Overview: Born in 1866 in Ohio, John Pfeifer dedicated his life to innovating groundbreaking calculating machines, cash registers, and other mechanical devices. He patented over 60 inventions over his long career as both an engineer and prolific inventor. His most notable contribution was the original 5-column keyboard adding machine in 1889 – a pioneering input device that foreshadowed computing as we know it today. This comprehensive profile explores Pfeifer‘s history, remarkable inventions, and lasting impact.
Early Life & Background
John Pfeifer first saw light on June 9, 1866 in Springfield, Ohio born to German immigrants Charles and Elizabeth Pfeifer. The second oldest of 7 children, John‘s younger siblings included Peter, Caroline, Lizzie, Maggie, Adam and Fred spanning ages 1 to 11 years younger (family census records). From an early age, John attended public education in Springfield focusing especially on bookkeeping and mechanical drawing courses under private tutors (Carpenter, 2021). This likely sparked his initial fascination with calculating devices and mechanics.
At just 15 years old in 1881, Pfeifer embarked on a 4 year apprenticeship program at the local St. John Machine Companytool making department (Ohio History Central, 2023). This early immersive training equipped him with technical skills ranging from blueprint drafting to gear cutting that he would later apply directly in his innovative inventions.
| Personal Details | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | John Pfeifer |
| Birthday | June 9, 1866 |
| Birth Location | Springfield, Ohio |
| Death | April 29, 1939 (age 73) |
| Resting Place | Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield, Ohio |
Career History
John Pfeifer‘s early exposure to machinery primed him for a lifelong career as an inventor and engineer across major American companies in the late 19th and early 20th century. Below visualizes a timeline of his employment history that continually sharpened his mechanical acumen:
| Year | Company | Role & Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1885 – 1886 | Eclipse Sewing Machine Co. | Machinist (Cincinnati) |
| 1886 – 1887 | Dueber Watch Works | Engineer (Newport, KY) |
| 1887 – 1900 | Fay Watch Case Co. | Foreman, Tool Dept. (Long Island, NY) |
| 1900 – 1902 | St. John Sewing Machine Co. | Foreman, Tool Room (Springfield, OH) |
| 1902 – 1905 | National Cash Register Co. | Tool Department (Dayton, OH) |
| 1906 | St. John Sewing Machine Co. | Superintendent (Springfield, OH) |
| 1906 – 1911 | National Cash Register Co. | Experimental Engineer (Dayton, OH) |
Each position exposed Pfeifer to fine mechanics of gears, levers, timing devices that he reapplied when patenting his calculating machine innovations from 1889 onwards. His experiential knowledge coupled with creativity powered his later engineering breakthroughs.
Major Inventions & Patents
With over 60 patented inventions, Pfeifer left behind a tremendous inventive legacy that especially revolutionized computing and calculations. Below are some of his most notable innovations still influential today:
5-Column Keyboard Adding Machine
Pfeifer‘s first major breakthrough came in 1889 when he filed patent US400359 for a "keyboard adding machine" – one of the very first patented designs for what could be described as a computer input mechanism. This five column adding machine used sets of keys representing digits 0 to 9. Pressing a certain key would rotate the corresponding counting wheel to the selected number and increment the next column‘s counting wheel after every 10 revolutions. This simulated pressing number combinations with automatic "carrying over" built into the mechanism (patent drawing shown below):
Figure 1. Original patent drawing of Pfeifer‘s 5-column adding machine (US400359).
What made this invention pioneering was its keyboard style number entry. This foreshadowed modern computers that also rely on digit inputs through keyboards to initiate calculations and processes. Pfeifer‘s adding machine uniquely bridged both the manual and digital worlds in one device.
The Adder Little Giant
Expanding on his original adding machine schematics from decades prior, Pfeifer licensed patents to the Kel Sun Manufacturing Company of Dayton, Ohio in the late 1920s. Kel Sun then sold and manufactured a portable version coined the "Adder Little Giant" (Carpenter, 2023). Resembling a small metal cash register, this mechanism encapsulated the 5-column adding machine in a sleek case with dimensions measuring just 16" long x 14" deep x 13.5" high (Blomstrom, 2022). The housing made the device portable so shop owners could easily position it on countertops and use it for math and accounting on the go.
The Little Giant bears close resemblance to modern desktop computers – complete with calculating functions in a compact box and keyboard interface. This only materialized because Pfeifer already engineered many of its internal mechanisms and external designs back in 1889.
Automatic Computing Scale
In one of Pfeifer‘s final patented inventions filed in 1927 (US 1,707,683), he targeted improving automatic computing scales that weighed items and calculated prices (patent certificate). Termed "pendulum scales," these measured goods and multiplied the quantity by configured unit prices to compute totals. However, accuracy suffered from binding parts and unstable platforms.
Pfeifer‘s ingenious improvements included self-leveling indicators to stabilize the weighing surface along with special pivots and bearings to eliminate friction between components. He also patented a unique pendulum arrangement to transfer loads down through the fulcrum point instead of sideways – reducing strain on weak points.
These enhancements to computing scales demonstrate Pfeifer‘s continual commitment to not only inventing novel products but optimizing existing machinery through creative engineering and problem solving skills.
Marriage & Family
In 1889, John Pfeifer married Lillian Bauer, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and daughter of Frederick Bauer (Geneology.com). Their long marriage lasted 50 years up until John‘s death in 1939. Early on in 1890 they had a daughter named Hazel, their only child (Census records). While not much else is documented about his personal affairs, John seemed devoted to his family and raising his little girl despite his widespread travels for work. Hazel and Lillian supported Pfeifer‘s prolific inventor career that demanded so much of his time and energy.
Later Life & Death
John Pfeifer passed away at age 73 on April 29, 1939 in Springfield, Ohio – the very city where he was born and raised. He was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery alongside where other family members rest in peace. Lillian remained by her husband‘s side for their entire 50 year marriage until his death.
Having consecrated his whole life to conceiving clever mechanical contraptions that made computation and accounting easier, Pfeifer left behind an immense legacy still partially visible today. Technologies like keyboards, gears, and registers trace early beginnings to some of Pfeifer‘s late 19th century patents. That spirit of innovation through applied engineering lives on as computing machinery grows more advanced than ever thanks to progress pioneers like John Pfeifer who took the first bold steps.
Conclusion: Lasting Impact on Modern Computing
In his 73 years alive during the industrial revolution, John Pfeifer contributed over 60 patents spanning innovative machines, cash registers, scales, locks, signals, and more. But his most long-lasting impact crystallizes in the novel adding machines and keyboard interfaces he engineered in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These revolutionary designs demonstrated early forms of automated computation and number entry still prominent in computers today.
By marrying traditional manual approaches with mechanical automation, Pfeifer‘s adding machines with their column wheels, counting dials, and most importantly keyboards formed critical foundations for modern computing. The keyboard input mechanism pioneered with his 5-column adding machine in particular set the stage for efficient interaction with calculating devices. These lasting influences on core computing concepts rightly cement John Pfeifer‘s legacy as an overlooked founding father in the technological revolution.
So next time you press a key on your keyboard, take a moment to appreciate the innovation foresight of inventor John Pfeifer whose vision for the interface continues powering computation today.