Computer History: Exploring UNIVAC 1 Components (with UNIVAC II vacuum tube module compared) 1951-58

UNIVAC 1 Computer: Today we take a look at some of the UNIVAC 1 components, and compare some of the UNIVAC II boards with UNIVAC I boards. High Resolution images highlight this informal compilation of UNIVAC 1 modules and components. Shown are various modules, board components, mercury memory tanks and other aspects of the machine, and a comparison of 1951 UNIVAC 1 circuit boards with those of the 1958 UNIVAC II (as seen in Jerry Seinfeld's movie "Unfrosted" 2024) and later models.
A unique, close up look of some of the early UNIVAC components. If you like board-level components and early tech, you may find these images interesting. UNIVAC II (aka "UNIVAC 2") was outdated by the early 1960's. The UNIVAC III of 1960 was short lived, and IBM gained control of the large computer market by the time it was introduced.
Uploaded for educational and historical purposes only.

UNIVAC is a trade name of UNISYS Inc. today.

- UNIVAC was designed by J. Presper Eckert and Dr. John Mauchly, creators of the ENIAC (1946) and the BINAC (1949) . Run time: 9 minutes. Enjoy, and stay well!

{Spoiler alert: Several 1952 video clips included for historical reference are Not in “HD.”}

Acknowledgements and Sources:
With sincere thanks to UNISYS Corporation, owner of the UNIVAC trademark and trade name.

For further information, these excellent sources are recommended:

Computer History Museum

VIPClubMN: Information Technology Pioneers Retirees and former employees of Unisys, Lockheed Martin, and their heritage companies

UNIVAC 1 Computer (George Michael)

UNISYS: Company History

History & Evolution of 1100/2200 series mainframe technology (Unisys)

Ed Thelen’s Computer History Site

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 60 years of computing

Various semiconductor product names are mentioned in this video, including:
Clevite; Transitron; Dumont; Dubilier; Radell; Electra;

The following sites have great historical background on many early electronic components.

Antique Tech.Com

Semiconductor Museum

Transparent Sound

Note: Some of the UNIVAC 1 boards featured in this video were originally from the estate of Ed Lankford, UNIVAC Engineer. Ed Lankford worked in Paul Lawson's group in Nashville. Ed Lankford held the distinction of being the person who maintained the last operational UNIVAC I. Ed along with Paul Lawson also held the record of most years of UNIVAC I experience.

[DanafoxyVixen]

It kinda blows me away (and its kinda cool) that a Univac1 was used up till 1970.. computing had advanced so much during that time... but i guess they were just trying to recoup their investment as much as they could... but one wonders if the cost of maintenance and electricity for a valve/tube computer that late in the game was actually worth it

[donmoore]

Very nice piece of history here. I had an RCA prototype electrostatic storage tube of my dad's which stored 1024 bits, I believe. It was a 6499 Radechon. I had a tech magazine advert for it too. It was used in the SAGE computer but I believe it may have been a short-lived solution for memory. Love the mercury memory - never heard of that. I remember engineers at GE where I worked in the 1980s told me our earlier E2C radar used magnetic drum memory, in the 60's I believe. The advancement of technology is pretty wild.

[ottodydaktyk]

Thanks for making these videos, its interesting to see how the technology progressed.

[MIX]

Excellent production, voice over and information in every video produced... job well done!!!

[NipkowDisk]

Thank you once again for producing these great videos of earlier computing technology!!

[mohinderkaur]

Imagine recapping this monster machine!

[RedArrow]

An Audiophile-Quality Computer!
Be a big hit today!

[prismstudios]

The good old days when plugging in a module took two hands and a step stool....

[Hal]

They must have been receiving daily shipments of vacuum tubes at their door. Holy cow.

[TheTwick]

This is wonderful, thank you. When I was a senior in high school (1968), the school had a computer terminal (electric typewriter with acoustic coupler). We called a number in Philadelphia. I think I used FORTRAN to write my first programs. I’d love to know what computer I was connected to. Time-sharing on a mainframe, I assume.

[kiq]

Never seen a mercury memory tank before ! That is cool !
I wonder if there are any schematics of these computers, or partial schematics around ?

[timb]

Interesting - My brother has an old Univac 1100 (I believe that's model) - in his garage. It did run at some point, but I don't know it's current status.

[prismstudios]

Man, we have come a LONG way! I’m perched behind an iPad, and it eats this sucker for

[Hal]

Was this the computer model that gave rise to the term 'mainframe', referring originally to its CPU enclosure?

[UQRXD]

today's stuff will look like this in a few years.

[RedArrow]

Note the resemblance to a HiWatt Amplifier chassis @ 0:45.

[maniacaudiophile]

For some weird reason, i find that thumbnail with the control panel resembling a gigantic version of RPi 0...

[ident]

I would love to see the schematics digitized somewhere.

[jyothipriyanka]

Nice video.. can you please tell me from you got the information. I want to research on this type of computer history

[chidon]

This is like porn for me. I need a cigarette...