that typewriters with "Pin-Point Type" were on the market for use in writing drafts and vouchers. In 1925, Elliott-Fisher marketed its Simplex Accounting Machine with pin point type, pictured to the right, as a checkwriter. To prevent fraud, Accounting System and Office-Management Procedure for Medium-Size Metal Mines, 1934, p. 34, recommended "use of safety paper and a protective device or typewriters equipped with special pin-point type for writing checks." In 1955, typewriters with pin-point type were used by the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles and others to note the existence of liens.	. Elliott-Fisher Simplex Accounting Machine Checkwriter with pin point type, 1925.
	Defiance Pay Roll Check Writer Advertised 1912-19 Defiance Check Writer Corp. Rochester, NY	.
.	Sun Check Writer Advertised 1913 (System, Sept. 1913) Sun Check Writer Co., NY, NY. "Built like a typewriter." "It perforates each character and prints in indelible ink. Every letter is acid and knife proof."	.
	Protectograph Check Writer Patented 1913-23 ~ Introduced 1913 ~ Advertised 1913-30 (Patents listed for 1901-12 are for earlier machine) G. W. Todd & Co., Rochester, NY Subsequently, Todd Protectograph Company, Rochester, NY Different models were known as the Exactly, Thoroughbred and Double Quick.
	New Era Check Protector Introduced 1913 ~ Advertised 1913-14, 1919 New Era Manufacturing Company New York, NY (1913-14)
	New Era Check Writer (a.k.a Smith Check Writer) Introduced 1913 ~ Advertised 1914, 1919 New Era Manufacturing Company New York, NY (1914) C. E. Smith & Co., New York, NY (1919)
Peerless Senior Picture coming S1013	Peerless Senior Check Writer Advertised 1913-24 Peerless Check Protecting Co., Rochester, NY (1913-14) Subsequently, Todd Protectograph Co., Rochester, NY (1924) 1913 ad states "The Peerless forces acid-proof ink into the very fiber of the paper for each word it writes." System, Sept. 1913)br> 1914 ad states the Senior was sold in 1912.
.	Peerless Junior Check Writer Advertised 1914-30 Peerless Check Protecting Co., Rochester, NY (1913-14) Subsequently, Todd Protectograph Co., Rochester, NY (1924)
.	Simplex Check Writer Patented 1904-15 Todd Protectograph Company Rochester, NY
	F & E Check Writer & Protector Patented 1915-20 ~ Advertised 1914-24 Hedman Manufacturing Co., Chicago, IL 1915 Price $20. F & E stands for Fesler & Evans
.	Sentinel Check Writer (a.k.a. National Check Writer) Patented 1916-25 ~ Advertised 1924 Hall-Welter Company Rochester, NY
	Arnold Check Protector Patented 1916 ~ Advertised 1929-39 Arnold Inc. Flint, MI
.	Safe-Guard Signature Check Writer Model N John Whitaker Mfg. Co. North Wales, PA
	Safe-Guard Check Writer Model Y Patented 1917-18 ~ Advertised 1917-28 Safe-Guard Check Writer Company Lansdale, PA & New York, NY
	Defiance Dividend Check Writer Advertised 1919-24 Defiance Check Writer Corp. Rochester, NY	.
.	F & E Lightning Check Writer Patented 1918-20 ~ Advertised 1920-24 Hedman Manufacturing Company Chicago, IL
.	Checkometer Check-Writer and Protector Patented 1919-25 ~ Advertised 1925 Checkometer Co. Chicago, IL
	New Era Checkwriter No. 4 Advertised 1918-19 New Era Manufacturing Co. New York, NY
.	New Era Checkwriter No. 5 Patented 1920 New Era Manufacturing Co. New York, NY
.	National Check Writer Model D National Checkwriter Co. Chicago, IL
	Defiance Dimunette Check Protector (a.k.a. Grammes Check Protector) Patented 1915 ~ Advertised 1920-24 Defiance Check Writer Corp. Rochester, NY
1923 ad. Courtesy of the Museum of Business History and Technology.	Wright Check Protector Patented Feb. 15, 1914 ~ Advertised 1923 Wright Co., Chicago, IL Specimen
Image coming, Horder's 1928 catalog, p. 293.	Protectograph Personal Check Writer Model 1500 (a.k.a Todd Personal Check Protector) Patented 1923 ~ Advertised 1925-30 Advertised with gray crinkle finish in 1961 Todd Protectograph Company Rochester, NY
.	Securograph Junior Check Writer Todd Protectograph Company Rochester, NY
.	Crescent Check Writer Crescent Check Writer Co. Chicago, IL
.	Check Protector
.	Sampson Permagraph Patent Application 1929 ~ Introduced Patent Issued ~ Patented 1934 Sampson Permagraph Co., Inc, Rochester, NY Larry Wilhelm (ETCetera, Issue 18, Mar. 1992) and Rehr (1997) provide photographs and descriptions of this machine, which resembles a large, wide-carriage, single-element electric typewriter with an outboard motor. It weighs 52 lbs. Rehr reports that it was "created as an electric checkwriter for use in banks," where it may also have been used to print other types of financial documents. The type perforates the paper on which the typing is done.	.
	Electric Check Writing Machine c. 1936 The photo to the right shows an electric check writing machine in use at the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in Washington, DC, in 1936. The AAA was a New Deal agency established in 1933 to restore farmers' incomes to Pre-World War I levels by paying them not to produce.	1936 photo

~ Check Protector Imposter! ~

Cummins' Initial Machine (a.k.a. Junior Initial Perforating Machine)
Patented 1889-92 ~ Advertised c. 1907
Cummins Perforator Co., Chicago, IL
The B. F. Cummins Co., Chicago, IL
This is NOT a check protector. A c. 1907 ad states that "This machine is the leading hat marker in the U.S." This machine perforated owners' initials in leather hat bands. On some of these machines, the label states that it was manufactured exclusively for J. B. Mast Co., NY, or for International Hatters Supply Co., NY.

Specimen of letters punched.
Why did people have their initials perforated into hats? Many people, men in particular, wore similar or identical hats and wanted to make sure they got their own back when they checked them at restaurants and elsewhere.

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Early Office Museum Antique Check Protector Gallery ~ 1900-1920s ~

~ Check Protector Imposter! ~

Early Office Museum
Antique Check Protector Gallery
~ 1900-1920s ~