One of the most overlooked, yet integral inventions of the Second Industrial Revolution was that of the cash register by James Ritty. This invention may not have been as flashy or exciting as others of that era, but the invention of the cash register revolutionized the restaurant and retail businesses forever. A simple bar owner from Dayton, Ohio had a huge impact of the commercialization of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Today, people can still experience the effects of Ritty’s invention every time they purchase food at the grocery store or buy clothes at the mall.
James Ritty was born into a family of five children. He began college with hopes of studying medicine, but when the Civil War broke out, he served in the military as a part of the Fourth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. He worked as First Lieutenant, and by the time he left the military in 1864, Ritty was a captain (Ohio History Central). Though Ritty’s family was not originally composed of inventors and innovators, both of Ritty’s older brothers filed patents for their inventions throughout their lives (NRC). In 1871, Ritty owned a saloon in Dayton, Ohio. Despite his success as a businessman, his bar was failing because his bartenders stole money from him (Ohio History Central). This was a common issue among bar owners. It was easy for bartenders to take money,
…show more content…
However, this cash register also brought problems (Ohio History Central). One such problem was that the customers were able to view the total amount of money that the bar or company had made each day, so sales were not very private. Additionally, the cash register still relied upon the integrity of the bartenders to input the transaction into the machine and chose not to simply pocket the money (Abel). Though Ritty’s original cash register was a success, its many pitfalls affected business