Notched Band Adders

A collection of adders including a Magic-Brain Calculator, an Exactus Mini-Add, a Troncet Arithmographe, and a Locke Adder.

Building on ideas of Perrault and de Caze, in an instrument patented in Russia in 1847 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.

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TASCO Adder

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.
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

Wizard Calculating Machine

This notched band adder has a metal front and a black plastic back. There are eight bracket-shaped columns, nine display windows, a zeroing bar across the top, and a metal stylus that fits in the side (part of the plastic holder has broken off).
Description
This notched band adder has a metal front and a black plastic back. There are eight bracket-shaped columns, nine display windows, a zeroing bar across the top, and a metal stylus that fits in the side (part of the plastic holder has broken off). Between each of the columns there are two rows of numbers, one for addition and the other for subtraction. The adder comes in a blue plastic case.
According to documentation received with the device, it was distributed by Thoresen, Inc., of New York, N.Y. It is described as “the new 1959 WIZARD with the Magic Reckoner.” The Magic Reckoner was a multiplication table. The machine was made in West Germany.
This example was given to the Museum by Joan Pearson Watkins, the wife of Smithsonian curator C. Malcolm Watkins. She held various honorary curatorial positions at the National Museum of American History from the 1960s through the 1980s. Compare this object to MA.336448 and 2013.0197.01.
References: “Wizard Calculating machine,” 1987.0787.02.
Popular Science, vol. 174, February, 1959, p. 18. Not identical to adder shown in that advertisement.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1960
distributor
Thoresen, Inc.
ID Number
1980.0787.01
accession number
1980.0787
catalog number
1980.0787.01

Baby Calculator Adder

The orange, black, and tan paper box contains a black and gold-colored metal instrument, instructions on pink paper, and a metal stylus.
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

TASCO Adder

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.
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

Wizard Calculating Machine

This notched band adder has nine bands, eight bracket-shaped columns, and nine display windows. It has a black plastic back, a metal cover plate, and a metal stylus. A zeroing bar is across the top. The stylus fits on the side.
Description
This notched band adder has nine bands, eight bracket-shaped columns, and nine display windows. It has a black plastic back, a metal cover plate, and a metal stylus. A zeroing bar is across the top. The stylus fits on the side. There are two rows of numbers alongside the columns, one for addition and one for subtraction. There are no numbers along the extreme edges of the columns on either side. The machine was imported from West Germany.
Compare to 1980.0787.01 and 2013.0197.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1955
distributor
Thoresen, Inc.
ID Number
MA.336448
accession number
1977.1159
catalog number
336448

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