What did US saloon keeper James Ritty invent in 1879?

James Jacob Ritty (29 October 1836 – 29 March 1918), saloonkeeper and inventor, opened his first saloon in Dayton, Ohio in 1871, billing himself as a "Dealer in Pure Whiskies, Fine Wines, and Cigars." Some of Ritty's employees would take the customers' money and pocket it, rather than depositing the cash that was meant to pay for the food, drink, and other wares. In 1878 while on a steamboat trip to Europe, Ritty became intrigued by a mechanism that counted how many times the ship's propeller went around. He wondered whether something such as this could be made to record the cash transactions made at his saloon.

As soon as he got home to Dayton, Ritty and his brother John, a skilled mechanic, began working on a design for such a device. After several failed prototypes, the third design operated by pressing a key that represented a specific amount of money. There was no cash drawer. James and John Ritty patented the design on November 4th, 1879 as "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier".

The Rittys opened a small factory in Dayton to manufacture cash registers while still operating the saloon. The company did not prosper and in 1881, James Ritty became overwhelmed with the responsibilities of running two businesses, and sold all his interests in the cash register business.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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Steven Ernest Scott

Don Curtis Latimer, The optic or non-drip measure is mounted beneath an inverted spirit bottle, so that a pre-defined volume of the bottle's contents drains into the measure. Lifting a lever on the side of the measure first closes off the measure from the bottle, then dispenses the measured liquid into the glass or mixing vessel held underneath. This mechanism ensures that a correct spirit measure can be dispensed each time, as the inverted bottle allows the measure to be replenished in the optic after each shot has been dispensed. These types of measures are commonly used for highly demanded drinks in professional bar settings, and are often incorporated into visually-appealing machines that serve both functional and marketing purposes for the liquor being poured. Bottles are available to the trade with their labels affixed upside down so that they will be the right way up when mounted on the optic.