Finally got my website together.

4/2/2020

Years ago, I created my first Burroughs website with Earthlink. The website was free with my Earthlink account. I used Microsoft FrontPage and got it off the ground. But life is busy and I soon found it was difficult to update the website. But it has been a success to some degree I believe because it caused hundreds of people to make contact with me about their adding machines. It really facilitated this hobby I developed about the history of William Seward Burroughs and his machines.

A year ago, Earthlink advised that the free website was going to be removed because their new platform for hosting could not work with FrontPage. I had a year to find another way to have my website on line, and perhaps improve the long neglected one. So almost a year passed and I struggled to make any progress. Then the coronavirus struck. I had to stop working and had a great deal of time to get back to the website problem and get it done.

So this is my new website and it can be edited and improved as often as need be. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful.

As Burroughs, or ex-Burroughs employees, I hope I can provide some interesting comments here as time goes on. To get started, I just read a bit from a manual I purchased a long time ago called "Agency Standard Practice Manual" dated 1935. It is like the Field Marketing Manuals I was used to during my time at Burroughs. So I ran across some interesting things I want to share about 1935 Burroughs:
Our Branch Office was called Agency Office.
Our Branch Managers were called Agency Manager.
Our Field Engineers were called Mechanical Inspectors.
Our 5 day work week was a six day work week at the Agency.

Let me know what I can correct or add to my website information. You can write me at Questions4Mike@burroughsinfo.com

7 Comments

Gerry Sachs

4/5/2020 05:09:43 pm

Great job on the new site! I was with Burroughs/Unisys for 41 years. It truly was a great career. Thanks for keeping the history alive.

Do you know what Unisys is doing today?
Do they still have a service department?

Art Hamann

4/6/2020 06:08:24 pm

Started 1955 retired in 1997. 42 years but 2 were in the Navy. Wife says I still bleed Burroughs

Arne Halleen link

6/18/2021 09:52:26 pm

Hi Mike,
It sounds like you worked during the same time period as I did.
I started in Spokane, Washington in 1964 or 65. Since I had been working in electronics before they quickly trained me on adding machines and sensematic machines then sent me to computer school in Detroit for six months. Then they transferred me to San Francisco. I was there until late in 1969. The reason I left was because of some serious management problems. I worked on B300 through B500 series of data processing computer systems. When I left Burroughs I came back to Lewiston, Idaho and found other jobs. It would be interesting to know what ever happened to the folks I worked with in San Francisco.

Derek

1/26/2022 08:23:10 pm

#11-91685 When. almost perfect.$$$$$

mark Belanger

3/7/2022 06:19:01 pm

I was reading about William SD Burroughs. the writer and discovered that his father started a company that my grandmother used to work at in the 1960s her name was Dorthy Cell. she lived in Werstland and Lavonia Michigan. I remember going to Buroughs Farms in 1976 what a great time.

Robert J. Brand

1/14/2023 02:54:05 pm

I just got on this site when I finished fixing and cleaning up a 1929 Class 8 adding machine,and I was looking up the s/n for it's age. I started working for Burrough in June,1956, in the shipping dept. I was trained in my branch (St.Louis, Mo.) on adding machines and also
10 ,key adding machines. My territory was N. St. Louis and East St. Louis area. I loved my job and got my territory running again. Was trained on sensematics, Typing sense. and many more types of equipment. My favorite was the On-Line B606's and was taking care of all Saving and loan and Credit unions ,This lasted the full 20 years that the S and L's were in business. Highlight of my career was when I was shipped out to L.A. to get a B606 system up and running on-line. I loved my 30 years with Burrough, and still miss all my customers. I am now almost 85 and still can remember the flow of data of the B606/ to the RTU, and out the send data line. Burroughs was a great co to work for, and now I have a piece of Burrough in my old 80801/ S/n 1050298. and it still works. Bob (Moose) Loved This Job

Kenny

1/18/2023 06:27:26 pm

Completely restoring my grandfathers Burroughs adding machine for a surprise for my oldest brother. Restoration doing fairly well. Sandblasted, prime, outside really looking good. Now I need some professional help from you guys, PLEASE.

This model I believe is a no 5 made in the 20’s. It was in a damp basement so long that it was completely froze up and rusted. The tear down had to go deep and keys removed. Springs were badly rusted and broken. Finally found some that were very close on size and length.
Does anyone know how these were installed at factory. I am pretty mechanically inclined but having major diffucultues keeping keys in place while inserting next keys. I am thinking it’s really going to be difficult to get the green board on top of these, IF I can get them to stay put.
Any and all information would be so appreciated by me. Thanks
Kenny

Finally got my website together.

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