Data Terminal Systems Model 440 cash register
Last night I dreamed about working in a grocery store. In my dream I was my current age, with all the knowledge and such (the such including my Dad-bod) associated with being a middle-aged man but I was working in the Acme grocery store in my hometown. The Acme went out of business in the early 1980s but the building was quickly used as a Super Duper and later a “Big M”. The later incarnations were locally owned supermarkets.
I never worked for any grocery store in my life, though my sister worked at the “Big M” when she was a senior in high school, so I don’t know why I was dreaming about this experience but nonetheless there I was, stocking shelves, pricing items and running the cash register. I was happy, I had few cares and life felt good. Perhaps this was a way for my brain to destress. Maybe I was dreaming about grocery shopping for holiday meals.
The geek in me vividly remembers the part of the dream of me working the cash register; there was no scanning or anything but the cash register was electronic. Upon waking I could still hear the very familiar sound of the printer and I remembered how the cash register worked, since I studied these things as a young lad. I’ve mentioned before that my interest in electronic calculators and cash registers led me into my very strong interest and associated career in computer related fields. The cash register was a Data Terminal Systems Model 440, a very popular cash register found in many, many stores and other retail outlets in the mid 1970s to early 1990s. When I worked for ARC in the early 1990s, the nearby Great American grocery store still used these cash registers, but the dream definitely didn’t take place at Great American. I was definitely at the Acme.
Even though one can find just about anything on the Internet, I can’t find much in the way of Data Terminal Systems, a company that was based in Maynard, Massachusetts. This is kind of odd to me because their systems were everywhere in the 70s and 80s but one doesn’t even find systems on eBay or anything. There must be landfills loaded with these things and that’s a shame. I know that DTS was eventually sold off to National Semiconductor. I did some very brief contractor work for National Semiconductor in 1990 before moving on to my next challenge in life.
I still can’t figure out the purpose of the dream other than apparently enjoying a simpler existence, but the geek in me has enjoyed musing about the DTS cash register system this morning.
I guess I’m first and foremost a geek.
I can relate. I was cashier and then assistant cashier supervisor at a midwest discount chain called Venture (defunct in 1998), when I was working my way through college (1986-1990). I loved the old IBM 3683 terminals.
I used to have the dream that Venture was going back in business and I would quit my job and go back to work for them.
I have a similar recurring dream about working at Ames and we had the 3683s there as well. Oddly, I haven’t had that dream about Hills, where I worked for the Christmas season in 1990. I guess I had more of my head invested in Ames vs Hills. Hills had the 4683s. They were easy to crash. The 3683s were built like a tank and seemed more much hearty.
After finishing the entry, I recalled going to a P&C Food event called “Food Fiesta” at the State Fairgrounds, and they were showing off their checkout technology (the aforementioned DTS 440 registers). They had a setup that folks could try and I remembered whizzing right through a sale on that demo register. People around me were amazed because I was either 12 or 13 at the time. Technology like that felt very natural to me.