Antique National time clock for monitoring employee attendance.

Description: National time recorder made in England with an American license around 1930, used to record the attendance of workers in factories or offices. Oak case (cm.46x31; h.15) with external crank and copper plate where we read the National brand and a white plate with the inscription H.C.E. 74, Av. Victor Jacobs (photo n°4). External crank (photo n°2), clock with dial (photo n°5) the Arabic numerals: black for ante meridiem and red for post meridiem, in addition to the inscription "Horologerie Controlle Elettricite, Bruxelles". Inside, the serial number 13349 (photo n°9), the bell, the roll holder (photo n°8) and all the gears: it is in perfect working order (photo n°10). The origin of attendance recording dates back to the late nineteenth century when William Bundy first invented the time clock: Bundy combined typewriter technology with a clock system, so, after entering a code associated with each employee, each time was recorded in writing. Subsequently, Alexander Dey designed a wheel equipped with a mechanical arm which, when operated together with the related number, allowed each employee to record entries and exits at the workplace. Finally, Daniel M. Cooper arrived who received a patent for his "Workman's Time Recorder", the first device to use a card to record and print the time a employee clocked in. The important contribution of these three men gave rise to a series of events thanks to which in 1894 the Willard & Frick Manufacturing Company, the first time clock company in the world, made its first appearance on the market and, from that moment on, an ever greater number of employees began to systematically use the so-called practice of "punching the clock." In 1924, thanks to the union of various companies born in previous years, International Business Machines was born, or as it simply came to be known today, IBM. The company dealt with time clock equipment in workplaces for about 40 years, then dedicating itself almost exclusively to electronic calculators, laying the foundations for the birth of modern computers. From https://easyhour.app/it/blog/timbratura-e-rilevazione-presenze-levoluzione-dei-metodi-di-gestione-del-tempo