Should I not fold spindle or mutilate card?

“Do not fold, spindle or mutilate,” a warning that appeared on some punched cards distributed as documents such as checks and utility bills to be returned for processing, became a motto for the post-World War II era.

What does do not spindle mean?

thank you very much! : : : : : Your phrase, “Folded, Spindled and Mutilated,” is a reference to another phrase, “Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.” That, in turn, is a reminder of the “punched card” age. The bill you got in the mail would very likely be a punched card, which you were supposed to return with your check.

Who invented the card that said do not fold spindle or mutilate?

One hundred years have passed since Herman Hollerith invented the punch card to tabulate the 1890census.

Do not fold or bend?

Please don’t bend, fold, spindle or mutilate me.” The source of our strength is, very simply, the fact that we are human beings and so cannot forever be treated as raw materials–to be processed.

What Bureau of government first used punch cards?

the Bureau of the Census
From 1890 through 1950, information collected in the decennial U.S. census of population was punched onto cards and compiled using tabulating machines. At first, the Bureau of the Census rented machines on the design of Herman Hollerith.

What does do not fold mean?

Informal to collapse; fail. the business folded. n.

What purpose does the punched card system serve?

Punch cards (or “punched cards”), also known as Hollerith cards or IBM cards, are paper cards where holes may be punched by hand or machine to represent computer data and instructions. They were a widely-used means of inputting data into early computers.

How did computer punch cards work?

Punched cards were used for entering your program and/or data into a mainframe computer. The information was typed on a key punch machine, which punched rectangular holds in the card and (usually) printed the information along the top of the card so a human could read what the holes represented.

What does it mean to not fold?

“Never fold” essentially means that when things get all crazy, one shouldn’t voluntarily give up and most importantly – one should stay loyal to the game.

Was there a US Census in 1890?

The United States census of 1890 was taken beginning June 2, 1890 but most of the 1890 census materials were destroyed in 1921 when a building caught fire and in the subsequent disposal of the remaining damaged records.

What is Hollerith census machine?

The tabulating machine was an electromechanical machine designed to assist in summarizing information stored on punched cards. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census.

What does it mean to fold?

1 : a part doubled or laid over another part : pleat. 2 : a crease made by folding something (such as a newspaper) 3 : something that is folded together or that enfolds.

What does “do not fold the spindle” mean?

The phrase “do not fold, spindle or mutilate” has stuck so in our heads because it captures a significant facet of American belief about automation, computerization and bureaucratic society. The history of the phrase can help to explain popular reaction to the computer- ization of American society.

What does it mean to foldfold something?

fold, spindle, or mutilate To damage or alter something. The phrase was typically printed as an instruction on items that were to be read by a machine, such as punch cards. to harm or disfigure. Referring to a once-standard line printed on machine-readable documents, such as computer punch cards.

What is a spindle in a desk?

“Spindle” is the word that most confuses people today. Spindling is an old filing system; a clerk would have a spindle, an upright spike, on his or her desk, and would impale each piece of paper on it as he or she finished with it.