Industry Time Recorder Punch Clock. 1920s This is an antique time recorder (Time Clock / Time Recorder) used for tracking employees’ working hours, commonly found in factories or office workplaces. Such devices were widely used in mechanical attendance systems from the late 19th to early 20th century. Brand Identification: The device has a metal nameplate marked “ELKA KALVERSTR 206 AMSTERDAM”, indicating that it was likely manufactured or sold by the ELKA company in Amsterdam, Netherlands. “Kalverstraat” is a well-known commercial street in Amsterdam, which could be the company’s address. Design & Structure: • A mechanical clock on the front displays the current time. • The top section features punch mechanism, possibly for inserting punch cards or recording time. • The mechanical rollers and printing mechanism inside suggest it was used for stamping time records. • A manual crank handle (on the right side) likely operates the time printing mechanism. Possible Uses: • Employee time clock: Used in offices and factories, where workers would insert their punch cards to log their working hours. • Taxi meter timer: Some early taxis or rental services used similar devices to track time and fare calculations. • Automated vending or storage fee tracker: Possibly used for tracking storage or usage time. This device is likely from the early 20th century, featuring a mechanical time-tracking and recording function. It has now been replaced by electronic attendance systems. However, it holds significant collector’s value, especially for those interested in industrial history or antique timekeeping devices.