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.

Date Made: ca 1925

Distributor: Tavella Sales CompanyMaker: Calculator Machine Company

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: Illinois, ChicagoPlace Distributed: United States: New York, New York City

Subject: Mathematics

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Mathematics, Adder, Science & Mathematics

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of L. Leland Locke

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: MA.155183.27Catalog Number: 155183.27Accession Number: 155183

Object Name: adder

Physical Description: paper (overall material)metal (overall material)Measurements: overall: 1.2 cm x 8.2 cm x 15.3 cm; 15/32 in x 3 7/32 in x 6 1/32 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-1011-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_690239

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.