(reprinted with permission)

James Rand, Chairman and President of Remington Rand, was approached by Loring P. Crosman in 1943 with a plan to build an electronic computer. Remington Rand was known in the business world for its 90-column punch card Tabulating line of equipment.

Crosman's credentials were rather significant: Twenty years with Monroe Calculating Company, part of that time in charge of Product Development. In anticipation of the technological change taking place that would obsolete mechanical calculating machines, Crosman had taken some electronic courses Columbia University and therefore was not only bringing an idea but a well founded plan which must have impressed Jim Rand because Crosman was hired and went to work at the Brooklyn facility.

Jim Rand apparently recognizing change was on its way began construction of a new laboratory for product development in Norwalk, Connecticut which would eventually be run by General Leslie Groves in 1948. The Brooklyn staff including Crosman began moving into the new facility in 1946.

From 1943 to 1946 Crosman only had a token staff: Joe Milkman (mathematician), Ed Smith (1945 electronics grad) and part-time technicians. This was the group dedicated to the computer development. While developing various elements of the computer Crosman was also designing a Post Office Money Order machine and --believe or not-- a toaster for the home. Compared to Remington's major competitor IBM, this minuscule staff accomplished a great deal.

By the time the move to Norwalk took place, Crosman had an advanced model of his design up and running albeit the input/output and programming capabilities were strictly for demonstration purposes. In 1946/47, after the move to Connecticut, two electrical engineers were hired. The professional staff now consisted of Loring Crosman, Ed Smith, Al Greenfield and Bill Henrich.

In parallel with this effort, the punch card input/output unit was under development by the tabulating design group under the management of Elmer Dreher.

Even though Gen. Groves was now in charge of the new laboratories, Crosman reported to Executive VP Alan Ross who also was Gen. Groves immediate superior. This was a statement by Jim Rand as to the importance of the Crosman activities, even though the staff still was not particularly significant in size.

In 1947/48 period a mechanical engineer Frank Hannon, augmented by two designers, was hired to begin the packaging of a fully featured demonstrable system to be named the Model 3. The unit was uniquely designed to provide easy access for service and incorporated removable electronic modules for repair.

Sometime in 1948 the Crosman group was moved to a carriage house on the grounds of the newly acquired Remington Rand headquarters. The locale was Rowayton, Connecticut (a distinct community within Norwalk) some three miles distant from the Norwalk labs. The facility became known affectionately as the Barn. By the end of 1948 Crosman had demonstrated that his computer designs were fundamentally sound and ready to be productionized for commercialization. The design of the Model 409, basically an extension of the Model 3, was completed in 1948/49 and preproduction components were being fabricated for assembly. The company had reached a level of confidence to begin live demonstrations of the Model 3 in the spring of 1950.

Bill Henrich left Remington Rand in early 1950. He was replaced by Bob Brink who along with Frank Hannon were now responsible to complete the design and documentation of the Model 409 for production.

About this same point in time, Jim Rand decided to put the resources in place to assure the successful completion of the Model 409. The staff doubled and tripled again in 1950/51 and eventually moved to a newly erected Butler building to the rear of the Norwalk labs in 1951. A very small number of units were authorized for production but that number changed dramatically upwards as the first Model 409 off the production line was demonstrated to customers. The first production unit was so popular with the sales force that it never was installed in a customer's office.