Copechat Paramount Sorting System

Edge-notched cards were used for data storage and analysis purposes through much of the 20th century, until they were replaced by computers. For example, employee records, students and teachers, library holdings and other types of categorized information. Each card has circular punch holes around the outer edge, with a notch to one hole on the top and bottom of the card corresponding to (in this case) the suit, and another on each side for the card denomination, as marked on a reference card, in this example the Joker. A long thin pin or knitting needle was passed through the holes when the cards were formed as a pack. Thus, cards matching certain data criteria fall loose, or drop out of the pack, when the whole pack is shaken.

There were several well-known brand names of these early data retrieval systems including Cope-Chat, E-Z Sort, Flexisort and McBee Keysort cards. The cards shown here are advertising for the Copechat Paramount Sorting System • see the box

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Above: Copechat Paramount Sorting System specimen cards manufactured by the London Playing Card Co., c1925.

This is another example of secondary use of playing cards throughout history: stiffener for bookbinders, library index cards, calling cards, emergency currency and now specimen cards for data retrieval systems!

Since the late 1920s, James Albert Mann of Copeland & Chatterson Co, Cope-Chat Works, Dudbridge, Stroud, Gloucestershire, had been registering patents for various filing systems, including a licence to manufacture and market an edge punched card needle sorting system given the brand name 'Paramount'.

References

Espacenet Patent Search : Copechat►

Punched Cards : A brief illustrated technical history►

Hackaday : Before Computers, Notched Card Databases►

Youtube : McBee-style index cards►