Doug writes:
IIRC, each card had a sequence number. I don't know if they had
card-sorter machines.
Yes, of course we had sorters. Card sorting machines are much older than
computers: it's what punch cards were invented for. Ask Wikipedia to tell
you about Herman Hollerith. Don't you kids study history?
--
John Hasler
As I recall Hollerith developed the card "reader" which also sorted cards
and his special punched card format for the census bureau in the US. The
bureau is required by law to take a census every 4(I think) years. The
data had become so voluminous that they were unable to tabulate the data
from the last survey before it was time for the next survey. Hollerith
used his invention to start a company which became IBM
Larry