Inventor. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he opened his first saloon in Dayton in 1871 and called it the Pony House. In 1878, he came up with an idea about making a machine that would count sales at the saloon, keep track of the money and the amount of sales. Working with his mechanic brother John, their first few attempts were total failures until he improved it by adding a paper roll to it so it could record the clerk's sales. The new clock version register had a hole puncher built into it and the paper would have separate invisible columns that would stand for cents or dollars. Filing and receiving a patent for his cash register design in 1879, he couldn't sell his machine to other people. So they decided to sell the patent for $6,500 to John H. Patterson in 1882, who realized the machine's potential. In the following years Patterson made it a success and became the founder of the National Cash Register Company. Ritty was not resentful and maintained friendly relations with John H. Patterson who many times invited Ritty to attend various NCR meetings and conferences. James Ritty retired from a successful bar business in 1895.
Inventor. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he opened his first saloon in Dayton in 1871 and called it the Pony House. In 1878, he came up with an idea about making a machine that would count sales at the saloon, keep track of the money and the amount of sales. Working with his mechanic brother John, their first few attempts were total failures until he improved it by adding a paper roll to it so it could record the clerk's sales. The new clock version register had a hole puncher built into it and the paper would have separate invisible columns that would stand for cents or dollars. Filing and receiving a patent for his cash register design in 1879, he couldn't sell his machine to other people. So they decided to sell the patent for $6,500 to John H. Patterson in 1882, who realized the machine's potential. In the following years Patterson made it a success and became the founder of the National Cash Register Company. Ritty was not resentful and maintained friendly relations with John H. Patterson who many times invited Ritty to attend various NCR meetings and conferences. James Ritty retired from a successful bar business in 1895.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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