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
- Object Name
- adder
- date made
- 1945
- distributor
- Tavella Sales Company
- maker
- Borg-Warner Corporation
- Physical Description
- plastic (overall material)
- steel (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: .5 cm x 7.6 cm x 13.7 cm; 3/16 in x 3 in x 5 13/32 in
- place made
- United States: New York, Ithaca
- place distributed
- United States: New York, New York
- ID Number
- MA*313629
- catalog number
- 313629
- accession number
- 189330
- subject
- Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Adder
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Adder
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. S.H. Oliver
Visitor Comments