I found this video on YouTube, it’s a “B” roll of news footage from a Target in Minnesota. Filmed in 1986, the first few minutes of the video feature the checkout area. This particular store was using IBM 3653 cash registers, assumedly in production for several years at this point. Target was using a mix of technology in the mid 1980s; newer stores used IBM 3683 cash registers at the time.
Watching the operator guidance panel when the cashier starts a new transaction. I’m assuming the user is cashier #16, then enters a “1” for “Cash Sale”, and then enters six digit SKUs and the price of each item.
I worked at Target as a cashier and cashier supervisor from Fall of 1979 through 1982. The 3653 was in use the entire time I worked there.
It was common to glue the O rings on the SKU button (to the right of the keypad above the enter key.
If you watch carefully at 0:24, you’ll see that the cashier enters the 6 digit SKU, the SKU key and then the enter key, without entering a price. The store controller had a price file for items on sale in the weekly flyer, and the cashier here knew that the item was on sale and didn’t bother entering the price. My understanding was that the full price file was too large for the memory of the 3651 Store Controller. A new price file was downloaded each week to the store on Saturday night to be ready for the new flyer on Sunday.
The IBM 3680 system also didn’t have room for a full price file, only knowing items that were on sale, so I’m assume you’re correct with the issue being present with the 3653.
The 3680 would know if an entered price was too low or too high for the department or class. I haven’t figured out if the 3650 system had room for that data.
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