Science & Mathematics

Chemical Balance

The Museum's collections hold thousands of objects related to chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Instruments range from early American telescopes to lasers. Rare glassware and other artifacts from the laboratory of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, are among the scientific treasures here. A Gilbert chemistry set of about 1937 and other objects testify to the pleasures of amateur science. Artifacts also help illuminate the social and political history of biology and the roles of women and minorities in science.

The mathematics collection holds artifacts from slide rules and flash cards to code-breaking equipment. More than 1,000 models demonstrate some of the problems and principles of mathematics, and 80 abstract paintings by illustrator and cartoonist Crockett Johnson show his visual interpretations of mathematical theorems.

Topic: Adding Machines

Comptometer Section, Model F, 1/6 Fraction

This is an experimental model of a section of a full-keyboard non-listing adding machine. It has one column of five white plastic keys on the right, two partial columns of black keys in the center, and one column of nine black keys on the left.
Description
This is an experimental model of a section of a full-keyboard non-listing adding machine. It has one column of five white plastic keys on the right, two partial columns of black keys in the center, and one column of nine black keys on the left. Complementary digits are indicated. The keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). There are four numeral dials at the front, a zeroing lever on the right side, and a red button on the right behind the keyboard. The dial in the rightmost position is numbered zero to 5 and is slightly smaller than the others. There are two subtraction levers and no decimal markers. There is no base and no cover.
A mechanism to record fractional sixths or sixtieths, it was built at Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company in Chicago, but not produced. It was in the collections of Felt & Tarrant, and came to the Smithsonian from the successor firm of Victor Comptometer Corporation.
Reference:
Accession Journal 1991.3107.06
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1915
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323637
catalog number
323637
accession number
250163

Strode Adding Machine for Accounting

The base of this U.S. Patent Office model for a circular stylus-operated adding machine is a wooden paddle. The outer edge of the paddle is divided clockwise into 100 parts, which are marked in ink.
Description
The base of this U.S. Patent Office model for a circular stylus-operated adding machine is a wooden paddle. The outer edge of the paddle is divided clockwise into 100 parts, which are marked in ink. Five concentric metal discs are atop the paddle, each one slightly smaller than the one below. The discs are held together at the middle by a screw. The first disc above the paddle has 100 holes around the edge and rotates. The second disc is fixed, with the numbers from 1 to 97 marked in pen counterclockwise around the edge (a few higher digits are hidden). The third disc is toothed, and has the numbers from 1 to 100 around its edge, inside the teeth. The fourth disc covers the third one, with one notch that reveals a number on the toothed disc. The fourth disc also has 100 holes around its edge. Just inside these holes is the fifth, top disc. It also is divided into 100 parts around the edge. These are marked in pen from 1 to 50 going counterclockwise on the right side, and from 1 to 47 going clockwise around the left side (a few divisions are unmarked). The first disc is intended to represent sums of numbers up to 100 (cents), and to carry a term to advance the third disc, which represents hundreds (dollars). The smallest disc can be used as a guide in adding or subtracting hundreds.
The machine is stamped on the front: T.T.STRODE. It has a tag nailed to the back that reads: T.T. Strode (/) Calculating Machine (/) Recd May 4 1867. Thomas T. Strode of Chester County in eastern Pennsylvania took out several patents in the second half of the nineteenth century for inventions ranging from a machine to boring holes in posts to a grain winnower and weigher to calendar-clocks. He apparently worked as a farmer and a merchant.
References:
Thomas T. Strode, “Calculating and Registering-Machine,” U.S. Patent 74,170.
U.S. Census records for 1850, 1860, and 1870.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1868
patentee
Strode, Thomas T.
maker
Strode, Thomas T.
ID Number
MA.252693
accession number
49064
catalog number
252693

Carroll Adding Machine

This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a nine-key non-printing adding machine. The small machine has a wooden case with nine metal keys with wooden key covers, arranged in two rows. There are three wooden numeral wheels visible through a window at the back top.
Description
This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a nine-key non-printing adding machine. The small machine has a wooden case with nine metal keys with wooden key covers, arranged in two rows. There are three wooden numeral wheels visible through a window at the back top. The machine apparently is designed to add single digits up to 999. No numbers are visible on the key tops. The keys in each row presently appear to operate [no effect] 4 6 8 (/) [no effect] 2 3 5 7. The patent drawing indicates that the keys are arranged 2 4 6 8 (/) 4 5 5 7 9. The effect of the keys is determined by adjusting screws on the underside of the machine. The four registering wheels to the left have on their left side a ring of ten equidistant pins that are used in carrying. There is a lever at the top of the machine that can be adjusted to release the number wheels so that they can be turned back to zero using a button on the left. The device was patented by David Carroll of Spring Creek, Pennsylvania. Carroll took out other U.S. patents for ship’s logs (197995, granted in 1877; also 303115, granted in 1884), and a stump extractor (64628, granted in 1867, reissued in 1879).
References:
David Carroll, “Improvement in Adding Machines,” U.S. Patent #176,833, May 2, 1876.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 75.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
patentee
Carroll, David
maker
Carroll, David
ID Number
MA.308949
accession number
89797
catalog number
308949

Baldwin Arithmometer

This is the United States Patent Office model for a machine for adding a column of digits patented by Frank S. Baldwin, who is listed on the patent as a resident of Philadelphia.
Description
This is the United States Patent Office model for a machine for adding a column of digits patented by Frank S. Baldwin, who is listed on the patent as a resident of Philadelphia. It is the second of several patents Baldwin filed relating to adding and calculating machines.
The machine's back is roughly a half-disc, with the digits from 0 to 9 engraved across the top. A steel arrow rotates to point to any one of these digits. Rotating a brass knob returns the arrow to place. The knob is linked by gears to a small movable carriage at the base of the device. Returning the knob to its original position rotates two small register wheels. One of the wheels records the sum of the number entered and the number already set in the wheels. The other records the complement of this number. There are four sets of register wheels, linked to one another so that the machine carries, hence the machine may add numbers up to 9999.
A committee of J. W Nystrom, John Groesbeck, and Pliney E. Chase commented favorably on this machine before the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It received the Scott Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1874, and was produced in small numbers.
References:
U.S. Patent 153,522, July 28, 1874.
Thomas A. Russo Sr., and Conrad Schure, “The Calculating Engines of Frank S. Baldwin,” Rittenhouse, 11 #3 (May 1997), pp. 93-96.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1874
patentee
Baldwin, Frank S.
maker
Baldwin, Frank S.
ID Number
MA.308935
accession number
89797
catalog number
308935

Direct II Adding Machine by Muggli

This full keyboard non-printing adding machine has ten columns of keys, with nine keys per column. The keys are colored black and white according to the place value of the digits. The black keys are round, the white keys are polygonal.
Description
This full keyboard non-printing adding machine has ten columns of keys, with nine keys per column. The keys are colored black and white according to the place value of the digits. The black keys are round, the white keys are polygonal. At the top are 11 windows that show the result. These windows are covered by a single piece of glass. Two decimal markers slide in front of these windows. A zeroing lever is on the right side. Red plastic function keys are to the right and the left of the keyboard.
The machine is marked on the top: DIRECT II. It is marked at the front: THEO MUGGLI ZURICH (/) MADE IN SWITZERLAND PROTECTED BY PATENTS. The serial number, on the bottom at the front, is 20146. This object was number 23 in the Felt & Tarrant collection of adding and calculating machines. Manufacture of the Direct II began in the 1920s or 1930s.
Reference:
“Theo Muggli Passes Away,” Business Equipment Topics, 84 (June, 1933): p. 22.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
distributor
Muggli, Theo
maker
Muggli, Theo
ID Number
MA.323607
accession number
250163
catalog number
323607

Comptometer Model C, British Currency Indexer

This full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has a steel frame painted black, a steel mechanism, and eight columns of black and white plastic keys, with complementary digits indicated. The rightmost column has three black keys and indications of quarters from 1/4 to 3/4.
Description
This full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has a steel frame painted black, a steel mechanism, and eight columns of black and white plastic keys, with complementary digits indicated. The rightmost column has three black keys and indications of quarters from 1/4 to 3/4. The second column has eleven white keys. The third column has nine black keys. The fourth column from the right has one black key. The four left columns have nine keys each. The keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). The machine is designed for calculations involving pounds, shillings, and pence.
Thesubtraction levers are at the front of the columns of keys, decimal indicators in front of these, and nine windows covered with clear plastic that show the result. The wheel in the first position is divided to read eighths. A zeroing lever is on the right side. At the back of the machine is a metal attachment painted black that holds five paper-covered dials. Four of these dials are covered with metal shutters. The shutters are opened manually by pressing down on the key directly below the shutter. The shutter is then locked in position. A release lever on the left side closes the shutter. A knob on the left side manually rotates the dials. The entire instrument is designed to make it easier to multiply units of British currency. The machine has serial number 33077.
A label received with the object indicates that the British Currency Indexer was made approximately in 1914.
Reference:
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal, 1991.3107.06.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1909
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323654
maker number
33077
catalog number
323654
accession number
250163

Hill Arithmometer

This U.S. Patent Office model for an early key-driven adding machine has a wooden case with two columns of keys. Each column has six wooden keys. At the back are two wooden discs. Around the edge of each disc is a paper slip with the digits from 0 to 9 printed.
Description
This U.S. Patent Office model for an early key-driven adding machine has a wooden case with two columns of keys. Each column has six wooden keys. At the back are two wooden discs. Around the edge of each disc is a paper slip with the digits from 0 to 9 printed. These digits repeat seven times on each disc. To the right of each digit is, in smaller type, its nines complement, which is used in subtraction and division. Each wheel of the machine has attached to its side a ratchet that rotates according to the motion of a pawl. The base of the pawl is attached to the end of a lever that extends forward the length of the machine and is pivoted near the front. Above each lever, on the outside of the machine, is a column of keys, numbered from 1 at the top to 6 at the bottom.
To enter a number, the user depressed a key, which depressed the lever and moved the pawl, rotating the ratchet and wheel forward. Each wheel also had a toothed disc attached to it. After the wheel rotated forward past a "9" position, a tooth on the disc encountered a metal arm which drove a pawl on the adjacent wheel forward one position, causing a carry.
Thomas Hill, who took out a patent on this machine, was a Unitarian minister and, for a time, president of Harvard University. His patent did not result in a product.
References:
Thomas Hill, "Improved Arithmometer," U.S. Patent 18692, November 24, 1857.
Thomas Hill, "On a New Form of Arithmetical Complements," Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1857, 11:82;
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: The Western Society of Engineers, 1921, pp. 22-29, 61-62.
P. A. Kidwell, “Thomas Hill: Minister, Intellectual and Inventor,” Rittenhouse, 12 (October 1998): pp. 111-119.
date made
1857
patentee
Hill, Thomas
maker
Hill, Thomas
ID Number
MA.252686
catalog number
252686
accession number
49064
patent number
18,692

Alexander Calculating Machine

This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a lever-set non-printing adding machine. It has a wooden case with a curved metal front and back, and somewhat resembles an early cash register. It contains eight cogged wheels that rotate vertically on a common crosswise shaft.
Description
This is the U.S. Patent Office model for a lever-set non-printing adding machine. It has a wooden case with a curved metal front and back, and somewhat resembles an early cash register. It contains eight cogged wheels that rotate vertically on a common crosswise shaft. Each wheel is linked to a lever that extends from the front of the machine and is rotated upward to enter a number. The digits from 1 to 9 are stamped on the front of the case next to the opening for each lever, to indicate the digit being entered. Each large cogged wheel is linked to two smaller wheels. One turns forward, and gives the total entered. The second rotates in the opposite direction, and indicates differences. Each of the small wheels has the digits from 0 to 9 indicated around the edge.
The results recorded by these wheels are visible through two rows of windows at the top of the case. Each of these windows has a hinged cover. Every tenth tooth on a large wheel has a spring cog that drives the adjacent wheel, causing carrying and borrowing as needed. Multiplication is carried out by repeated addition. A row of keys at the front of the machine is used in division. There is a crank on the left side for zeroing the wheels associated with these keys. There is supposed to be a zeroing crank for the upper wheels, but none is on the model.
The machine is marked on the front at the base: IMPROVED CALCULATING MACHINE (/) INVENTED BY DR. J.B. ALEXANDER. It is marked on a paper tag attached to the left side: J.B. Alexander (/) Calculating (/) Machine (/) Received (/) 17th Decr (/) ‘63.
The physician Joseph Bell Alexander was born in North Carolina in about 1823. When he patented this adding machine, he was living in Baltimore. Alexander then moved to Washington, D.C., where he took out several other patents before his death in about 1872.
Reference:
Joseph B. Alexander, “Improvement in Calculating Machines,” U.S. Patent 41898, March 15, 1864.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1864
patentee
Alexander, Joseph B.
maker
Alexander, Joseph B.
ID Number
MA.309340
accession number
89797
catalog number
309340

Webb Adder

This two-wheeled steel stylus-operated non-printing adding machine has a large wheel with the numbers 00 to 99 stamped around the edge. A smaller wheel has numbers 0 to 49 stamped around its edge. A ring of holes is inside each set of numbers.
Description
This two-wheeled steel stylus-operated non-printing adding machine has a large wheel with the numbers 00 to 99 stamped around the edge. A smaller wheel has numbers 0 to 49 stamped around its edge. A ring of holes is inside each set of numbers. A metal plate covers the outer edges of the two wheels, revealing sums in a small window between them. The numbers 0 to 99 also are stamped around the window for the larger wheel. Numbers are added by rotation of the wheels, up to sums of 4999. The carry mechanism is that patented by L. C. Smith. The frame is smooth around the edge, and patterned on the back. The stylus is missing and there are no maker’s marks.
This instrument is from the collection of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company.
References:
Lester C. Smith, “Adding-Machine,” U.S. Patent 414335, November 5, 1889.
P. Kidwell, “The Webb Adder,” Rittenhouse, 1 (1986), pp. 12-18.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 63.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
patentee
Webb, Charles H.
ID Number
MA.323618
accession number
250163
catalog number
323618

Macaroni Box Model Comptometer (Replica)

This is a replica of the prototype for the Comptometer, a key-driven adding machine invented by Dorr E. Felt of Chicago. It is an open wooden box (originally used to store macaroni) with one row of "key stems" across the top.
Description
This is a replica of the prototype for the Comptometer, a key-driven adding machine invented by Dorr E. Felt of Chicago. It is an open wooden box (originally used to store macaroni) with one row of "key stems" across the top. There are five skewers in the row, although there are holes for nine of them. Beneath this are five wooden levers and then five levers with rows of wooden discs on them. Further mechanism at the front of the machine incorporates both corks and metal gears and discs. Rubber bands, used to set the levers to accept the next keystroke, are missing.
Compare the original, which has catalog number MA.311192.
Reference:
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921, pp. 52-56.
date made
ca 1933
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323646
catalog number
323646
accession number
250163

Lang Sales Register

This small device has a tin case painted yellow and green on top and red around the edge. The top of the case has four wheels drawn on it, each of which has the digits from 1 to 9 drawn around the edge.
Description
This small device has a tin case painted yellow and green on top and red around the edge. The top of the case has four wheels drawn on it, each of which has the digits from 1 to 9 drawn around the edge. The digits go clockwise for the first and third circles (marked “Cents” and “Dollars” and counterclockwise for the second and fourth circles (marked “Dimes” and “Dollars”). At the top of each circle, at the zero position, is a window that reveals a rotating disc below. The discs are rotated using thumbscrews that protrude from the back of the instrument. An arm on top of each circle points to a digit on the wheel. The discs advance when they are rotated in the direction of increasing digits and remain fixed when the arrows are moved back to zero.
The machine is marked on the front: SALES REGISTER. It is also marked there: E.J. HOADLEY (/) MANUFACTURER OF SPECIALTIES IN CONFECTIONERY. HARTFORD, CONN, U.S.A..
The Brooklyn City directory for the year ending May 1, 1890 lists ten men named William Lang. It seems likely that the William Lang who took out this patent was the William Lang who founded William Lang Company of Brooklyn and who patented a wide range of goods, including a speed-indicator, a curtain-pole ring, a box fastener, a watch case, coin-controlled vending apparatus, a pocket lighter and, with his son William A. Lang, a tuning-peg.
Reference:
U.S. Patent 431365, July 1, 1890. The patent indicates that a model was submitted.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890
patentee
Lang, William
ID Number
MA.309335
accession number
89797
catalog number
309335

Turck Model 510 Comptometer

In the early 20th century, inventors strove to adapt a variety of adding machines to electrical power sources.
Description
In the early 20th century, inventors strove to adapt a variety of adding machines to electrical power sources. This experimental model represents an early attempt of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company to do this for the Comptometer.
This full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has a metal case, painted black. It has seven columns of digit keys and eight recording wheels for results. A single column of nine blue plastic keys is on the left. Complementary digits are indicated on the keys. The keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). Subtraction levers are just in front of the keys, then a row of seven decimal markers, and, in front of these, a row of eight windows. An “ADD. / MULT.” lever is at the back left of the machine. A zeroing lever is on the right side, and a crank at the back is used to provide power.
When the machine is set on “mult.,” one presses a number to be multiplied on the black and white keys, and the digit by which it is to be multiplied, on the blue keys. One then turns the crank at the back a number of times equal to the multiplier (alternately, this crank could be turned by an outside motor). When one has completed the sequence, all the keys pop up. In adding, one presses down a number to be added, turns the crank at the back entering the number, presses down another number, and turns the crank to complete the addition (again, the turning of the crank could be replaced by the action of a motor). This machine was never produced, although the “rock frame” was used in the Model H Comptometer and became a standard feature of later Comptometers.
The model was in the collections of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company and donated to the Smithsonian by the successor firm of Victor Comptometer Corporation.
References:
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal 1991.3107.06. The machine is Catalogue No. 75.
U.S. Patent 1371954, granted to J. A. V. Turck on March 15, 1921.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1916
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323645
catalog number
323645
accession number
250163

Comptometer Model F

This full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has a copper-colored steel case. The keys are in ten columns, colored according to the place value of the digit entered. Complementary digits are indicated on them.
Description
This full-keyboard non-printing adding machine has a copper-colored steel case. The keys are in ten columns, colored according to the place value of the digit entered. Complementary digits are indicated on them. The keys are alternately concave (odd digits) and flat (even digits). At the front are subtraction levers and numbered decimal markers. In front of these are eleven windows, covered with clear plastic, which reveal the result on the number wheels. A zeroing lever is on the right side. This is the last of the Comptometers to be designed by Dorr E. Felt. After this, the firm of Felt & Tarrant relied on the work of other inventors.
The machine has serial number 130780, which is indicated to the left of the keyboard. A metal plate screwed to the top of the machine in back of the keyboard is marked: TRADE COMPTOMETER MARK (/) PAT’D [. . .] (/) Felt & Tarrant Mfg. Co. (/) CHICAGO. The last patent date listed on the plate is: SEP.15.14
A Model F Comptometer with serial number 100,346 was produced in May, 1915, hence this machine is somewhat later. The model H succeeded the model F in 1920.
This machine was a gift of John T. Cheney of Washington, D.C.
Reference:
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal 1991.3107.06
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1917
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.333576
maker number
130780
catalog number
333576
accession number
299951

Pamphlet, Rapid Mechanical Calculation

This illustrated pamphlet describes the advantages of using the duplex Comptometer in the modern business world..For a related letter, see MA.304826.060. The document was received with a later model of the Comptometer (see MA.335357).Reference:P. A.
Description
This illustrated pamphlet describes the advantages of using the duplex Comptometer in the modern business world..
For a related letter, see MA.304826.060. The document was received with a later model of the Comptometer (see MA.335357).
Reference:
P. A. Kidwell, “American Scientists and Calculating Machines: From Novelty to Commonplace,” Annals of the History of Computing, 12, 1990, pp. 31-40.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1904
ca 1905
1905
maker
Felt & Tarrant Mfg. Co.
ID Number
MA.304826.64
accession number
304826
catalog number
304826.64

Wooden Box Model Comptometer

This key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of metal keys with nine keys in each column. It is an early production model of an adding machine designed by Dorr E.
Description
This key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of metal keys with nine keys in each column. It is an early production model of an adding machine designed by Dorr E. Felt of Chicago.
The keys in each column are stamped with the digits from 1 to 9 and the digits are painted white. No complementary digits are indicated, and the key tops are flat and entirely of metal. There is a spring around each key stem and the key stem passes through the key top. The stems become progressively longer as the digits become larger. The case is of cherry. The lower part of the metal plate on the front side is missing. Nine windows in the upper part of this plate reveal digits on nine number wheels that indicate totals. A zeroing lever and knob are on the right side of the machine. There are no decimal markers or subtraction levers.
A metal tag screwed to the top of the machine behind the keyboard reads: FELT & FOSTER (/) CHICAGO (/) PAT’D JULY 19.87.OCT 11.87. A label received with the machine indicates that it was used by Mr. G. W. Martin in offices of the Chicago Gas Company from 1887 to 1903.
A metal model tag stored with the object reads: 3. Photographs in the Accession Journal of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company indicate that machine #3 in that collection was rather different, resembling more closely a wooden box Comptometer in the Smithsonian collections with catalog number MA.273035.
References: U.S. Patents 366945 and 371496.
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal, 1991.3107.06.
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1887
maker
Felt & Foster
ID Number
MA.323648
catalog number
323648
accession number
250163

Comptograph

After inventing the Comptometer, Dorr E. Felt turned his attention to manufacturing a printing adding machine, which he dubbed the Comptograph. This early example is a full keyboard adding machine in a wooden case, with eight columns of metal keys covered with white discs.
Description
After inventing the Comptometer, Dorr E. Felt turned his attention to manufacturing a printing adding machine, which he dubbed the Comptograph. This early example is a full keyboard adding machine in a wooden case, with eight columns of metal keys covered with white discs. Each key stem has spring around it. Digits and complements of digits are indicated on the discs. In front of the keys are nine number wheels, visible through a glass window in a metal plate. The printing mechanism is at the back of the machine. Two large buttons, one on the right of the machine and the other on the left, are depressed to control this mechanism. The right button advances the inked ribbon to the take-up spool. What appears to be a zeroing knob and lever for the numeral wheels is at the front on the right, although it does not function. There is no paper tape. The section at the top of the machine that holds the metal tape folds over to protect the printing mechanism when not in use. A wire tray can be positioned to hold the paper tape.
The machine is marked with the serial number in the middle of the front and on the mechanism in the back right. this is: 209. A metal tag attached to the right side of the object reads: COMPTOGRAPH (/) PATENTED (/) JULY 19. 87. 366,945 (/) OCT. 11. 87 371,495 (/) JAN. 8. 89. 396,034 (/) JUN. [. . .] 89. 405,924 (/) NOV. 25. 90 441,232 (/) 441239 (/) It also reads: FELT & TARRANT MFG. CO. (/) 52 - 56 ILLINOIS ST. (/) CHICAGO. It also reads: COMPTOGRAPH (TRADE MARK).
References:
J. A. V. Turck, Origin of Modern Calculating Machines, Chicago: Western Society of Engineers, 1921, p. 119.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 104 ff.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.273036
catalog number
273036
maker number
209
accession number
54245

Torpedo Adding Machine

This German key-driven adding machine has a black plastic case and eight columns of steel keys covered with black and white plastic key covers. The columns run from 1 to 5 (not from 1 to 9). Keys for odd digits are deep, and those for even digits relatively shallow.
Description
This German key-driven adding machine has a black plastic case and eight columns of steel keys covered with black and white plastic key covers. The columns run from 1 to 5 (not from 1 to 9). Keys for odd digits are deep, and those for even digits relatively shallow. The metal zeroing bar is on the left, and nine windows in the front show the result. Decimal places are marked along the windows. There machine has no provision for subtraction. The bottom has black felt pads. The serial number marked on the bottom of the machine is 005105.
This example comes from the collection of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company.
Reference:
E. Martin, Die Rechenmaschinen und ihre Entwicklungsgeschichte, [1925 edition with later supplement], p. 457. This source says the machine was introduced in 1931.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1935
maker
Torpedo-Werke A.G.
ID Number
MA.323613
accession number
250163
catalog number
323613

Dalton Extra Special Adding Machine

This ten-key printing manually operated adding machine has an black aluminum frame with a steel keyboard painted green. The white plastic digit keys are arranged in two rows and marked with digits and their complements (complements are in red).
Description
This ten-key printing manually operated adding machine has an black aluminum frame with a steel keyboard painted green. The white plastic digit keys are arranged in two rows and marked with digits and their complements (complements are in red). The three red function keys are makred repeat, total, and correction. The metal crank with handle is on the right side. The color-coded place indicator is above the keyboard. One may enter numbers up to nine digits long and print up to nine digit results. The printing mechanism, which held a two-colored ribbon, is on the top of the machine. The “four-inch” carriage has a paper tape dispenser behind it, but no paper tape. Above the platen is a serrated edge for tearing the paper tape. The machine has four rubber feet.
A mark on the front reads: Dalton (/) ADDING, (/) LISTING AND (/) CALCULATING MACHINE. Another mark there reads: STOCKWELL & BINNEY. A brass tag attached at the bottom front reads: Dalton (/) ADDING (/) MACHINE (/) CO. (/) REG. U.S. OFF. It also reads: PAT. SEPT. 24, 1912 NO. 1039130 (/) PAT. DEC. 31, 1912 NO. 1049057 (/) PAT. DEC. 31, 1912 NO. 1049093 (/) OTHER PATENTS ISSUED AND PENDING (/) CINCINNATI,OHIO(EAST NORWOOD). A metal tag attached at the bottom on the back gives the serial number: NO 73430.
The machine was transferred to the Smithsonian collections from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Table Mountain, California. Stockwell & Binney is the name of a California chain of stationery stores.
Compare to MA.335299 (that machine lacks a place indicator).
Reference:
J. H. McCarthy, American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, p. 536.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920
maker
Dalton Adding Machine Company
ID Number
MA.323329
accession number
251557
maker number
73430
catalog number
323329

Automatic Arithmotor

This U.S. Patent Office model for an adding machine has eight counting wheels that rotate on a common crosswise shaft. Around the edge of each wheel, the digits from 0 to 9 are printed repeatedly. Attached to each cylinder is a toothed revolving disc.
Description
This U.S. Patent Office model for an adding machine has eight counting wheels that rotate on a common crosswise shaft. Around the edge of each wheel, the digits from 0 to 9 are printed repeatedly. Attached to each cylinder is a toothed revolving disc. The machine has a wooden case with a tin cover over the wheels. On the cover, next to each wheel, is a slip of paper labeled with the numbers from 1 to 9. To enter a number, one places one's finger at the tooth next to the digit on the appropriate paper slip, and rotates forward. The sum appears in slots in the metal cover, near the top of the machine. Each wheel has four cams linked to a weighted pawl-lever, which is responsible for carrying.
The inventor was Reuben [sic] R. James, an Indiana native born in August, 1826. According to Census records, he was a farmer (1850, 1860) and then the proprietor of a woolen mill (1870) in Rising Sun, Indiana. He took out this patent in 1878. James and fellow Rising Sun resident Mirabeau N. Lynn took out a patent for a grain meter in 1881.
References:
U.S. Patent 209690, November 5, 1878.
U.S. Patent 238122, February 22, 1881.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
patentee
James, Reuben R.
maker
James, Reuben R.
ID Number
MA.309321
accession number
89797
catalog number
309321

Baldwin Adding Machine

In the late 19th century, Wiliam Seward Burroughs of St. Louis pioneered in the introduction of key-set printing adding machines, designed especially to assist banks in keeping track of accounts. The Burroughs Registering Accountant found a considerable market.
Description
In the late 19th century, Wiliam Seward Burroughs of St. Louis pioneered in the introduction of key-set printing adding machines, designed especially to assist banks in keeping track of accounts. The Burroughs Registering Accountant found a considerable market. In August of 1902, calculating machine inventor Frank S. Baldwin proposed this form of a key-set, printing adding machine. It has only one set of keys (the 3 key cover is missing), arranged in the order of a modern telephone touch pad.
A small, unmarked key is to the left of, and above, the “1” key. To the right of the "3" key stem is a threaded metal protrusion. Above the keys is a semicylindrical carriage with a row of nine numeral wheels that indicate the total. At the base of the carriage is a saw toothed bar. A metal arrow points up from the bar as a place marker. A triangular protrusion from the machine surface holds the bar. At the end of the carriage is a screw, perhaps for zeroing. A small lever attached to the bottom left of the carriage may release it to move left or right.
Behind the carriage is a printing mechanism that prints up to nine digits. It is driven by a crank on the right. Reels for the paper tape are behind the mechanism. The wooden knob on the crank folds inward so that the lid of the mahogany box closes. A loose metal handle fits into a hole in the right side of the machine.
A mark on the case of the machine reads: 27-86. No serial number found.
This machine is from the collection of L. Leland Locke, and was once at the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1903
maker
Baldwin, Frank S.
ID Number
MA.311955
accession number
155183
catalog number
311955

Groesbeck's Calculating Machine

This stylus-operated non-printing flat adding machine has five cogged, linked wheels. Five windows at the bottom show sums of numbers entered. Five windows at the top show complementary digits and are used in subtraction.
Description
This stylus-operated non-printing flat adding machine has five cogged, linked wheels. Five windows at the bottom show sums of numbers entered. Five windows at the top show complementary digits and are used in subtraction. The outer casing of the instrument is nickel-plated brass, the mechanism is brass. The device lacks a stylus. It is marked: GROESBECK’S CALCULATING MACHINE (/) PATENTED MAR. 18 1870. It is also marked: ZIEGLER & McCURDY (/) PHILAPA.CINN.O.CHICAGO,ILL. (/) ST.LOUIS,MO.SPRINGFIELD,MASS.
This machine is the invention of John Groesbeck (1834-1884), a consulting accountant, operator of the Crittenden Commercial College in Philadelphia, and author of several textbooks on commercial arithmetic. It apparently was his only invention. According to a review in the Philadelphia School Journal, it sold for $6.00 in 1871. The firm of Ziegler & McCurdy dissolved in 1872, suggesting that this object was made quite near the time of the patent. It was given to the Smithsonian in 1944 as a gift of Lt. John P. Roberts of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
References:
John Groesbeck, “Improvement in Adding-Machines," U.S. Patent 100,288, March 1, 1870.
“Groesbeck’s Calculating Machine,” Pennsylvania School Journal, vol. 19 #7, January, 1871., p. 216.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 383.
George P. Donehoo, editor. Pennsylvania A History - Biographical, Chicago/New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc., 1928, 290 to291.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870
patentee
Groesbeck, John
maker
Ziegler & McCurdy
ID Number
MA.312824
accession number
167256
catalog number
312824

Bouchet Adding Machine

This is the second form of key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United States in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860.Bouchet was of an inventive turn of mind, devising automatic snakes to f
Description
This is the second form of key-driven adding machine patented by Michael Bouchet (1827-1903), a French-born Catholic priest who came to the United States in 1853 and worked in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1860.
Bouchet was of an inventive turn of mind, devising automatic snakes to frighten his acolytes, and a folding bed and fire escape for his own use. He had considerable responsibility for the financial affairs of his diocese and, according to his biographer, as early as the 1860s invented an adding machine to assist in keeping these accounts. Of these devices, Bouchet patented only later versions of the adding machine, taking out patents in 1882 and in 1885.
His machine was used to add single columns of digits. Depressing a key depressed a lever and raised a curved bar with teeth on the inside of it. The teeth on the bar engaged a toothed pinion at the back of the machine, rotating it forward in proportion to the digit entered. A wheel at the left end of the roller turned forward, recording the entry. A pawl and spring then disengaged the curved bar, preventing the roller and recording bar from turning back again once the key was released. Two additional wheels to the left of the first one were used in carrying to the tens and hundreds places, so that the machine could record totals up to 99. Left of the wheels was a lever-driven tack and pinion zeroing mechanism.
This silver-colored example of Bouchet’s machine has a brass base and nine keys with plastic key covers (two of the key covers are missing), arranged in two rows. It is from the collection of computing devices assembled by Dorr E. Felt in the early 20th century It has serial number 229. Compare to 310230.
References:
Michael Bouchet, “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 251823, January 3, 1882.
Michael Bouchet, “ “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 314561, March 31, 1885.
Dan Walsh, Jr., The Stranger in the City, Louisville, Ky.: Hammer Printing Co., 1913, esp. pp. 49-70.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885
maker
Bouchet, Michael
ID Number
MA.323630
maker number
229
accession number
250163
catalog number
323630

Comptometer Model J With Operator's Lock

This full keyboard key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of keys. These are colored white and green, with digits and complementary digits. Keys for odd digits are concave, those for even ones are flat. Key stems become taller going from front to back.
Description
This full keyboard key-driven non-printing adding machine has eight columns of keys. These are colored white and green, with digits and complementary digits. Keys for odd digits are concave, those for even ones are flat. Key stems become taller going from front to back. The mechanism has a steel cover painted brown. Decimal markers, number wheels, and subtraction levers are at the front of the machine, and a zeroing crank is on the right side. The holes showing the nine number wheels are covered with clear plastic. A red button above the keyboard on the right, and a black knob with an arrow on it is above the keyboard on the left.
The machine is marked to the left of the keyboard with serial number J279,961. It is marked across the front of the machine: Comptometer. It is marked on a metal plaque on top of the machine in back of the keyboard: TRADE COMPTOMETER MARK. It is also marked there with a series of patent dates, the last of which is: NOV.2.20. It was received with a metal tag that reads: 14.
The Model J Comptometer was introduced by Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company of Chicago in 1926. Improved design and construction reduced the effort of operating the keys, compared to earlier models. This model also featured a operator’s lock, which locked the Comptometer so that new data could not be entered when a calculation was entered. Rotating the black knob so that the arrow points to the front locked the machine. This example came from the collection of Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company, and was given to the Smithsonian by the successor company, Victor Comptometer Corporation.
References: U.S. Patent 1,927,856 (granted September 26, 1933).
Felt & Tarrant, Accession Journal, 1991.3107.06.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1926
maker
Felt & Tarrant Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MA.323644
maker number
J279,961
catalog number
323644
accession number
250163

American Adding Machine, Model 0

This lever set non-printing manually operated adding machine has an etched steel case painted black. Seven levers move in circular arcs between slots in the case.
Description
This lever set non-printing manually operated adding machine has an etched steel case painted black. Seven levers move in circular arcs between slots in the case. The case is painted along the edges of the slots with the digits from 0 to 9 (large and in black and white) and 9 to 0 (small and in red). The large digits are used for addition, the small ones for subtraction. A corrugation or depression in the cover is found at the place of each digit. Digits are set by placing the index finger in the corresponding depression and raising the lever by the thumb until it is stopped by the finger. They are entered by moving down a metal handle with a wooden knob on the right side. The result appears in seven windows above the levers. Rotating a knob on the left side of the machine transforms the action of the handle from addition to zeroing. Another handle on the right side zeros digits set incorrectly. The machine has four rubber feet.
The machine is marked on a plaque attached to the front: AMERICAN (/) ADDING MACHINE (/) AMERICAN CAN COMPANY (/) ADDING MACHINE DIVISION (/) CHICAGO, ILL. No 1153. It is also marked there: PAT. AUG. 27, 1912 (/) OTHER PATS. PEND.
By mid-1922, American Adding Machines were made by the American Adding Machine Company of Chicago. Compare MA.333921.
References:
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, pp. 27, 518.
Jervis R. Harbeck, "Adding-Machine," U.S. Patent 1,036,614, August 27, 1912.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1914
maker
American Can Company Adding Machine Division
ID Number
MA.323606
accession number
250163
maker number
1153
catalog number
323606

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