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They didn't use computers in 1940 for it though. All this was stored on paper where using days since 1875 wouldn't have made much sense. That would lead to most

They didn't use computers in 1940 for it though. All this was stored on paper where using days since 1875 wouldn't have made much sense. That would lead to most of the beneficiaries having a negative number. They didn't get their first computer until 1956 and by that point, the 1875 date would have made little sense. It simply makes more sense there was data entry errors. Indeed, we know there are since the SSA makes records available for dead people. They show people supposedly born as early as 1800: https://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=3059&tf=F&cat=all https://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=3059&tf=F...

masswerk 2y ago
> All this was stored on paper Rather, as also mentioned in the answers, on Hollerith cards, 5-digit encoded (2 for the year, 3 for the day of year). Punch-card appliances were very much a thing. (WWII logistics were run by punch-cards.)
- Aloisius 2y ago
  They used IBM cards, not Hollerith cards (they used IBM 077 collators and 405 accounting machines). They were coded with 6 digits: 2 for month, 2 day and 2 year according to the SSA. https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/yourss55.html https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/yourss55.html
  - masswerk 2y ago
    Notably, this is from December 1955, already on computers. There's no mention of how data was handled before this. (Also, pre-WWII, people used do talk of "Hollerith cards" in a general way – and the system started in the 1930s.)
    - Aloisius 2y ago
      It's mentioned on IBM's site: https://www.ibm.com/history/social-security-act https://www.ibm.com/history/social-security-act https://www.ibm.com/history/punched-card#The+Social+Security+Administration https://www.ibm.com/history/punched-card#The+Social+Security... And the SSA site mentions using IBM machines for it in 1936. IBM machines only used IBM cards: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v69n2/v69n2p55.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v69n2/v69n2p55.html The checks used to pay people were also IBM punchcards.
      - masswerk 2y ago
        Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which became the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), which became International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). These are the same thing, admittedly adding other businesses along the way. (Hence, IBM includes the invention of the tabulating punch-card in its company history.) So, after 1924, it's IBM, but this didn't stop people from talking about Hollerith cards, even in the 1950s. Here, it was used to designate the pre-computer era use with punch-card appliances.
        Aloisius 2y ago
        I didn't realize IBM called their own cards Hollerith cards. They changed the format to 80x10 with rectangular punches in 1928, naming it the IBM Computer Card. They modified it to 80x12 in 1930. IBM themselves distinguish between Hollerith's cards and IBM cards, but I suppose they were the same physical size and old names die hard.

masswerk 2y ago

> All this was stored on paper Rather, as also mentioned in the answers, on Hollerith cards, 5-digit encoded (2 for the year, 3 for the day of year). Punch-card appliances were very much a thing. (WWII logistics were run by punch-cards.)

Aloisius 2y ago
They used IBM cards, not Hollerith cards (they used IBM 077 collators and 405 accounting machines). They were coded with 6 digits: 2 for month, 2 day and 2 year according to the SSA. https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/yourss55.html https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssa/yourss55.html
- masswerk 2y ago
  Notably, this is from December 1955, already on computers. There's no mention of how data was handled before this. (Also, pre-WWII, people used do talk of "Hollerith cards" in a general way – and the system started in the 1930s.)
  - Aloisius 2y ago
    It's mentioned on IBM's site: https://www.ibm.com/history/social-security-act https://www.ibm.com/history/social-security-act https://www.ibm.com/history/punched-card#The+Social+Security+Administration https://www.ibm.com/history/punched-card#The+Social+Security... And the SSA site mentions using IBM machines for it in 1936. IBM machines only used IBM cards: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v69n2/v69n2p55.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v69n2/v69n2p55.html The checks used to pay people were also IBM punchcards.
    - masswerk 2y ago
      Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which became the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), which became International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). These are the same thing, admittedly adding other businesses along the way. (Hence, IBM includes the invention of the tabulating punch-card in its company history.) So, after 1924, it's IBM, but this didn't stop people from talking about Hollerith cards, even in the 1950s. Here, it was used to designate the pre-computer era use with punch-card appliances.
      - Aloisius 2y ago
        I didn't realize IBM called their own cards Hollerith cards. They changed the format to 80x10 with rectangular punches in 1928, naming it the IBM Computer Card. They modified it to 80x12 in 1930. IBM themselves distinguish between Hollerith's cards and IBM cards, but I suppose they were the same physical size and old names die hard.