The March 1919 edition of Reel and Slide Magazine featured a full-page article about this film, titled "'Dramatizing' the Adding Machine", written by E.J. Clary. The article praises the Bray Studios' approach to the industrial film, which balanced business needs with a more general audience appeal. Produced as a promotional film for Burroughs Adding Machines, the advertising content was laced within an entertaining screen narrative that mixed animated sequences with live-action scenes.
The November 9, 1918 edition of Motion Picture News projected a November 17, 1918 release date for a Paramount-Bray Pictograph reel featuring "Tortola, the Fisherman's Paradise", "A Machine That Thinks", "An Oriental Wrestling Match", and the cartoon The Greased Pole (1918).