General Information

Serial #

235298

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal casing and working parts/ synthetic dial

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

17.0 cm

Width

15.0 cm

Height

15.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Industrial Technology

Category

Office equipment

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Todd

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

Rochester

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

1920s +

Canada

An American made printing device used to write cheques by les Soeurs de la Charité de Montreal, the Sisters of Charity of Montreal (Soeurs Grises/Grey Nuns). The order was established by Mme Marguerite d'Youville in Montreal in 1737 to serve to poor and sick. The Grey Nuns run hospitals, orphanages, schools, homes for the aged, institutions for the blind, and other social services and works of charity in various parts of Canada and the United States. D'Youville was officially recognized as a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1990.

Function

A device used to print characters on cheques in such a way as to prevent fraudulent alteration.

Technical

An example of a 1920s cheque writer and protector. As more businesses and other organizations began to pay accounts with cheques in the 19th century, demand rose for means of preventing fraudulent alteration to the amount of the cheque or the name of the payee. In the United States, mechanical cheque writers began to appear in the 1870s. By the 1920s, at least 20 manufacturers were offering products. Cheque protectors are still being produced today. Different manufacturers devised and patented their own means of making cheques unalterable, which included printing special characters or embossing, cutting or perforating the paper. The Protectograph, Model H, which was advertised from 1901 to 1924, macerated the paper and inserted red and black ink.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

raised black lettering on plate reads 'PROTECTOGRAPH MODEL H/ MANUFACTURED BY/ C.W.TODD & COMPANY/ ROCHESTER, N.Y., U.S.A.' with indented 'No 235298'/ black numbers from 5 to 10000 on dial

Missing

bottom plate with patent numbers

Finish

painted glossy black/ metallic lever grip, controls, parts/ white or yellow and black dial

Decoration

gold striping on lever, body and base