Adders - Notched Band Adders
Building on ideas of Perrault and de Caze, in 1842 the Russian E. Kummer replaced the wooden rods on an adder with metal bands notched on each side. Kummer’s idea was adopted by the Frenchman Troncet, who published what he called an Arithmographe in the 1890s. Adders with notched bands became the most common form of the instrument sold in the United States in the 20th century.
These stylus-operated instruments generally had a crook at the top of each column, to allow one to move adjacent bands in carrying (or, in some cases, borrowing) a digit. They were manufactured around the world. Occasionally, notched band adders were combined with a slide rule, to ease multiplication and division. A special form of the instrument, designed for computer programmers, aided calculations in base 60 rather than usual decimal arithmetic.
"Adders - Notched Band Adders" showing 3 items.
TASCO Adder
- Description
- This stylus-operated notched band adder has eight columns. A sliding plate atop the machine allows one to adjust the columns for subtraction. A blue-black plastic case holds a metal stylus. Accompanying the instrument are “Instructions for Operating the Pocket Arithmometer.”
- The TASCO pocket arithmometer closely resembles an adder sold by the Gray Arithmometer Company of Ithaca, New York, in the early 20th century. It was distributed by the Morse Chain Company of Ithaca in the 1920s. In 1929, the Morse Chain Company became part of Borg-Warner Corporation. Distribution of the adder soon shifted to the Tavella Sales Company of New York City.
- Compare to 1986.0663.01.
- References: P. Kidwell, “Adders Made and Used in the United States,” Rittenhouse, 8, (1994), pp. 78-96.
- Advertisements in Popular Mechanics 83 (March 1945), p. 178, (April 1945): 180, and (May, 1945), p. 178.
- Popular Science 153 (January 1948), p. 34.
- Utility Supply Company, Office Supply Catalog (Chicago, 1946), p. 285.
- New York Times, October 30, 1949, p. S12.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1945
- distributor
- Tavella Sales Company
- maker
- Borg-Warner Corporation
- ID Number
- MA*313629
- catalog number
- 313629
- accession number
- 189330
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Baby Calculator Adder
- Description
- The orange, black, and tan paper box contains a black and gold-colored metal instrument, instructions on pink paper, and a metal stylus. The device has seven columns for addition.
- The Baby Calculator was a handheld adder manufactured by the Calculator Machine Company of Chicago from at least 1925 into the 1940s. The Tavella Sales Company of New York City distributed this example. According to the box, it sold for $2.50 in the United States and $3.00 in Canada and other foreign countries. It has hooks at the top of each column for carrying in addition, but none at the bottom to assist in borrowing in subtraction.
- References: Typewriter Topics (March 1925), 59:76.
- Popular Mechanics (January, 1935), p. 128A; vol. 73 (March, 1940), p. 143A; vol. 83 (February, 1945), p. 192. A new design was introduced in 1945. See Popular Mechanics, April, 1945, p. 202.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1925
- distributor
- Tavella Sales Company
- maker
- Calculator Machine Company
- ID Number
- MA*155183.27
- catalog number
- 155183.27
- accession number
- 155183
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
TASCO Adder
- Description
- This stylus-operated steel notched band adder has seven crook-shaped columns and one straight one, with eight notched bands below. Eight windows show results, and a narrow clearing lever is at the top. A steel plate slides over seven columns in the shape of inverted crooks, as well as an eighth straight column. These are used in subtraction. Instructions accompany the instrument. Compare to MA*313629.
- The TASCO pocket arithmometer closely resembles an adder sold by the Gray Arithmometer Company of Ithaca, New York, in the early 20th century and distributed by the Morse Chain Company of Ithaca in the 1920s. In 1929, the Morse Chain Company became part of Borg-Warner Corporation. Distribution of the adder soon shifted to the Tavella Sales Company of New York City.
- References: P. Kidwell, “Adders Made and Used in the United States,” Rittenhouse, 8, (1994): pp. 78-96.
- Advertisements in Popular Mechanics 83 (March 1945), p. 178, (April 1945): 180, and (May, 1945), p. 178. Popular Science 152 (January 1948), p. 34.
- Utility Supply Company, Office Supply Catalog (Chicago, 1946), p. 285.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1945
- distributor
- Tavella Sales Company
- maker
- Tavella Sales Company
- ID Number
- 1986.0663.01
- accession number
- 1986.0663
- catalog number
- 1986.0663.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center