Computers & Business Machines
Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.
The museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. Computers range from the pioneering ENIAC to microcomputers like the Altair and the Apple I. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers
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Wang LOCI-2 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- One of the first programmable electronic calculators, this instrument was announced in 1964 and sold from 1965. It was designed by An Wang (1920-1990) and his associates. Wang, a native of Shanghai, immigrated to the United States after World War II, studied computer science at Harvard University, and worked at the Harvard Computation Laboratory. He started his own business in 1951, producing magnetic core memories and other electronic equipment on order. The LOCI or “logarithmic calculating instrument” was the first product marketed by the company. Two versions of the machine were announced: the LOCI I, which was not programmable, and the LOCI II, which was.
- The desktop machine has nine digit keys arranged in an array, as well as a zero bar and a decimal point key. Depressing other keys changes the sign of the number, shifts the decimal point, shifts from the logarithmic to the work register, and shifts from the work to the logarithmic register. Further keys are for arithmetic operations, squares, square roots, inverse squares, inverse square roots, inverse logarithms, and clearance of various registers. To the right are controls for the decrement counter, the program counter, and the operation code. According to company advertising, the machine offers ten-digit precision in addition and subtraction and eight-digit precision in multiplication, division, exponentiation, root extraction, and logarithm computation. It has five storage registers of ten-digit capacity and a ten-digit display, plus a display for the sign of the answer. A cooling fan and a cord are at the back. The card reader attachment that plugs into the back holds program cards.
- A tag on the front of the machine reads: LOCI-2. A tag on the back reads: ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AND DEVICES (/) LOCI II (/) MODEL NO. 2AB (/) SERIAL NO. 2734 (/) TEWKSBURY, MASS. U.S.A. A paper tag on the back of the machine indicates that it was serviced 4/28/68, 9/12/68, and 2/9/71.
- According to a 1964 flier, the machine was to sell for $4,750.00. Kenney says that the initial price was $6,500. Wang Laboratories would go on to sell the 300 series of calculators (from 1966) and the 700 series (from 1969), and to manufacture minicomputers and networked microcomputers.
- For related objects and documents, see 1980.0096.02 through 1980.0096.10.
- Compare 1980.0096.01 with the later 1983.0171.01 (a Wang Series 700 calculator), and the even later 2011.0022.01 (a Wang Series 600 calculator).
- References:
- There is an extensive discussion of the LOCI II at the website of the Old Calculator Museum. See:http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/wangloci.html
- Wang Laboratories, Inc., “LOCI-2 Open New Vistas to your Personal Computing . . .,” Tewksbury, Ma., 1964. This is 1980.0096.08. A similar leaflet describes the LOCI-1 and has museum number 1980.0096.07.
- Charles C. Kenney, Riding the Runaway Horse: The Rise and Decline of Wang Laboratories, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1992.
- date made
- 1965 or later
- date received
- 1980
- maker
- Wang Laboratories
- ID Number
- 1980.0096.01
- catalog number
- 1980.0096.01
- accession number
- 1980.0096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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SCM Marchant Cogito 240 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This ten-key, non-printing electronic desktop calculator performs the four arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The factors and results are stored in three registers, two of twelve-digit capacity and the third, of twenty-four digits. The content of these registers appears in three rows on a cathode ray tube display. The top row (K) shows the entry from the keyboard, the second row (Q) the second factor or the quotient, and the third row (P) the total, product, or dividend.
- In front of the display is the keyboard, with an array of digit keys at the center, keys for arithmetic functions and memory on the right, and on the left reset, register transfer, register entry, recall, and exchange keys.
- A mark on the left front of the machine reads: SCM MARCHANT. A mark behind the keyboard and below the screen reads: COGITO 240.
- In the summer of 1965, the SCM Marchant Division of SCM Corporation announced that it would begin to sell the company’s first electronic calculators that fall. These were the Cogito 240 and a similar machine, the Cogito 240SR, which also had the ability to take square roots. The 240 was to sell for $2,195, and the 240SR for $2,395. The machines were manufactured at a company plant in Oakland, California.
- According to Bensene, the machine was designed by computer pioneer Stanley Frankel, who had worked on the Manhattan Project, run programs on the ENIAC computer, headed the Computation Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, and contributed to the design of minicomputers such as the LGP-30 and the Packard-Bell PB-250. Frankel worked on the design at Computron Corporation, a subsidiary of the California firm of Electrosolids. Not long after the British firm of Sumlock Comptometer released a desktop electronic calculator in 1961 (see the Anita Mark VIII), SCM acquired Computron Corporation, and Frankel and his team moved there to develop the Cogito 240.
- The calculator was quickly replaced by other electronic calculators in the SCM line. SCM dropped out of the calculator business entirely in 1972.
- References:
- R. Bensene, “SCM Marchant Cogito 240SR Electronic Desktop Computer,” at the website The Old Calculator Museum, accessed March 28, 2013.
- SCM Marchant, Cogito 240-240SR Service Manual & Parts List, Oakland, Calif.: SCM Corporation, 1965. This is 1979.3084.72.
- W. D. Smith, “Electronic Calculators Gaining,” New York Times, August 7, 1965, p. 25.
- “Presenting a new, highly advanced electronic calculator the Cogito 240,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1965, p. B10. Similar advertisements ran in the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and New York Times.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1966
- maker
- SCM Corporation
- ID Number
- CI.335373
- accession number
- 318944
- catalog number
- 335373
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Ribbon for a Monroe EPIC 3000 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This two-color ribbon is for a Monroe EPIC 3000 electronic calculator, with its paper box. One feature of the machine highly touted in advertisements was its ability to print entries and results of calculations, unlike some other electronic calculators.
- For related objects, see the rest of accession 1983.0471.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1966
- ID Number
- 1983.0471.02
- accession number
- 1983.0471
- catalog number
- 1983.0471.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Friden Model 1150 Desktop Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This electronic calculator was introduced by the Friden Division of Singer Company in 1968. It was the first printing calculator sold by that company. The instrument has an array of nine square plastic keys for entering digits as well as a zero bar and a decimal point bar. Right of the digit keys are addition and subtraction keys. Left are other function keys. Above these keys are memory, clearance and duplication keys. At the top left is a place for a paper tape.
- A mark on the front of the calculator reads: Friden. Another mark there reads: 1150 ELECTRONIC PRINTING CALCULATOR. According to the accession file, the machine has serial number 532. According to contemporary newspaper advertisements, it sold for $1,495 at a time when rival electronic printing calculators cost between $2,250 and $3,800.
- References:
- Accession File.
- [Advertisement], Washington Post, March 19 1968, p. 23.
- [Advertisement], New York Times, February 27 1968, p. 68.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1968
- maker
- Friden, Inc.
- ID Number
- CI.334381
- catalog number
- 334381
- accession number
- 313935
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Logic Unit for the Green Machine, A Prototype Desktop Electronic Calculator
- Description
- As a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of California – Berkeley, Thomas E. Osborne began thinking about the design of a desktop electronic calculator that could compute the very large and very small numbers encountered in scientific work. In January of 1964 he formed the firm Logic Design, Inc., to develop his ideas. By late 1964 he had built a prototype keyboard and display (1978.0311.01), as well as this prototype logic unit.
- The framework of the logic unit is a group of five rectangular perforated boards, arranged in the shape of a box. Numerous smaller boards are perpendicular to the base and to three of the sides. Metal supports are along the base of two opposite sides. Circuit components include transistors, resistors, capacitors, diodes, and a plug. A second plug is loose in the box.
- Elements of the green machine were incorporated in Hewlett-Packard’s first commercial electronic calculator, the HP9100. For a prototype of that machine, see 1978.0311.03. For related documentation, see invention notebooks and photographs by Osborne (1978.0311.03 through 1978.0311.14). For purchase orders of components used in the prototype, see 1985.0264.01.
- References:
- Bernard M. Oliver, “How the Model 9100A Was Developed,” Hewlett-Packard Journal, September, 1968. A copy of this article is at the HP Museum website.
- The website of the University of Wyoming contains biographical information about Osborne.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1964
- date received
- 1978
- maker
- Osborne, Thomas E.
- ID Number
- 1978.0311.02
- accession number
- 1978.0311
- catalog number
- 1978.0311.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Wang Loci-2 Card Reader
- Description
- The Wang LOCI II is one of relatively few calculators that had a variety of peripheral equipment. Included in the price of the machine was this metal card reader, painted light blue. It read specially designed punched program cards. A card is in the reader.
- A mark on the bottom of the card reader reads: Wang Laboratories, Inc. (/) ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AND DEVICES (/) LOCI CARD READER (/) MODEL NO. [blank] (/) SERLAL NO. 22806 (/) TEWKSBURY, MASS. U.S.A.
- For further information about the LOCI II, see 1980.0096.01.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1965 or later
- maker
- Wang Laboratories
- ID Number
- 1980.0096.01.1
- accession number
- 1980.0096
- catalog number
- 1980.0096.01.1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Monroe EPIC 3000 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- In 1966, Monroe International, Inc., a descendent of the Monroe Calculating Machine Company and a division of Litton Industries, introduced its EPIC electronic programmable printing calculator. The device includes a desktop keyboard and printing unit, and an attached calculating unit that sits on the floor. It has transistors, but not microprocessors.
- At the center of the desktop part of the machine is an array of nine digit keys with a 0 bar below it. To the right of these keys are function keys for the four arithmetic operations as well as a square root key and enter and print bars. To the left of the digit keys are keys for start, decimal point placement, interchange of the contents of two registers, repeat, and other operations. The printing mechanism is behind the keyboard. It displayed entries as well as the answer. A mark next to the paper tape reads: EPIC 3000. A mark below this reads: MONROE li.
- Monroe also sold a similar electronic calculator called the EPIC 2000.
- The calculator was given to the Museum by George C. Davis, who apparently used it in work as a consulting engineer in radio and television in Washington, D.C.
- References:
- Accession file, instructions 1983.0471.03.
- Personal Communication, Monroe Systems for Business.
- Vintage Calculators Web Museum.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1966
- maker
- Monroe International Corporation
- ID Number
- 1983.0471.01
- accession number
- 1983.0471
- catalog number
- 1983.0471.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Friden Model 130 Desktop Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This is one of the first fully transistorized electronic calculators. The hefty instrument has an array of nine square plastic digit keys, with a zero bar and a decimal point bar below these. In addition to keys for the four arithmetic operations, it has change sign, enter, repeat, clear entry, clear all, store, recall, and overflow lock keys. A decimal point selector dial is on the right.
- In entering arithmetic operations into the calculator, one first keys in a number, then pushes the enter key, then keys in the second number, and then pushes the key for the operator (e.g. the + key for addition). This way of representing arithmetic operations is known as reverse Polish notation, and would be used on several electronic calculators.
- Behind the keyboard is a cathode ray tube display that shows four rows of numbers. Each line shows 13 digits. If the numbers are smaller, the digits to the left are zeroes. The bottom line of the display shows the answers, and numeric entries as they are entered.
- Tags on the front and on the back of the machine read: Friden. A mark on the front next to the display reads: 130 ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR. A mark on the bottom at the front reads: MODEL 130 SER 9479.
- The Friden Calculating Machine Company began manufacturing mechanical calculating machines in California in the 1930s. In 1963 Friden was acquired by Singer Company. In August of 1964, the Friden 130 electronic calculator went on the market, selling for $2,150. Within a year, the price was down to $1,695. Friden soon introduced the 132 electronic calculator, which took square roots.
- References:
- W. D. Smith, “Electronic Calculators Gaining,” New York Times, August 7, 1965, p. 25, 27.
- [advertisement], Science, n.s. vol. 151, no. 3708 (21 January 1966), p. 367.
- Mathematics for the Space Age: The Totally New Friden 130 Electronic Calculator, undated advertising booklet.
- An extensive discussion of the development of the Friden 130 is at the Old Calculators Web Museum.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1964
- maker
- Friden, Inc.
- ID Number
- CI.334377
- catalog number
- 334377
- accession number
- 313935
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sony Sobax ICC-500 Electronic Calculator
- Description
- By the early 1960s, Sony Corporation had gained an international reputation for such consumer electronics products as a pocket transistor radio and a transistorized television. It exhibited a prototype desktop electronic calculator in 1964. In 1967, it released the SOBAX, or solid state abacus. It was called an "ICC" or integrated circuit calculator. By 1968, the machine sold in the United States for $1,250.
- The non-printing, four-function desktop electronic calculator has an array of nine digit keys at the center front. Zero and decimal point keys are below these. Immediately to the right are cancel, subtraction, and addition keys. Right of these keys are memory clear, memory input, and total keys, as well as a round-off switch.
- Immediately to the left of the digit keys are division, multiplication, and result keys. Left of these are repeat and memory out keys. Still further left are the on/off switch and the clear key. Behind is a fourteen-digit display window. A decimal point lever is below the result display, and a minus lamp is at the far left. The case includes a plastic handle at the top. A cord extends from the back and can be wound around protruding “cord anchors” for storage.
- A mark on the left front of the machine reads: SOBAX. A tag at the top reads: SONY.
- Compare CI*334388.
- References:
- Sony Corporation of America, SOBAX: SONY Solid State Calculator ICC-500W Owner’s Instruction Manual, New York: Sony Corporation, no date. This is CI*313986.10.
- Sony Corporation, “Press Release: Sony Portable Electronic Calculator ‘SOBAX ICC-500’.” May 15, 1967. This is CI*313986.07.
- P. H. Wiggins, “Calculators Hold Answers for Business,” New York Times, June 2, 1968, p. F26.
- An extensive discussion of the development of the SOBAX 500 is at the online Old Calculators Web Museum.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1968
- maker
- Sony Corporation of America
- ID Number
- CI.334389
- accession number
- 313986
- catalog number
- 334389
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sony Model ICC-2500 Sobax Desktop Electronic Calculator
- Description
- In 1967 Sony Corporation of Japan began to sell commercial electronic calculators under the name SOBAX, or solid state abacus. This is a later Sony “integrated circuit calculator,” the SOBAX ICC-2500, released in the United States in 1969. The calculator carried out routine arithmetic operations and took square roots automatically. Using various memory keys, it could be programmed to perform routine numerical calculations with diverse constants. There are 15 places in the register.
- A mark on the right front of the machine reads: SOBAX (/) 2500. A mark on the front left reads: SONY. A mark behind the keyboard reads: SOLID STATE ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR. A mark on the back reads in part: SERIAL NO. 602827.
- Compare CI*334388 and CI*334389.
- References:
- Sony Corporation of America, SOBAX Solid State Calculator ICC-2500W Owner’s Instruction Manual, Long Island City, N.Y., no date. This is CI*313786.15.
- Sony Corporation of America, [Press Releases], October 22, 1969. These are CI*313986.11 and CI*313986.12.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1969
- maker
- Sony Corporation of America
- ID Number
- CI.334390
- accession number
- 313986
- catalog number
- 334390
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sony Model MD-6 Prototype Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This is a prototype for a non-printing desktop electronic calculator made by Sony Corporation of Japan. It has an array of nine digit keys, with a zero bar and a decimal point key below these. The keyboard also includes keys for the four arithmetic operations and an equals key. The machine also has an on/off switch, a clear key, and an “attention” light on the left and five further keys on the right. Behind is a display for the answer. The machine shows result up to ten digits long in ten tubes.
- A mark on the front left of the machine reads: SONY. A mark on the back reads: SONY ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR (/) MODEL MD-6 NO. 7K282214.
- A slightly earlier Sony prototype calculator was exhibited at the World Electronics Show in New York in the latter part of March 1964, and the Japanese Pavilion at the New York World Exposition opening in April. Early engineering drawings for the MD-6 are dated July 18, 1964.
- References:
- Accession File
- Documentation received as part of accession 313986.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1964
- maker
- Sony Corporation of America
- ID Number
- CI.334388
- accession number
- 313986
- catalog number
- 334388
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
HP9100 Prototype Desktop Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This transistorized electronic calculator is the prototype for the first electronic calculator sold by Hewlett-Packard Company, the HP 9100. The machine was notable for its ability to compute transcendental functions at the push of a button, and for the range of values that could be computed.
- The prototype has a metal case painted gray. At the right center is an array of nine digit keys and a 0 bar, with clear display, enter exponent, and change sign keys above these. To the right of these keys is an array of fourteen programming keys. Left of the digit keys are keys for arithmetic operations, square roots, and shifting the position of variables within the x, y, and z registers of the calculator . The fifteen further keys to the left are for a variety of trigonometric, hyperbolic, and exponential functions.
- Above these keys are four switches. The leftmost determines whether angles entered and computed are in radians or degrees. The second switch from the left determines whether the decimal point is floating or fixed. The third switch turns the power on or off. The rightmost switch sets the mode as run or program. A display and a dial that may be set between 0 and 9 are behind the keyboard and switches. At the back are a power cord and a connector.
- The prototype brought together ideas of Thomas Osborne, Malcolm McMillan, and others at Hewlett-Packard. For Osborne’s earlier prototype, see 19780311.01 and 1978.0311.02. For a production model of the HP9100B, see 2012.0044.01.
- Bernard M. Oliver, “How the Model 9100A Was Developed,” Hewlett-Packard Journal, September, 1968. A copy of this article is at the HP Museum website.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1966
- date received
- 1978
- maker
- Hewlett-Packard Company
- Osborne, Thomas E.
- ID Number
- 1978.0311.03
- accession number
- 1978.0311
- catalog number
- 1978.0311.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Anita Mark VIII Desktop Electronic Calculator with Manuals
- Description
- According to the accompanying instruction book, this is “the world’s first electronic desk calculator.” The full-keyboard, non-printing calculator has ten columns of plastic keys and shows 12-digit results. A column of keys for multiplication is on the left. Keys for arithmetic operations and for clearance are at the front. The machine used vacuum tubes—later electronic calculators would have transistors and then microchips.
- The Anita Mark VIII was one of two electronic calculators developed by the British Bell Punch Company in a team led by Norbert Kitz. Kitz had obtained an advanced degree in computer science at the University of London in 1951, studying under computer pioneer Andrew Booth. He applied for a patent for an “electronic calculating machine” as early as 1957. By 1961, Bell Punch exhibited its Mark VII and Mark VIII electronic calculators at trade fairs.
- A mark on the front of the machine read: ANITA. A tag on the bottom reads near the top: MODEL NO. C/VII/I006852/A. The tag also includes an extensive list of patent and patent application numbers. The last British patent listed is 868761, which was issued May 25, 1961. A mark on the plastic cover for the machine reads: ANITA
- The operating instructions for the Mark VIII received with the machine were distributed by the Inter-Continental Trading Corporation of New York, N.Y. Also received with the machine is a booklet of operating instructions for the Anita Mark 9, a similar machine.
- Norbert Kitz filed for a U.S. patent for this machine December 9, 1961(he had filed for earlier U.S. patents in 1957 and 1959), and was granted it October 18, 1966.
- References:
- Norbert Kitz, "Key Controlled Decimal Electronic Calculating Machine," U.S. Patent 3,280,315, October 18, 1966. There are extensive online discussions of the Anita electronic calculators.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1961
- maker
- Sumlock Comptometer LTD
- ID Number
- 1999.0143.01
- accession number
- 1999.0143
- catalog number
- 1999.0143.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sharp Compet CS-10A Electronic Calculator
- Description
- In 1964 the Japanese firm of Hayakawa Electric (later Sharp Corporation) announced the Compet CS-10A, its first electronic calculator. This is an example of the device.
- The heavy full-keyboard, non-printing calculator has a metal case; ten columns of gray and white plastic keys; and keys for the arithmetic functions, equality, and clearance. The result register has 21 tubes and is covered with glass. Eleven dials and a red button stretch across the front. The cover is missing on the base.
- A mark on the front of the calculator above the register reads: SHARP COMPET. A mark to the right of this reads: CS-10A. A metal tag on the back reads in part: SHARP COMPET (/) MODEL CS-10A. It also reads in part: SERIAL NO. 86314 (/) HAYAKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
- According to Atsushi Asada, who led the team at Hayakawa Electric that developed the instrument, it included germanium transistors built by NEC and Hitachi instead of vacuum tubes. Circuits also used diodes. Early versions of the calculator had a total of some 5,000 components. The instrument was announced on the same day that Sony announced plans to sell a calculator using transistors (May 14, 1964). Sharp would go on to make much smaller and lighter electronic calculators.
- References:
- Accession file.
- Another example of the calculator is shown at the Vintage Calculators Web Museum at http://www.vintagecalculators.com/.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1964
- maker
- Sharp Corporation
- ID Number
- 2006.0137.01
- catalog number
- 2006.0137.01
- accession number
- 2006.0137
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Keyboard for Green Machine Prototype Electronic Calculator
- Description
- As a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, Thomas E. Osborne began thinking about the design of a desktop electronic calculator suited for calculating the very large and very small numbers encountered in scientific work. In January of 1964, he formed the firm Logic Design, Inc., to develop his ideas. By late 1964, he had built this prototype keyboard and display, as well as a prototype logic unit (1978.0311.02).
- The keys are of plastic, the case of balsa wood painted green. The prototype is known as “the green machine” from the color of the paint.
- The model has an array of nine digit keys on the right front, with zero, decimal point and exp keys above them. On the left are twelve keys for arithmetic operations, clearance, and memory access. After damage to the case, it was reconstructed by Osborne before it came to the Museum.
- For related objects, see 1978.0311.02. For related documentation, see invention notebooks and photographs by Osborne (1978.0311.03 through 1978.0311.14). For purchase orders of components used in the prototype, see 1985.0264.01. Elements of the green machine were incorporated in Hewlett Packard’s first commercial electronic calculator, the HP9100. For a prototype of that machine, see 1978.0311.03.
- References:
- Bernard M. Oliver, “How the Model 9100A Was Developed,” Hewlett-Packard Journal, September, 1968. A copy of this article is at the HP Museum website.
- The website of the University of Wyoming contains biographical information about Osborne.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1964
- date received
- 1978
- maker
- Osborne, Thomas E.
- ID Number
- 1978.0311.01
- catalog number
- 1978.0311.01
- accession number
- 1978.0311
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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