John describes how a group of committed CHM volunteers found an IBM 1401 in Germany, brought it back to CHM in Mt View and restored it. A second 1401 was later found in a private home in N.Y. and brought back to the museum. Several years later, with additional funding, the IBM 1401 became an important demo lab at CHM.

Len said that IBMs 1401 was it’s very successful small business machine. In the early 1960s ~1/2 of all computers were 1401s! IBM built ~15K 1401’s but only ~12 have survived. Most of the rest have been recycled. CHM often loses out to recyclers when attempting to refurbish old computers.

[Description provided by Alan Weissberger – Thanks, Alan]