He owed his longevity to cheap Scotch and and strong tobacco.

Bird · Sep 28, 2013

I have no idea how old that old Burroughs adding machine was. It was in the Mobil service station that Dad bought in Plano, TX, in November, 1956, and then a couple of years later, when we opened the town's first auto parts store, in the same building, it got a lot more use there. And it was still there when Dad sold out in 1965.

3930dave · Sep 28, 2013

Bird said:
I have no idea how old that old Burroughs adding machine was. It was in the Mobil service station that Dad bought in Plano, TX, in November, 1956, and then a couple of years later, when we opened the town's first auto parts store, in the same building, it got a lot more use there. And it was still there when Dad sold out in 1965.

I'm usually impressed by how well made these old (and complex too !) mechanical items were. In high use, wear items were designed to be replaced, and the product could be kept running for quite a while.

We could learn something from looking at this history, but modern economics mostly dictates otherwise.....

Rgds, D.