How Wauwatosa Once Rang It Up

You would have to be of a certain age to remember when, long before phone payment apps, before credit cards, even before electronic equipment existed, there were such things as mechanical cash registers.

Often, they were works of art as well as engineering, and in few cases more so than the one on display at the Wauwatosa Historical Society – it was designed by Tiffany of New York.

This National Cash Register was manufactured Sept. 3, 1895, and is a crank-type register of Tiffany's Empire Design.

Back in the day, having an ornate, pedigreed cash register at the counter said something about your place of business. It spoke not only of a touch of class but of solidity and prosperity.

The Society's register was used in the Lefeber Department Store, which stood at the intersection of Harwood and State Streets.

The store closed in 1958 and was demolished after a 1964 fire. The site stood long vacant; now a new building of a complementary design stands at the corner, with Noodles and Company its most prominent tenant.

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The Wauwatosa Historical Society is headquartered at the Kneeland-Walker House at 7406 Hillcrest Avenue.