WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3: CASH REGISTERS

Profile America — Saturday, November 3rd.  A sound that was familiar to many generations of Americans was first heard this week in 1879.  That's when James Ritty, a saloon keeper in Dayton, Ohio, invented the cash register.  The invention soon replaced the open cash drawer, which gave business owners no record of their sales, and the tempting money often disappeared without a trace.  For 100 years or more, retail transactions across the nation were rung up by a cash register — at first cranked by hand, then electrically powered, with dollar and cents shown mechanically in a window so customers could see what they owed.  Now, ornate brass cash registers are a hot item in antique stores, and the bar code scanners that rack up sales today are worth just over $1 billion in sales annually.  Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:  2007 Economic Census, NAICS 33411971

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at <http://www.census.gov> (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau