• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

84 results for: Computers and Technology

Share:
Image of Boeing analog computer, 1953

Boeing analog computer, 1953

This seven and half foot tall computer, built by the Boeing Company in 1953, has less processing capability than a simple calculator. A technological wonder of its time, the analog computer helped engineers calculate complicated problems at a much faster rate. A 1952 advertisement in Scientific American Magazine states: "Boeing engineers enjoy many advantages - among them the finest research…
ID Number:1993.16.1
Date:1953
Image of Homegrocer.com fleece pullover, 1997-2000

Homegrocer.com fleece pullover, 1997-2000

Homegrocer was an early online grocery delivery business, founded in Bellevue in 1997. This green fleece jacket was part of the uniform for delivery drivers. The company developed its own technology, including an award-winning website, a wireless picking system, and high-tech phones for drivers. Homegrocer went public in March of 2000, just as the dot-com bubble was becoming the dot-com…
ID Number:2001.41.5
Date:1997-2000
Image of Homegrocer.com mouse pad, ca. 1997

Homegrocer.com mouse pad, ca. 1997

Homegrocer was an early online grocery delivery business, founded in Bellevue in 1997. The company developed its own technology, including an award-winning website, a wireless picking system, and high-tech phones for drivers. Homegrocer went public in March of 2000, just as the dot-com bubble was becoming the dot-com bust. While initially successful and profitable, the company found itself struggling to…
ID Number:2001.41.7
Date:Circa 1997
Image of Homegrocer.com shopping bag, ca. 1999

Homegrocer.com shopping bag, ca. 1999

Homegrocer was an early online grocery delivery business, founded in Bellevue in 1997. The company developed its own technology, including an award-winning website, a wireless picking system, and high-tech phones for drivers. Homegrocer went public in March of 2000, just as the dot-com bubble was becoming the dot-com bust. While initially successful and profitable, the company found itself struggling to…
ID Number:2001.41.10
Date:Circa 1999
Image of Homegrocer.com shopping bag, ca. 1999

Homegrocer.com shopping bag, ca. 1999

Homegrocer was an early online grocery delivery business, founded in Bellevue in 1997. The company developed its own technology, including an award-winning website, a wireless picking system, and high-tech phones for drivers. Homegrocer went public in March of 2000, just as the dot-com bubble was becoming the dot-com bust. While initially successful and profitable, the company found itself struggling to…
ID Number:2001.41.11
Date:Circa 1999
Image of Boeing 377 Load Computer, 1952

Boeing 377 Load Computer, 1952

Boeing engineer, Cliff Heckard, invented this mechanical computer device in the early 1950s to calculate the center of gravity and load of aircraft in order to assist in rapid loading. The device did reach full production due to the introduction of electronic computers around that time.
ID Number:2001.54.1
Date:1952
Image of Microsoft Windows software, 1992-1995

Microsoft Windows software, 1992-1995

Microsoft first unveiled Windows in 1983. Windows has been consistently one of the company's top selling products. In August 1995, retailers sold over 1 million copies of Windows 95 in its first four days of release. As processor speed and chip size increased, so did sales of each new improved Windows product, not to mention Microsoft's revenues.
ID Number:2001.64
Date:1992-1995
Image of Amazon.com shipping box, ca. 2001

Amazon.com shipping box, ca. 2001

While this particular box does not have iconic significance, it does represent the backbone of business for Amazon.com, the online ordering company started by Jeff Bezos in 1994 in Seattle. Many consumers recieve these same boxes everyday on their doorstep.
ID Number:2001.95.2.2
Date:Circa 2001
Image of Nippon Electric Company (NEC) PC-8201A digital computer, ca. 1983

Nippon Electric Company (NEC) PC-8201A digital computer, ca. 1983

The NEC brand PC-8201A portable computer was very popular in its day and included a text-editor, telecom software, and a BASIC language programmer. The original operating system (OS) software was written by a small Bellevue company called Microsoft.
ID Number:2002.4.1
Date:Circa 1983
Image of Poster for weather report by Bob Hale at KING-TV during the Seattle World's Fair, 1962

Poster for weather report by Bob Hale at KING-TV during the Seattle World's Fair, 1962

During the Century 21 Seattle World’s Fair KING-TV weatherman Bob Hale made his weather report live from the fairgrounds. Without the aid of Doppler radar and computer generated forcasts, Hale drew the weather forcast as he described it. When he finished his weather report, Hale usually gave his forcast sketch to a member of the audience. On July 27, he…
ID Number:2002.45.1
Date:1962
1 2 3 … 9 Next

Land Acknowledgement

MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved