James Ritty

James Ritty (October 29, 1836 – March 29, 1918) was a real world saloonkeeper and inventor, who opened his first saloon in Dayton, Ohio, in 1871, billing himself as a "Dealer in Pure Whiskies, Fine Wines, and Cigars."

Background
Some of Ritty's employees would take the customers' money and pocket it, rather than depositing the cash that was meant to pay for the food, drink, and other wares. In 1878 Ritty became intrigued by a mechanism that counted how many times the ship's propeller went around. He wondered if something like this could be made to record the cash transactions made at his saloon.

As soon as he got home to Dayton, Ritty and his brother John, a skilled mechanic, began working on a design for such a device. After several failed prototypes, the third design operated by pressing a key that represented a specific amount of money. There was no cash drawer. James and John Ritty patented the design in 1879 as "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier."

Fallout world
In Fallout 3, Ritty is mentioned as the inventor of the cash register on a plaque in the Museum of Technology, making it a clear reference to the real world person. He, along with three other inventors, are described "some of the more overlooked American Inventors". They were depicted by the Contemporary Artist Lincoln Myers in a frame near the plaque, though unfortunately in 2277, the picture is no longer there.