2007.29.14

6 line E-Z Read ACM slate

Howe Press

Bright aluminum E-Z Read pocket slate; piano hinge on one side; six (6) lines of twenty-seven (27) braille cells; slight indents in top frame guide placement of stylus; bottom frame stamped with six indented holes under each opening in the top frame; two horizontal raised lines on top frame; raised lip on open end of upper frame facilitates opening; four registration pins down from upper frame fit into holes in lower frame; stamped into upper frame, "HOWE PRESS/PERKINS SCHOOL/WATERTOWN, MASS"; clear Dyna-tape label over Howe maker's mark, "ACM".

H-2.5 W-8.25 D-0.125 inches

ca. 1965

Howe Press

Watertown, MA

The ACM slate, designed to braille computer punch cards, was introduced by the Howe Press as early as 1965. The EZ-Read feature flipped the location of the pins on a slate, allowing the slate to be opened and the braille read without removing the paper from the pins. Note that APH introduced its first slate with that design around 1968. Found in collection of slates and tools from other manufacturers in the office of Jim Hill. Label on back suggests a formal effort to collect and study these tools.

APH Collection, 2007.29.