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I was working on a scene that takes place in a general store around 1850. I just need to know whether to use a cash box or a cash register in the money taking process
thanks
-sw91
thanks
-sw91
My question would be is the store some general store out in the middle of nowhere, or in a town like Sacremento? If the former, I would use a crude cash box, if the latter, I would use a cash drawer.My next question is: Would it be feasable to use a Cash Drawer or a Cash box in my script?
-sw91
What Alley said, in spades.My question would be is the store some general store out in the middle of nowhere, or in a town like Sacremento? If the former, I would use a crude cash box, if the latter, I would use a cash drawer.
Origin
The first cash register was invented by James Ritty following the Civil War. He was the owner of a saloon in Dayton, Ohio, USA, and wanted to stop employees from pilfering his profits. He invented the Ritty Model I [1]in 1879 after seeing a tool that counted the revolutions of the propeller on a steamship. With the help of John Birch, he patented it in 1883.[1]
Shortly thereafter, Ritty became overwhelmed with the responsibilities of running two businesses, so he sold all of his interests in the cash register business to Jacob H. Eckert of Cincinnati, a china and glassware salesman, who formed the National Manufacturing Company. In 1884 Eckert sold the company to John H. Patterson, who renamed the company the National Cash Register Company. John Patterson improved the cash register by adding a paper roll to record sales transactions, thereby creating the receipt.
1906, while working at the National Cash Register company, inventor Charles F. Kettering designed a cash register with an electric motor.
The larger question is "why?" as in, why do you need a drawer that slides out? If it's integral to your plot working, then you would need to create belief in the readers/viewers that it's possible. There were certainly contraptions that would cause something to slide out in existence then -- would it make sense, however, for one to be wherever your action is taking place? What would the reasoning be? Would it make sense for the person whose shop (or whatever) it is to spend the money to get something like this?So wait, would a drawer that slides out with the money in it that is mounted to the bottom side of the countertop work?
Jus a thought
-sw91 Out
LOL, I don't care if you listen to me or the others or not. You're not my kid. And no one has all the answers anyway. (Don't let that one get out, though!)So you're tellin' me. Now listen to me. LOL that's just a little joke from my part time job anywho
So as long as I don't have a computer system with a robot taking the money in a western its ok to use whatever?
This sounds like a standard field desk to me. I've actually seen instructions for making them, though I can't remember at the moment if it was in Army Regulations or one of the privately authored instructions for company clerks books from the period. Always wanted one myself.Hi, everybody,
Hope you don't mind a passing stranger commenting ... This question about the cash box reminded me of a scene in a book we've got. It's illustrated with reprints of Civil War news from Frank Leslie's Illustrated news and Harper's Weekly. There's a sketch called "Paying off Teamsters in the Army of the Potomac'.
The paymaster is sitting at what looks like a light-weight desk with a high back with lots of cubby holes, stacks of envelopes and folders and it looks like he's pulling greenbacks out of a drawer in one of the cubbies. It almost looks like an old-fashioned spice cabinet, only larger, if that makes any sense. Looks like he has an assistant entering accounts in a ledger and another fellow standing guard.
Perhaps this is too early for your scene?
Hope that helps.
Ann
This sounds like a standard field desk to me. I've actually seen instructions for making them, though I can't remember at the moment if it was in Army Regulations or one of the privately authored instructions for company clerks books from the period. Always wanted one myself.
Hi, everybody,
There's a sketch called "Paying off Teamsters in the Army of the Potomac'.
Ann
The larger question is "why?" as in, why do you need a drawer that slides out? If it's integral to your plot working, then you would need to create belief in the readers/viewers that it's possible. There were certainly contraptions that would cause something to slide out in existence then -- would it make sense, however, for one to be wherever your action is taking place? What would the reasoning be? Would it make sense for the person whose shop (or whatever) it is to spend the money to get something like this?
Yep! And, I think we decided that we (those posting here) just needed to get that one short or one novel out there that "works" and it'll be back. (That's my takeaway, anyway. )On another topic ... the formation of a Western thread -- wonderful. Now can someone tell me what the final result of the poll that asked if the western genre is dead was? (did that make sense?)
Maybe you should put in your cover letter/email somewhere that you are an American who happens to be living in Queensland right now. May change some of their reactions. Can't hurt, at any rate.And, even before I start to study the Duotrope's Digest (from yet another sub-thread in this thread) for agencies and publishers of westerns, I want to extend my deepest thanks. To date I have been able to locate only two such places. One of which responded saying they do not accept international submissions. And here I am, a real American that votes in American elections with an American bank account and paying taxes in America but happen to live very near the beaches of Queensland, Australia. Crikey!
Maybe you should put in your cover letter/email somewhere that you are an American who happens to be living in Queensland right now. May change some of their reactions. Can't hurt, at any rate.