This adder has a red plastic back and a gray steel front. There are six columns for entering numbers with a stylus, and a seventh notched band to record carries to a seventh digit. A set of seven openings above the bracket-shaped columns of the adder displays the result. A zeroing bar is across the top. The plastic is shaped to hold the steel stylus.
The object is marked: MAGIC-BRAIN [/] CALCULATOR; ADD + [/] SUBTRACT - [/] MULTIPLY X; and: JAPAN. Instructions are stored separately. Compare to 1987.0375.01.
References: Popular Science, February, 1962, vol. 180, p. 20. This ad indicates that the Magic-Brain Calculator cost $.98 and was distributed from the Sunset Building, Beverly Hills, California.
P. Kidwell, “Adders Made and Used in the United States,” Rittenhouse, 8, (1994): pp. 78-96.
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.