James Ritty (October 29, 1836–29 March, 1918)
saloonkeeperA bar is an establishment that serves drinks, especially alcoholic beverages such as beer, liquor, and cocktails, for consumption on the premises....
and
inventorAn inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means. The word inventor comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find...
, invented the
cash registerA cash register is a mechanical or electronic device for calculating and recording sales transactions, and an attached cash drawer for storing cash. The cash register also usually prints a receipt for the customer....
.
He was born in
Dayton, OhioDayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the 2000 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 848,153 in the 2000 census. Dayton is the fourth largest...
the son of French immigrants, Dr. Leger and Mary Ritty. James went to medical college for a time and was listed as "Physician" in the 1860 census. He married his wife Susan (1844–10 August 1924) by 1860; his obituary said they were married 56 years. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the
4th Ohio CavalryThe 4th Ohio Cavalry was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was also known as the "Union Dragoons" and "Cincinnati Union Dragoons".-Service:...
.
James Ritty (October 29, 1836–29 March, 1918)
saloonkeeperA bar is an establishment that serves drinks, especially alcoholic beverages such as beer, liquor, and cocktails, for consumption on the premises....
and
inventorAn inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means. The word inventor comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find...
, invented the
cash registerA cash register is a mechanical or electronic device for calculating and recording sales transactions, and an attached cash drawer for storing cash. The cash register also usually prints a receipt for the customer....
.
He was born in
Dayton, OhioDayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the 2000 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 848,153 in the 2000 census. Dayton is the fourth largest...
the son of French immigrants, Dr. Leger and Mary Ritty. James went to medical college for a time and was listed as "Physician" in the 1860 census. He married his wife Susan (1844–10 August 1924) by 1860; his obituary said they were married 56 years. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the
4th Ohio CavalryThe 4th Ohio Cavalry was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was also known as the "Union Dragoons" and "Cincinnati Union Dragoons".-Service:...
. He was promoted from first lieutenant to captain and was honorably discharged after three years of service.
James Ritty opened his first saloon in
Dayton, OhioDayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the 2000 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 848,153 in the 2000 census. Dayton is the fourth largest...
in 1879, billing himself as a "Dealer in Pure Whiskies, Fine Wines, and Cigars." Some of Ritty's employees would take the customers' money and pocket it, rather than depositing the cash that was meant to pay for the food, drink, and other wares. In 1878 while on a steamboat trip to Europe, Ritty became intrigued by a mechanism that counted how many times the ship's propeller went around. He wondered if something like this could be made to record the cash transactions made at his saloon.
As soon as he got home to Dayton, Ritty and his brother John, a skilled mechanic, began working on a design for such a device. After several failed prototypes, the third design operated by pressing a key that represented a specific amount of money. There was no cash drawer. James and John Ritty patented the design in 1879 as "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier."
The Rittys opened a small factory in Dayton to manufacture cash registers while still operating the saloon. The company did not prosper and in 1881, James Ritty became overwhelmed with the responsibilities of running two businesses, and sold all his interests in the cash register business. The buyers were a group of investors including
Jacob H. EckertJacob H. Eckert invented the type of cash register that has a cash drawer and a bell.-External links:* http://www.ncr.org.uk/html%20files/Personalities%20HTML%20folders/jacobh.htm...
of Cincinnati, a china and glassware salesman who formed the National Manufacturing Company, and John and Frank Patterson, who were then in the coal and railroad business.
John H. PattersonJohn Henry Patterson was an industrialist and founder of the National Cash Register Company. He was a businessperson and salesperson.-Pioneering business practices:...
became majority owner in 1884, when the company was renamed The National Cash Register Company.
Ritty was not resentful that he did not benefit much from his invention and maintained friendly relations with John H. Patterson and many times was invited to attend various NCR meetings and conferences.
Jake Ritty opened another saloon, the Pony House, in 1882 in a building on South Jefferson Street that was previously a school of French and English for young ladies. For the Pony House, Ritty commissioned wood carvers from Barney and Smith Car Company to turn 5,400 pounds of
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
mahoganyThe name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-coloured hardwood, it is an American Indian word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany. Mahogany it was next equally applied to the wood of Swietenia macrophylla,...
into a bar. The fruit of their labors was a bar tall and wide. The initials JR adorn the center peak and the left and right sections are similar to the interior of a passenger railcar, with the giant mirrors set back about a foot with curved, hand-tooled leather covered elements at the top and curved bezel mirror-encrusted sections on each side. When the Pony House building was torn down in 1967, the bar was saved and today is the bar at Jay's Seafood in Dayton.
James Ritty retired from the bar business in 1895. He died of heart trouble in his downtown Dayton Arcade residence. He is entombed with his wife Susan and his brother John (ca 1834–28 December 1913) at waconia grave.
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