Baby Calculator

Tags

baby, calculator, chicago, vintage, zewiske

Calculators today are so ubiquitous that you probably don’t give them a second thought.  It’s unlikely you are ever without one so long as you have your smart phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, etc. at hand.  You can buy battery operated calculators for a dollar at any number of stores and you will never even question their accuracy.  But it wasn’t always that way.

Calculating machines really started becoming practical business tools in the late 19th century.  However, only large banks, insurance companies, government agencies, etc. could afford them in the beginning.  But it wasn’t just accountants and bookkeepers in large organizations that had a use for these kinds of machines.  If you think about it, there are a large number of professions who use math as part of their job.  There would be, of course, merchants and salespeople, but also various tradesmen such as carpenters and plumbers.

newspaper ad from 1925

And thus we come to the Baby Calculator.  The Baby Calculator was marketed towards the home user for bills and shopping.  It was also marketed to folks who worked with numbers but for whom a full-size adding machine was impractical.  It seemed to be especially popular with individuals “who worked outside”.   It was also marketed towards small businesses and bookkeepers who needed a less expensive alternative to the larger adding/calculating machines then available.

magazine ad from 1925

The Baby Calculator was a troncet-type adding machine made entirely of pressed steel.  When you purchased this item it would have included a leatherette case, instructions, some advertising material, and an aluminum stylus.  There were three versions sold throughout its history.  For versions 1 and 2 the differences were cosmetic as each was the same size and made from the same materials.  These measured 2.9375″ W x 5.75″ L x .4375″ H and weighed about 5 ounces.  Version 3, however, was made from pressed steel with a plastic back plate.  It weighed 6 ounces and measured 3.25″ W x 5.75″ x .3125″ H.  It also had a 9 digit display as opposed to a 7 digit display for versions 1 and 2.

The different versions were sold during the following time periods:

• Version 1 – 1923 – September 1945
• Version 2 – October 1945 – October 1947
• Version 3 – November 1947 – until at least 1951

As I’ve mentioned in the past it should be understood that there would be overlap during when the different versions were sold.  While version 3 was available by November 1947 version 2 was still being sold also until stock ran out.

version 2

version 3

If you look at version 1 you can see at the top of the front it states “Patent Applied For”.  There never was a patent granted for this machine.  In my opinion this was a marketing ploy meant to give the impression that this was better than its competition.

While there were other troncet-type adders on the market during the time the Baby was sold, its main competition seemed to be the higher-quality Ve-Po-Ad (Vest Pocket Adder) Calculator.  There are a number of Baby Calculator ads stating that this is a less-expensive vest pocket adding machine.  The Ve-Po-Ad seemed to be a better seller and was offered by many office suppliers while the Baby Calculator was relegated mostly to mail order, traveling salesmen, and some retail outlets.

Consumers’ Research, Inc., the precursor organization to the Consumers Union which split from them during a labor dispute, for many decades issued a monthly bulletin where they tested various consumer goods.  In October 1949 they published an article titled “Small or Pocket Adding Machines” where they tested three different adding machines; the Addometer, the Tasco Arithmometer, and the Baby Calculator.  The Baby Calculator received a rating of “Not Recommended”, their lowest grade.  Following is their recommendation overview, but in the “Other Information” section below you can download the entire article.

Oct 1949 Consumers’ Research Bulletin Recommendation. The Tasco Arithmometer received an even worse review.

newspaper ad from September 1945

magazine ad from October 1945

The company responsible for making and selling the Baby underwent a number of name changes in its history, although all of them were similar.

• Baby Calculator Co – 1923
• Baby Calculator Sales Co – 1925-1929
• Baby Calculator Machine Co – 1924-1925, 1930-1932
• Calculator Machine Co – (beginning in 1933 according to a trusted, but unsubstantiated, source) but proven from 1945-1950 and likely until it stopped being manufactured

newspaper ad from 1951

According to USPTO trademark 247,450 Harold S. Zewiske was doing business as the Baby Calculator Sales Company.  Mr. Zewiske died tragically in a plane crash in 1959 and while listed as being an editor for Vogue there was no mention of his connection with the Calculator Machine Company.  This tells me that either Mr. Zewiske was simply no longer engaged with that company or that it was out of business by 1959.  And it could be both.  However, with the latest ad that I can find being in 1951 it is my opinion that the Baby Calculator wouldn’t have been around for much longer than that.

Harold S. Zewiske

Other Information:

• v2 Baby Calculator Instructions
• v1 Baby Calculator Brochure
• v1 Baby Calculator Brochure You Need This
• Consumers’ Research Bulletin October 1949 “Small or Pocket Adding Machines”

Notes:

1. The Baby Calculator Co (1923, July). Wanted-Male Help. Chicago Tribune, page 25
2. Baby Calculator Sales Co (1925, February). advertisement. Popular Mechanics, page 174
3. The Fair (1925, December). advertisement. Chicago Tribune, page 5
4. Baby Calculator Machine Co (1930, June). advertisement. Popular Mechanics, page 139
5. Storey-Kenworthy Co (1945, September). advertisement. Des-Moines Sunday Register, page 12-X
6. Calculator Machine Co (1945, October), advertisement. The Pittsburgh Courier, page 3
7. Calculator Machine Co (1947, November). advertisement. Popular Mechanics, page 340
8. Editors (1949, October). Small or Pocket Adding Machines. Consumers’ Research Bulletin, pages 11-12
9. Cox & Rich Stationers (1951, May). advertisement. San Mateo Times, page 7
10. Editors (1959, February). Plane Crash Brings Grief to Many Here. Chicago Tribune, page 3

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Addiator Arithma

Tags

addiator, adding machine, arithma, calculator, germany, harrison, harrison-hoge, hoge, troncet, vintage

The history of pocket adding machines goes back to the 19th century.  One of the first commercially successful pocket adding machines was the “arithmographe” invented by Louis Troncet.  His adding machine was so successful that when other companies started producing machines based on his ideas they were called “Troncet-type calculators”.  Various Troncet-type adding machines were made into the 1970’s.

The Arithma, by Addiator, was one such device.  Using a set of numbered sliders encased in a metal shell and moved by means of a stylus, the Arithma could add and subtract quickly, quietly, and accurately.  This was a high quality item made of steel and aluminum designed for long-term continuous use.  The designs used by Addiator were successful enough in their own right that the name “Addiator” came to be used to refer to all calculators of this type, much in the same way you might use the name “Kleenex” to refer to a tissue or “Scotch” tape to refer to cellophane tape.

With the top section used for addition and the bottom portion for subtraction the Arithma was easy to use and intuitive.  On the top of the Arithma you’ll see a handle.  This was the reset mechanism which when pulled-out would reset all values to zero.

The Arithma measures 1.688″ W x 6.25″ H x 0.219″ D.  The one in my collection weighs 1.5 ounces with the stylus.  It should be noted though that on many of the advertisements it was mentioned that the Arithma weighed 3 ounces.  I’m unsure why there is a discrepancy, although my opinion is that in later versions more steel and less aluminum was used which increased the overall weight.

The Arithma was sold in the United States starting in 1957 and was advertised until 1973.  I do have independent data showing that as of 1975 over 2.5 million Arithmas had been sold in the U.S.  With electronic calculators becoming cheaper and more accessible about this same time it is unlikely the Arithma was sold after 1975.

The Arithma was manufactured in West Germany and imported into the United States by a company called Harrison Home Products Corp.  This company sold the Arithmas direct to retailers and also to consumers by mail order.  In 1968 the company changed names to Harrison-Hoge Industries Inc.  While the import company’s name will never be found on the Arithma itself, it will be found on both the box and the instructions.  If you have these you can date your Arithma to either pre-1968 or post-1968 by the company name used.

Carl Kubler, who was born January 13, 1875, started Addiator GmbH on February 13, 1920 in Berlin.  He was also the holder of both the German and U.S. patents for his adding machines.  Addiator ceased production in 1974 and went out of business officially in 1975.

newspaper ad from 1957

newspaper ad from 1968

newspaper ad from 1972

Patent and Other Information:

• Directions for Using Addiator
• US Patent 1961053 filed 08/20/1931, granted 05/29/1934
• US Patent 2238529 (Addiator Arithma and Faber-Castell slide rule) filed 05/02/1939, granted 04/15/1941

Notes:

1. Editors (1923, October). A New Calculating Machine. Typewriter Topics, page 179
2. Editors (1930, May). Addiator Ten Years Old. Typewriter Topics, page 164
3. Read’s (1957, November). advertisement. The Bridgeport Post, page 23
4. Harrison Home Products Corp. (1961, January). advertisement.Popular Science, page 41
5. McDonald, Stingel & Bush Office Supply Catalog (1964), Saginaw, MI, page 433
6. Madison House (1966, May). advertisement.  The Post Crescent, page 10
7. Palm Co. (1968, December). advertisement. Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, page 14
8. Harrison-Hoge Industries Inc. (1972, September). advertisement. Progress Bulletin, page 18
9. Harrison-Hoge Industries Inc. (1973, April). advertisement. Progress Bulletin, page 25
10. F. Diestelkamp, (©2014), Addiator-Überblick. Retrieved April  18, 2016, from http://www.rechnerlexikon.de/artikel/Addiator-%DCberblick

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The Itemizer

Tags

adding machine, calculator, clemens, itemizer, vintage

Every now and again, in every field of collecting, you come across something that makes you stop and wonder what in the world these people were thinking. The Itemizer is one of those things.

The Itemizer was a “handy purse size calculator” that could add and subtract. This makes it more an adding machine than a calculator but that exaggeration can be forgiven. Made mostly of polystyrene plastic with a minimal amount of steel parts and gears made of “long wearing” nylon, this weighed a very light 5 ounces. It was also small enough to fit in your hand at only 3.5″ in diameter. However, if 5 ounces was too heavy or 3.5 inches too big it did come with a strap that would allow you to fasten it to the handle of a shopping cart.

It works well enough for addition and subtraction but it isn’t intuitive. However, a quick read of the very simple instructions plus a bit of practice is all it would take to master using this. Also, unlike other types of inexpensive calculators (all of which would be mechanical at this price point at this time) it was self-contained and didn’t require use of a stylus to operate.

The patent for this was number 2819006 which was filed on March 15, 1954 and granted to George S. Clemens on September 27,1955. The patent was for a “hand adding machine” which at least implies the inventor understood that this wasn’t a calculator. For those wondering, to be considered a calculator the device must be able to perform the four basic math functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

The Itemizer in my collection is marked patent pending on the reverse meaning it was manufactured between 1954 and 1955. I’ve only seen one or two others in the past but they were also marked patent pending. It is likely that this wasn’t made much longer than 1955. It was manufactured by a company called Clemens-Joyce which was located in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, Illinois. I can find no information on this company so I cannot say if they had any other items available for sale or how long they were in business.

Itemizer packaging and instructions

Now, looking at the grey and white plastic construction coupled with a lack of any kind of differentiating design, unless you consider “round” a design, it would be one of a countless number of utterly forgettable failures. What really sets the Itemizer apart from others is its marketing.

Starting on the box with it’s double-entendre tagline of “for the calculating woman” to the multiple instances of stating that it was a “handy purse size” you move on to the instructions where it informs you can take your Itemizer along next time you go supermarketing [sic]. The Itemizer is billed as a gift for a bridal shower, as a “bread and butter” present for wife or mother, for the “girl in the office”, etc. Why, even the patent mentions that “the present invention relates to a hand adding machine particularly suitable for use by a housewife in purchasing groceries at self-service stores.”

While I understand that this was a different era with differing cultural norms, the in-your-face casual sexism of this makes you stop and wonder just what in the world was going on in their minds. And while there isn’t anything wrong with marketing to women, it would seem from the point of view of Clemens-Joyce that the only time a female would use such a sophisticated instrument would be to go shopping. No math for you ladies.

Patent and Other Information:

• Itemizer Operating Instructions
• US Patent 2719006

The Calcu-Pen

Tags

calculator, calcupen, hosiden, pen, satolex, vintage

The year 1975 saw the introduction of a number of technological innovations. This list included such notable milestones as:

• Rubik’s Cube was patented
• Marcel Bich introduced his Bic disposable razor
• Color television transmissions began in Australia
• Microsoft was founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen
• Sony introduced the Betamax videocassette recorder (VCR) for sale at $2,295.00 to the public
• NASA rolled out the first space shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101)

And while not quite the milestone of any of the above mentioned events, the year 1975 also saw the introduction of the Calcu-Pen in the United States.

newspaper ad from 1975

Made in Japan, the Calcu-Pen was a marvel of modern technology and design innovation marrying a ball point pen with an electronic calculator. The pen body was made of brushed aluminum while the calculator buttons and the power switch (located at the top of the pen) were made of plastic. The display was an eight digit LED. It is powered by an “N” size battery which is about the size of a half-height AA battery. The pen refill was laughably small at 0.875 of an inch long.

Overall the Calcu-Pen measures 6.25″ L and has a circumference of 2″. For comparison most modern pens measure about 1.5″ in circumference. It weighs two ounces but tends to be top heavy as the battery is located at the top of the pen.

The pen was advertised in the U.S. starting in 1975 through 1977. In 1975 it was sold for $79.95 but by late 1977 it was being advertised at $19.95. By 2015 standards $79.95 is a lot of money for a pen, but when you factor in inflation $79.95 in 1975 dollars equals $356.01 in 2015 dollars. This was modern electronics miniaturized to fit into a very high-quality pen and commanded an amount commensurate with its quality and advancements.

newspaper ad from 1976

As a pen it works well-enough but it is large and not well-balanced. This is unlikely to be your “go-to” regular use pen. The calculator portion was imaginatively designed using what was called quadraplane keys. You would actually press on one of the edges of the button to get the desired number or operation. The problem with these keys is that they were designed to fit into a small space but doing so made them difficult to operate. It was very easy to accidentally press the wrong edge. However, as long as you were careful it worked exactly as a calculator should.

The original U.S. patent for a calculator pen was filed in April 1975 and granted in February 1977 as patent number 4007364. Another patent showing the final manufactured design of the Calcu-Pen was filed in December 1975 and granted in June 1977 as patent number 4029915.

The primary inventor of the Calcu-Pen was a man by the name of Shin Ojima. I believe he worked for Hosiden Electronics in Japan. Like many inventors before him, Mr. Ojima had many ideas some of which you may not be aware of. Amongst his credits are such items as: the automatic bread baking machine (these things used to be sold everywhere), the analog electronic timepiece (an analog clock/watch where the hands and numbers are electronically generated on a screen), several electronic components, and a number of various pen calculators.

The manufacturer of the Calcu-Pen was never disclosed in any of the early advertisements. However, a company called Satolex which was formed by Hosiden Electronics was the credited manufacturer by 1977. I consider it very likely that Hosiden Electronics was the maker of the Calcu-Pen from the very beginning. An unsubstantiated source does credit Sharp with manufacturing the electronics for the pen but I cannot verify that. Hosiden is still in business today.

magazine ad from 1977

Patent and Other Information:

• Calcu-Pen Operation Instructions
• US Patent 4007364
• US Patent 4029915

Notes:

1. Smolowe, Jill (1977, January). Novelty Calculators. Popular Science, pages 58-59
2. Hauman House (1977, October). advertisement. Popular Science, page 165
3. Walls Bargain Center (1976, December). advertisement. Lawton Constitution, page 1d
4. Cole, David J; Browning, Eve; Schroeder, Fred. Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions, Westport, CT, Greenwood Publishing Group (2003). Print
5. Fred’s Showcase (1976, January). advertisement. Playground Daily News, page 17
6. Editors, (©2015), Satolex. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://www.trademarkia.com
7. Fred’s Showcase (1975, December). advertisement. Playground Daily News, page 4b

The Calcumeter

Tags

adding machine, antique, calculator, calcumeter, herbert north morse, standard desk, trenton, walsh

serial number 6210

For me, this is the item that started it all – the Calcumeter.  The Calcumeter is a cogged-wheel dial adder that was operated by using a stylus (or a sharpish pencil would do).  There were a number of different models running from 5 dials (as above) all the way up to 12 and included models for adding inches and feet, “English money”[sic] (see below), fractions, an architect’s model, as well as others.  Starting in December 1905 ads begin showing the Calcumeter with the subtitle of “Standard Desk Adding Machine” and sometimes as the “Standard Desk Calcumeter”.  Beginning in December 1907 advertisements stated that it “now resets automatically” and ads from that time forward mention the new reset mechanism.

The Calcumeter is made of steel, copper and brass and the one pictured above is approximately 6.25″ L x 2″ W in size.  On the top edge are two folding legs that allow this to be placed at a maximum 45 degree angle when set on a desk top.

ad from 1904

The earliest advertisement I’ve found is from January 1904 and the latest advertisement is from June 1914.  I have found a small article in the January 1902 issue of Scientific American that speaks about the Calcumeter.  Therefore we can date the availability of the Calcumeter from 1902 to at least 1914.  However, I consider it extremely likely that this would have been available for at least several years after 1914.

The Calcumeter was initially manufactured by the Morse & Walsh Co.  Beginning in 1906 the company name is listed as Herbert North Morse Co.  The location of both companies was always in Trenton, New Jersey.

ad from 1906

The model pictured is one of the earliest models.  Its 5 dials have a mechanical carry, which simply means that one full rotation of a dial automatically moves the dial to the left by one.  There is no reset mechanism on this model so you reset it by starting at the far right and successively moving each dial to zero, a tedious task at best. As noted above, starting in late 1907 a reset mechanism was finally added to all new models.

ad from December 1907

Herbert North Morse – photo used with kind permission of Abril Sisler

Perhaps surprisingly, this adder works rather well for its intended purpose.  It is accurate, takes up little desk real estate and is quite quiet in operation.  It was mainly designed to be used by people dealing with monetary figures.  Note that there is a white line to the right of the third dial where a decimal point would be.  Also, the “cents” wheels are brass color and the “dollars” wheels are copper.  And while the instruction booklet will tell you how you can do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division anything more than simple adding requires far more effort than you would ever consider using.

Its relatively cheap price and easy operation were its key selling points as other machines of that period were generally much more expensive and difficult to use.  That being said, the five disc model sold for $10.00 in 1904 which when converted for inflation comes to $271 in 2016 dollars!

While this is a very neat bit of engineering, the initial lack of a reset mechanism and competing technologies put this company out of business before too long.  That wasn’t the end of the line for dial adders though as they made a comeback in the 40’s and 50’s and you could buy plastic versions of this same type of adder up until the 70’s.

a 10 dial “English money” Calcumeter

Patent and Other Information:

• US Patent 689255
• US Patent 897688
• Instruction Manual

Notes:

1. Martin, Ernst (1992) The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tomash Publishers trans.) Pappenheim, Germany, Johannes Meyer pub. (original work published 1925)
2. Editors (1902, January 4). Mechanical Devices. Scientific American, p. 11
3. The Morse & Walsh Co (1904, December), advertisement, The St Louis Republic, page 14
4. Herbert North Morse Co (1905, December), advertisement, The Evening Star, page 19
5. Herbert North Morse Co (1907, December), advertisement, System the Magazine of Business, page 729
6. Herbert North Morse Co (1914, June), advertisement, System the Magazine of Business, page 735

Special Thanks:

Special thanks to Lorey Johnson and that awesome 10 dial English money Calcumeter I received from her!

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