Fifty-one years ago today, May 15 1974, First National Bank of Atlanta introduced “Tillie the All-Time Teller” ATM system. The architecture involved the integration of the bank’s mainframes, a minicomputer, and the network of ATMs. Why am I noting the 51st anniversary of the public launch of the first Docutel Total-Teller ATM system in the US? I was the lead real-time assembly language programmer for the minicomputer that sat between the ATMs and the banks mainframes. This story covers my part in the implementation software for the minicomputer as part of the launch of the bank’s ATM network.
I got my first industry job working at TRW Data Systems in El Segundo (Los Angeles) California after graduating Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CA with a BS in Computer Science in June 1973. At Cal Poly, I learned Data General Nova assembly language programming in Professor Emile Attala‘s real time computer lab. The software running on minicomputers connected transactions between department store cash registers, check cashing and credit card readers and a company’s mainframe computers.
Our TRW division worked on the first US cash dispenser implementation for Chemical Bank in New York with a Data General Nova minicomputer sitting between the ATM and the bank’s mainframe computers. Later, in late 1973, I was the lead programmer for the minicomputer that sat between a Docutel Total Teller network and First National Bank’s mainframes. This ATM could handle cash dispensing, deposits and transfers. I worked on the software for months of 80+ hour work weeks in order to be ready for the hard launch date of the system.
My development environment in the TRW Data Systems lab was a Data General Nova 1200 with 8k or 16k of core memory with magnetic tape drive, a Teletype Model 33, a text editor, linker and rudimentary debugger. For additional debugging I would also put halt instructions (063077) in my code for “things that should never happen during execution”. We did not use the teletype’s paper tape punch for backing up (too long) and instead dumped the programs to magnetic tape. We would print listings on line printers and put the listings and memory dumps into large binders.
I flew to Atlanta to install the DG Nova software arriving at the bank’s headquarters in downtown Atlanta. Back in those days my work “uniform” was usually jeans or overalls and t-shirts. When I arrived at the bank’s office the security was worried about why I wanted to go to the mainframe computer room where the minicomputer was installed.
A TRW hardware engineer arrived and explained that I was a young Los Angeles software developer and was escorted to the raised floor air conditioned computer room. All of the computer room operators were wearing slacks, white shirts and ties. I spent several days sitting on the computer room floor or at a table and small chair next to the minicomputer installing the software, testing and applying patches to fix bugs. After about a week, we were ready for the launch on May 15, 1974.
So that customers would be comfortable with the ATM, the bank created a persona called “Tillie the All Time Teller Girl”. The bank created commercials with fun jingles and advertisements to introduce this new ATM banking solution. Tillie was a smiling, blue eyed character that appeared in the ads and commercials. There was even a jingle created for the marketing campaign.
The ATMs were red and gold to make them look more friendly and accessible to customers.
The ATMs the bank used were Docutel’s Total Teller, which was more than just a cash dispenser. Using the Total Teller you could get cash, make deposits and transfer between accounts. The software on the minicomputer would take the ATM transaction information, validate it, send the request to the bank’s mainframe, receive back the authorization (or denial) response and send the result back to the Total Teller.
While monitoring the minicomputer I started to get a sore throat that got progressively worse. I asked the TRW team to find me a doctor. I went to a downtown Atlanta doctor who checked me out and finally told me, in a wonderful southern accent, that I had the “kissing disease” (Mononucleosis). I finished the installation and flew back to LA for several months of recovery.
Fun fact about Tillie: the woman in the picture and the ads was the voice and sang a song about Tillie the All Time Teller. That woman later on became the voice of Siri, Susan Bennett.
Fun Fact about the Data General Nova minicomputer: all bit patterns could be instructions and data. This made debugging somewhat challenging. If a buggy piece of code ran into data with unpredictable side effects and crashes. We always hoped that somehow execution would hit a bit pattern that was also a halt instruction. We would then dump memory to tape, ask the customer’s computer operator to print out the memory dump and try to look back from the halt or stuck loop and find the transaction data.