The Power to Serve, A Presentation of Burroughs Corporation (1956)

2015.011.012
16mm black and white promotional film about the Burroughs Corporation, entitled "The Power to Serve." The film covers the company's scope, its history, its products, and its principles. The film features a montage of shots of the exteriors of the company's facilities in Detroit; Plymouth; Los Angeles, California; Rochester, New York; Plainfield, New Jersey; Brooklyn, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Park Ridge, New Jersey; Windsor, Ontario; Toronto, Ontario; Patin, France; Gennevilliers, France; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Nottingham, England; Strathleven, Scotland; Dallas, Texas; Dearborn; and Paris, France. The company's workers are also show working in its various departments. The portion concerning the company's beginnings with William Seward Burroughs at J. Boyer in St. Louis includes a re-enactment partially shot at the Detroit Historical Museum's Streets of Old Detroit. The portion also emphasizes the introduction of income tax laws as helping the business to grow.
The film features a variety of Burroughs's products both mechanical and electronic. The film moves from discussing early book keeping machines, portable adding machines, calculators, typewriter accounting machines to the company's modern ten key adding machines. The company's electronic research and development process and products are also detailed. The Sensatronic, a ledger machine uses magnetic strips on ledgers; the Sensamatic, accounting machine that outputs punched tape; a data processing system that utilizes character recognition; the Bankomatic, a check coding and Sorting machine using fluorescent marks, the Burroughs E101 computer. and the G101 data processing machine which prints information from punched cards; the Ticketeer ticket printing machine; and the Burroughs Micro-Twin microfilming machine are each highlighted. The film also lists the company's acquired by Burroughs and the products they consequently expanded into such as ink ribbons, carbon paper, business forms, check protectors and endorses, and small business accounting supplies. The film also discusses Burroughs's involvement in national defense. Navigational instruments for aircraft, controls for naval guns, missile components, anti-aircraft gun computers, high altitude bombing systems, and computers for SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) are listed as their contributions in this area.
Throughout the film, women are featured among the workers manufacturing Burroughs's production, and operating their business machines.