 To reduce the cash drain, the struggling Dayton Scale Division (the food services equipment business) was sold in 1933 to Hobart Manufacturing for stock.When the Social Security Act of 1935 – labeled as "the biggest accounting operation of all time" – came up for bid, IBM was the only bidder that could quickly provide the necessary equipment.Watson's gamble brought the company a landmark government contract to maintain employment records for 26 million people.