NCR Class 52 electromechanical cash register, c.1961

In 1879, the American bar owner James Ritty invented the cash register. He hoped his invention would thwart his employee's attempts at pocketing money - his first model was called 'Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier'.

Ritty sold his company, cash register and patents in 1881 and a new company was established - the National Manufacturing Company. In 1884, the company was renamed the National Cash Register Company, maker of the first mechanical cash registers, and their first offices were based in Dayton, Ohio. The National Cash Register Company (NCR) dominated the production and sale of cash registers around the world. NCR cash registers were very widespread after the First World War and have continued to operate into the twenty-first century as NCR.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, there was increased demand for National Cash Register products, first accounting machines in the 1940s and later electromechanical cash registers such as the Class 51 and Class 52, similar cash registers introduced in 1954 and 1958 respectively. There were 15 different models of the Class 52 cash register which could be adapted to different types of businesses.