This vintage memory board is a true piece of nostalgia. It is from an early-1950s era computer. Individual bits of data (0 or 1) are stored in the small individual donut-like torroids that are made from a ferrite compound. These memory boards were very expensive because they were hand-assembled by manufacturing technicians threading the wires through the small torroids. Because of the shape and electrical characteristics of the torroids, such memory was referred to as "core" memory.

This memory board has 4096 torroids, capable of storing 4096 bits of data. That is equivalent to 512 bytes of data. Think of a memory strip used today in PCs that is capable of storing 2 gigabytes of data, and the inevitable march of technology becomes apparent.

I don't know which computer this board was used in. The following is stamped into the phenolic frame: Part 92856, Ser. 7967. The board appears perfect; however, very close examination reveals that two of the torroids are missing. Over the years, these two torroids were obviously broken during careless handling, and subsequently fell off.

This 4 K core memory board is a real conversation piece, and it makes a novel display for a desk or cabinet.