In the Reading Room: National Cash Register, Model 332
We have quite a few interesting things in our reading room, with one of the most notable being our National Cash Register, Model 332, manufactured in 1906 Dayton, Ohio. It was a gift of Bill Randle (March 14, 1923 — July 9, 2004) from the very beginning of the BPCL.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Randle was a pioneering disc jockey at several radio stations including WERE in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1955 Time Magazine named Randle the top DJ in America, and he is recognized as the first person to introduce Elvis Presley on television to a national audience (January 28, 1956). Also, an educator and practicing lawyer, Randle obtained 3 master's degrees and a law degree as well as a doctorate in American studies.
Ray Browne, founder of the Library for Popular Culture Studies, credits Randle's initial 1968 donation of over $75,000 in materials as the "core of the collection of the Popular Culture Library" at its inception. For his donation Randle's only request was that one of his prized possessions, the antique National Cash Register, be displayed at the library's entrance. Of its importance, Randle stated "Popular culture is totally commodity. The whole symbol is the cash register that you plunk down your money and you pay for it. At least, it's a more honest reflection of the validity of the culture than high culture which is subsidized."
We don't keep actual legal tender in the register, since it is unfortunately not operational at the moment, but we do have a variety of tokens and coins that, at the right place, could have been exchanged for things.
The cash register is also home to a miniature John Cena figurine from the WWE and a custom-made Lego minifigure:
Keep reading below for close-ups of some of the details on our cash register!
The Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL), founded in 1969, is the most comprehensive archive of its kind in the United States. Our focus and mission is to acquire and preserve research materials on American Popular Culture (post 1876) for curricular and research use. Visit our website at https://www.bgsu.edu/library/pcl.html.
