Computers & Business Machines

• 

  Morse-Vail Telegraph Key

  Description

  Alfred Vail made this key, believed to be from the first Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, as an improvement on Samuel Morse's original transmitter. Vail helped Morse develop a practical system for sending and receiving coded electrical signals over a wire, which was successfully demonstrated in 1844.

  Morse's telegraph marked the arrival of instant long-distance communication in America. The revolutionary technology excited the public imagination, inspiring predictions that the telegraph would bring about economic prosperity, national unity, and even world peace.

  Date made

  1844

  used date

  1844

  demonstrator

  Morse, Samuel Finley Breese

  Vail, Alfred

  maker

  Vail, Alfred

  Morse, Samuel Finley Breese

  ID Number

  EM.181411

  catalog number

  181411

  accession number

  31652

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Library of Congress Punch Card

  Description

  The late 1960s were a time of rapid change in processes for cataloging and circulating books at the U.S. Library of Congress. Computers were introduced for preparing cataloging records for libraries across the nation and for tracking and distributing books sent out on interlibrary loan. This is one card used in the process. It relates to a volume entitled Apparatus and Experiment SD Int. by Weiss, which had call number QP461 W4 1916. It was checked out on 12-22-72 to Borrower OS500. A mark on the bottom edge of the card reads: HP/ECC-1294-0.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  Date made

  1972

  1972

  date made

  1972

  maker

  Library of Congress

  ID Number

  2002.3058.02

  nonaccession number

  2002.3058

  catalog number

  2002.3058.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Library of Congress Punch Card

  Description

  The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of rapid change in processes for cataloging and circulating books at the U.S. Library of Congress. Computers were introduced for preparing cataloging records for libraries across the nation, and for tracking and distributing books sent out on interlibrary loan. This is one card used in the process. It relates to a volume entitled Western Electric Co Info Care 3A Audio that had call No. RF151 WF. It was checked out on 12-12-72 to borrower OS500. A mark on the bottom edge of the card reads: HP/ECC-1294-0.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  Date made

  1972

  maker

  Library of Congress

  ID Number

  2002.3058.03

  nonaccession number

  2002.3058

  catalog number

  2002.3058.03

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Library of Congress Punch Card

  Description

  The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of rapid change in processes for cataloging and circulating books at the U.S. Library of Congress. Computers were introduced for preparing cataloging records for libraries across the nation, and for tracking and distributing books sent out on interlibrary loan.This is one card used in the process. It relates to a volume entitled Western Electric Co Info Care 1A Audiometer that had call number RF151 W21. It was checked out on 12-12-72 to borrower OS500. A mark on the bottom edge of the card reads: HP/ECC-1294-0.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1972

  maker

  Library of Congress

  ID Number

  2002.3058.04

  nonaccession number

  2002.3058

  catalog number

  2002.3058.04

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Alexander Graham Bell Experimental Telephone

  Description

  Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated several experimental telephones at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. This unit features a single electro-magnet and could be used both as transmitter and receiver. Bell approached the problem of transmitting speech differently from other telephone inventors like Elisha Gray and Thomas Edison. They were mostly experienced telegraphers trying to make a better telegraph. Bell's study of hearing and speech more strongly influenced his work.

  date made

  1876

  maker

  Bell, Alexander G.

  ID Number

  EM.252599

  accession number

  49064

  catalog number

  252599

  patent number

  174465

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Cash Register with Display Cases, possibly by Waddell

  Description

  This device consists of a wooden cash register between two wooden and glass display cases. Amounts are entered by dropping balls into holes for 1, 2, 5,10, 25, and 50 cents, and 1 and 5 dollars. Another hole is labeled "Ticket". From these holes at the back of the machine, the balls slide forward and accumulate in slots on top of the cash drawer. Pop-up numbers above the holes rise up when a ball is dropped. Neither these numbers nor for the slots have any cover.

  This object resembles several devices manufactured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Greenfield, Ohio. It is quite similar to a “cash indicator and register” patented by J. H Schnarrenberger of Greenfield in 1891 (U.S. patent 465732). These cash registers were manufactured by firms associated with John M. Waddel (also spelled John M. Waddell), whose primary business was in the building of display cases and other business furniture.

  Compare to the description of the Waddel, Simplex, and Sun cash registers given in Crandall. Papers of the Waddell Company are at the Ohio Historical Society. By 1929, the Waddell Company was selling a combination of three adjacent display cases, with a money drawer under the shallower middle case. There was no cash register in this later item.

  References:

  Richard L. Crandall, The Incorruptible Cashier, Vestal, N.Y.: Vestal Press, 1988, vol. 1, pp. 133–147.

  Waddell Company, Show Cases, Store Furniture Catalogue No. 109, Greenfield, OH: Waddell Co., Inc., 1929, pp. 10–11.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1895

  ID Number

  MA.325694

  accession number

  256655

  catalog number

  325694

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Sex and the City Computer

  Description

  Manhattan newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker used this laptop to record her observations on modern relationships in the risqué comedy series Sex and the City (HBO, 1998-2004).

  Frank, witty, and often outrageous, the Emmy Award-winning cable show won millions of loyal fans with its depiction of four women friends and their romantic urban escapades. It also established cable TV as a competitive producer of original programming. Sex and the City set fashion trends, from Manolo Blahnik shoes to cosmopolitan cocktails, and provoked cultural debates about sex, relationships, and gender roles.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1998-2004

  maker

  Apple Computer, Inc.

  ID Number

  2004.0163.01

  accession number

  2004.0163

  catalog number

  2004.0163.03

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Texas Instruments TI-30 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This scientific handheld electronic calculator is has a black plastic case with an array of forty small rectangular brown plastic keys. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a change sign key, a total key, and four arithmetic function keys. Further keys are for reciprocals, squares, square roots, off, on/clear, inverse functions, sines, cosines, tangents, degrees, a constant, enter exponent, common logarithms, natural logarithms, powers, pi, percentage, left parenthesis, and right parenthesis. The remaining brown keys are storage, recall, summation, and exchange. The marks indicating the function of keys are on the keyboard above the keys themselves.

  Text above the keys reads: TI-30. Text behind this reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS. Behind the keyboard is an LED display that shows eight-digit positive and negative numbers.

  The calculator has a jack for a recharger/adapter along the right edge. Text on the back reads in part: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (/) electronic calculator. It also gives the serial number 4910048 and a date mark LTA2177. It also reads: ASSEMBLED IN USA. Below these marks is a compartment for a TI battery pack BP-5. A mark on it reads: LTA 5076. There are no screws for disassembling the calculator.

  The calculator comes in a blue and white zippered plastic carrying case with belt loop. Also in the case is a manual with title Texas Instruments electronic slide-rule calculator TI-30 Owner’s Manual.

  Compare 2007.0179.03. Also compare the SR-40, 1986.0988.049

  According to Ball and Flamm, writing in 1997, the TI-30 was “probably the largest selling calculator of all time.”

  Reference:

  Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 154. They give a 1976 price of $24.95.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1977

  maker

  Texas Instruments

  ID Number

  1986.0988.348

  catalog number

  1986.0988.348

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Hewlett-Packard HP-25 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This handheld electronic calculator, relatively small and simple for a calculator sold by Hewlett-Packard, was introduced on February 1, 1975 and sold through 1978. It was one a series of calculators of this size that also included the HP-21, HP-22, HP-25C, HP-27, and HP-29C. The calculator has a tan plastic case with a black or dark brown keyboard and thirty rectangular plastic keys. Many keys take on different meanings if the gold "f" shift key or the blue "g" shift key is pressed. The calculator has limited programming capabilities but no device for storing instructions from one session to the next. Behind the keyboard are an on/off switch, a program/run switch, and a twelve-digit LED display (either ten digits plus sign, or eight significant digits plus two digits of an exponent plus signs for both). A mark on the front edge reads: hp HEWLETT • PACKARD 25.

  The reverse side of the calculator has prongs for a power adapter/recharger as well as a battery compartment with a frame for two batteries. Stamped above the battery pack is the number: 1511A25777. The first four numbers of the serial number indicate that the calculator was made in the eleventh week of 1975. A tag at the base of the back reads: HEWLETT-PACKARD (/) MADE IN USA(/) 2.5 V 500mW.

  The calculator is in a black plastic zippered carrying case marked: ti. It does not fit well.

  In November, 1975, the calculator sold for $195.

  References:

  W.A.C. Mier-Jedrzejowicz, A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers , Tustin, California: Wilson/Burnett Publishing, 1997, pp. 46–48, 132.

  David G. Hicks, The Museum of HP Calculators, http://www.hpmuseum.org/, accessed July, 2014.

  Randall Neff and Lynn Tillman, “Three New Pocket Calculators: Smaller, Less Costly, More Powerful,” Hewlett-Packard Journal, November 1975, pp. 2-7, 12. Much of the issue is devoted to the HP-21, HP-22 and HP-25.

  [Advertisement], Electronics, vol. 48 #23, November 13, 1975, pp. 92-93.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1975

  maker

  Hewlett-Packard Company

  ID Number

  1987.0435.09

  catalog number

  1987.0435.09

  accession number

  1987.0435

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Unisonic 1040-AT Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  Electronic calculators were frequently advertised in March and April as aids to Americans computing personal income taxes. Federal taxes on personal income had been legalized in the United States by the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1913. A form for calculating these taxes known as the 1040 was introduced soon thereafter, and was widely known by American workers by the 1970s. Hence the name of this calculator.

  This handheld electronic calculator has a metal and plastic case with an array of twenty-six rectangular plastic keys. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, four arithmetic function keys, four memory keys, a square root key, a percentage key, a change sign key, an exchange key, a clear key, and a clear entry key. The keys are the same as those on the Unisonic 1040, although they are arranged slightly differently. Right of the top two keys is an on/off switch. A mark above this reads: Unisonic 1040. Behind this is an eight-digit green fluorescent display.

  A power jack is along the back edge.

  A sticker on the back gives calculation examples. A mark on it reads: 1040-AT. Another mark reads: SERIAL NO. (/) 353519 (/) MADE IN JAPAN. Below this is a compartment for four AAA batteries.

  Compare five examples of the Unisonic 1040: 1986.0988.110 (the 1040), 1986.0988.291 (the 1040-1), 1986.0988.292 (the 1040-AT), 1986.0988.109 (the 1040-C), and 1986.0988.108 (the 1040-C). The keys are not identical.

  References:

  For a timeline of historical events relating to personal income taxes, see the website of the Internal Revenue Service at www.irs.gov.

  [Advertisement], Morning Herald [from Hagerstown, Maryland], November 28, 1975, p. 49. Selling Unisonic 1040 for $22.96.

  [Advertisement], Chicago Tribune, September 1, 1977; p. I2. Unisonic 1040 selling for $10.96, regularly $13.96.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1975

  maker

  Unisonic

  ID Number

  1986.0988.292

  catalog number

  1986.0988.292

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Sharp EL-8028 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  In 1977, an advertisement in a Chicago newspaper introducing this calculator claimed that it offered “International elegance. Out of this world intelligence.” The advertisement described two Sharp calculators using liquid crystal displays. These required much less power than other forms of display, making it possible to build smaller, more stylish instruments.

  The thin handheld electronic calculator has silver-colored metal case and an array of twenty rounded rectangular plastic keys. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a % key, four arithmetic function keys, an on/clear key, a clear entry key, a square root key, and a total key. Behind the keyboard is an eight-digit LCD display. The on/off switch is below the display at the left. Text right of this reads: SHARP (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR. Text below the keyboard reads: SHARP ELSI MATE (/) EL-8028.

  The back of the calculator has a compartment for two squat cylindrical silver oxide batteries at the base. Text above this reads: ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR (/) EL-8028. It also reads: SHARP CORPORATION (/) MADE IN JAPAN BM. The text also reads: NO. 71109296. The most recent U.S. patent listed has number 3976994. This patent, for an LCD display, was issued in 1976 and assigned to Sharp.

  The brown leatherette case holds the calculator and a paper manual for it. Text on the outside of the wallet reads: SHARP (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR.

  References:

  [Advertisement], Chicago Tribune, June 22, 1977, p. B6. This model calculator selling for $19.95. A closely related model, the EL-8128, had five memory keys and sold for $24.95.

  [Advertisement], Washington Post, October 21, 1977, p. C8. This calculator was on sale for $15.99. The EL-8128 was on sale for $19.95.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1977

  maker

  Sharp Corporation

  ID Number

  1986.0988.318

  catalog number

  1986.0988.318

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Bohn Instant Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This hefty turquoise handheld electronic calculator has a plastic case, keyboard, keys, and screen.It fits in a black plastic, cloth-lined, zippered sleeve. It has an array of ten digit keys with a decimal point key, four keys for arithmetic operations, a total key right of these, a clear key, and a percentage key. A red button above the 7 key apparently allows one to switch between floating point arithmetic and dollars and cents. Above the keys are an on/off switch and a switch between the AC adapter and the battery. (The example presently has no adapter and no battery.) Behind this is an eight-digit green-tube display. A mark behind the display reads: Bohn Instant. On the back is a two-prong plug for an adapter. The back has two plastic feet and, at the base, a compartment that would hold five batteries.

  A silver-colored sticker on the back reads: BOHN REX-ROTARY (/) MODEL-BOHN INSTANT (/) VOLTAGE-7.5 VOLTS, D, C, POWER-1.5 V. A. (/) SERIAL NO. 3715751-A (/) SERVICE CENTERS (/)475 S. DEAN ST. (/) ENGLEWOOD N. J. 07631. A second service center has address: 121 PALM ST. (/) ALHAMBRA CAL 91801. A mark on the back reads: MADE IN TAIWAN.

  The Bohn Duplicator Company had distributed Danish adding machines and Rex-Rotary duplicating machines. For an example of one of the adding machines, see 1995.0018.01.

  The date of about 1972 for the Bohn Instant is given by Ball and Flamm.

  Reference:

  Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 34.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1972

  ID Number

  1986.0988.367

  catalog number

  1986.0988.367

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Texas Instruments Money Manager Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This handheld electronic calculator is similar to the TI Business Analyst II. It has a black plastic case with an array of forty small brown rectangular plastic keys. The function of the keys is indicated on the keyboard. In addition to ten digit keys, a decimal point key, and a change sign key, the calculator has a total key and four arithmetic function keys. Other keys are for on/clear, off, and "2nd" (pushed to activate the “dual function” indicated on the keyboard below most of the function keys). The calculator has a variety of statistical, business, and mathematical functions, and limited memory.

  Text above the keys reads: TI Money Manager. Text behind this reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS. Behind this is an eight-digit LED display. The jack for a charger/adapter is on the right side of the calculator.

  Text on the back of the calculator reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (/) electronic calculator (/) SERIAL NO. (/) 054123 LTA 5077 (/) ASSEMBLED IN USA. A sticker on the battery compartment indicates that the calculator was sold by T. K. Enterprises in Lawndale, California. The compartment itself is designed for a nine-volt battery.

  There are no screws to easily take apart the calculator. The device has a black plastic zippered case with a loop.

  Compare the TI Business Analyst II (1986.0988.087) and the TI-30 (1986.0988.348). Ball & Flamm give a 1977 price of $16.95.

  Reference:

  Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 159.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1977

  maker

  Texas Instruments

  ID Number

  1986.0988.054

  catalog number

  1986.0988.054

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Bohsei Model 1000 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This handheld electronic calculator has a light gray plastic case. It has ten digit keys, a decimal point key, four arithmetic function keys, and a total key. The keyboard has special blue squares surrounding the keys for pi, square root, reciprocal, percentage, and clear entry/clear. The four memory keys also have a blue background. The eight-digit green fluorescent display is behind the keyboard. A mark at the top left reads: BOHSEI. A mark immediately above the display reads: MODEL 1000. The on/off swith is on the right side.

  The case has a compartment for AA two batteries at the back. A gold-colored paper tag reads: Serial No. (/) 932770 (/) MADE IN HONG KONG. The calculator has a socket for an adapter on the top, but no adapter in this example.

  Newspaper advertisements indicate that a printing desktop electronic calculator was sold under the Bohsei name in 1977. A February 1978 advertisement in the Chicago Tribune indicates that the Bohsei Model 1000 was then on sale at a special price of $8.88.

  References:

  Chicago Tribune, November 24, 1977, p. T12.

  Chicago Tribune, February 25, 1978, p. 8.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1978

  ID Number

  1986.0988.158

  catalog number

  1986.0988.158

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Casio Mini CM-602 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This handheld electronic calculator is a modified version of Casio’s first commercial handheld electronic calculator, the Casio Mini. It has a black plastic case with aluminum trim on the front. The array of square plastic keys on the right side includes ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a cancel key, keys for four arithmetic functions, a total key, and an arrow key that is pressed to show more of larger results. Left of the cancel key on the top row of keys is a switch to set the position of the decimal point.

  To the left of the keyboard is a six-digit vacuum fluorescent display. Below it is the on/off switch. A mark right of the switch reads: CASIO-MINI (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR. A carrying loop extends from the left edge. This edge also has a socket for a power adapter. A mark inscribed on the trim on the front edge reads: Bob Clemens.

  Unscrewing screws on the two ends of the calculator makes it possible to remove the top. A sticker attached in front of the keyboard on the inside reads: 3084597. A mark on a chip below the display reads: 3F 4 (/) HD32154P. This is a large-scale integrated chip made by Hitachi. Above it is a chip made by NEC with number μPD129C.

  The back of the calculator has a compartment that would hold four batteries. A mark on the back reads: MINI CM-602 ELECTRONIC (/) CALCULATOR (/) BATTERY SUPPLY 1.5 V x 4 or (/) use AC ADAPTOR AD-4145 (/) 500mW MADE IN JAPAN (/) CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD. A stcker below this gives operating instructions.

  A mark on a sticker on the back of the battery compartment reads: 486383.

  A June 1973 illustration of the Casio Mini in the Los Angeles Times shows this model calculator. It was on sale for $59.95.

  Compare 1986.0988.184.

  References:

  Rick Bensene, Old Calculator Museum website.

  Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1973, p. D2.

  Website of Casio International.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1973

  maker

  Casio Computer Company

  ID Number

  1986.0988.185

  accession number

  1986.0988

  catalog number

  1986.0988.185

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Texas Instruments TI-1025 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This is one of a series of handheld electronic calculators manufactured by Texas Instruments. It has a black plastic case, a metal keyboard, and an array of twenty-four rectangular black plastic keys. In addition to ten digit keys and four arithmetic function keys, there are clear entry/clear/ON, decimal point, total, OFF, change sign, percentage, and four memory keys. Behind these is an eight-digit fluorescent display. A mark between the display and the keyboard reads: TI-1025. A socket for a battery adapter is on the right edge.

  The back has a compartment for a battery at the center. A above this reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (/) electronic calculator (/) A DIM OR ERRATIC DISPLAY INDICATES (/) A DISCHARGED BATTERY. A mark below the compartment reads in part: SERIAL NO. (/) 5096413 4577 (/) ASSEMBLED IN HONG KONG. Twelve patent numbers are listed, ranging from 3819921 to 4014013

  U.S. Patent 3819921 was granted to J. Kilby, J. Merryman, and T. J. Van on January 25, 1974, and assigned to Texas Instruments. U.S. Patent 4014013 was granted to David J. McElroy on March 22, 1977.

  Compare to 1987.0435.17 and 1986.0988.191. This calculator closely resembles one version of the Western Auto Citation in general appearance and the selection of keys. The keyboard finish is different.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1978

  maker

  Texas Instruments

  ID Number

  1986.0988.194

  accession number

  1986.0988

  catalog number

  1986.0988.194

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Texas Instruments Programmable 58 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This programmable scientific calculator, introduced in 1977, is more powerful than the TI 57 and less so than the TI 59, which were introduced at the same time. It has a black plastic case and an array of forty-five rectangular plastic keys, most of which can assume a dual function. The calculator could be operated manually by pressing keys. It could run a variety of preprogrammed routines from a module inserted in a compartment in the back of the case. Programs could also be entered using a set of keys and stored in one of ten locations (denoted by the letters A through E and A’ through E’). Fuller instructions for programming are given in a detailed manual that accompanied the calculator (for an example, see 1990.3166.01).

  A mark below the keyboard reads: TI Programmable 58 (/) Solid State Software. Behind the keyboard is a silver-colored space to hold labels relating to programs on a programming module. Behind this is a ten-digit display (it may also show five digits and a two-digit positive or negative exponent). An on/off key is at the back and a jack for a power supply is on the right side.

  A mark on the back of the calculator reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (/) electronic calculator (/) SERIAL NO. (/) 0095974 1378ACH (/) ASSEMBLED IN HOLLAND. Below this is a compartment for a battery pack. The lid is labeled: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (/) BATTERY PACK BP-1A. Below this is a compartment for a program module. The module inside is labeled: MASTER (/) LIBRARY (/) MODULE (/) -1-.

  The calculator has a black zippered case with a belt loop.

  Compare 1987.0435.04 and 2007.0179.01. (both examples of the TI Programmable 58C).

  References:

  “Power of Its Pocket Calculators Increased by Texas Instruments,” New York Times, May 25, 1977, p. 89. Suggested list price of new Programmable 58 to be $124.95.

  [Advertisement], Los Angeles Times, December 10, 1977, p. E3. Programmable 58 in stock, holiday sale price $99.95.

  Eli Maor, “A Summer Course with the TI57 Programmable Calculator,” Mathematics Teacher, 73 #2 (February 1980), pp. 99-106. Describes two experimental summer courses, one for students eight to eleven years old and the other for students twelve to fifteen, that used TI Programmable 58 calculators.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1978

  maker

  Texas Instruments

  ID Number

  1987.0435.03

  accession number

  1987.0435

  catalog number

  1987.0435.03

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 Personal Computer

  Description

  In the early 1970s, most personal computers came as hobbyist kits requiring a high level of technical expertise to assemble. Don French, a buyer for the consumer electronics chain Tandy Radio Shack (TRS), believed that Radio Shack should offer an assembled personal computer and hired engineer Steve Leininger to design it. In the summer of 1977, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 for $599. This offering included a BASIC language interpreter, four kilobytes of RAM, a Zilog Z80 processor at 1.77 megahertz, a twelve-inch video monitor, a cassette recorder, a power supply, and a cassette tape containing the games Blackjack and Backgammon. While some Tandy executives were skeptical about the success of the PC market, the availability of the TRS-80 on five thousand Radio Shack store shelves helped the Model 1 sell over one hundred thousand units during its first year, which was 50 percent of the total PCs sold in 1978.

  The TRS-80 had its microprocessor inside its keyboard. While you could purchase just the TRS-80 for $400, most opted for the package that included the twelve-inch monitor and cassette recorder for $600. This example of the object includes the TRS-80 Expansion Interface for $299 (the monitor sits on it) that gave the machine an extra thirty-two kilobytes of memory. Also part of the system are two Mini-Disk drives that sold for $499 and a suitcase for carrying all this around.

  One also could purchase such accessories as a TRS-80 Telephone Interface II for $199 that allowed for network communication and printer for $399. Examples of these are in the Smithsonian collections, although they were not received with this specific microcomputer.

  References:

  Radio Shack, A Tandy Company, 1978 Catalog No. 289, page 166, accessed September 1, 2014, http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1978

  Radio Shack, A Tandy Company, 1979 Catalog No. 302, pages 79–82, accessed September 1, 2014, http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1979

  “BYTE News,” BYTE, May 1979, 117.

  Peggy A. Kidwell and Paul E. Ceruzzi, Landmarks in Digital Computing (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994), 96–99.

  date made

  1977-1981

  maker

  Tandy Corporation

  ID Number

  1983.0169.01

  catalog number

  1983.0169.01

  accession number

  1983.0169

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Engineering Drawing - Plate-Adjusting

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1973

  maker

  Shugart Associates

  ID Number

  1982.0385.04

  catalog number

  1982.0385.04

  accession number

  1982.0385

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Unitrex 95SL Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This handheld electronic calculator has a tan plastic case and an array of twenty-four rectangular indented plastic keys. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key (that can also serve as a memory exchange key), a percentage key, a total key, four arithmetic function keys (one of which can also serve as a squaring key and another as an inverse key), a square root key, four memory keys, a clear entry/clear key, and a function/clear function key.

  Behind the keys is an eight-digit red LED display. A worn mark above it once read: UNITREX. The on/off key is on the right side and the power jack is on the left side.

  A sticker on the inside of the battery compartment on the back reads: 9 VOLT BATTERY. The compartment cover is missing. Text at the bottom of the case reads: HONG KONG.

  The model number is deduced by comparing this object to objects on websites and in printed sources.

  References:

  Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 171.

  [Advertisement], Progress Bulletin [Pomona, California], March 28, 1977, p. 26. Calculator selling for $7.99.

  Vintagecalculators.com website.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1977

  maker

  Eiko Business Machine Company

  ID Number

  1986.0988.016

  catalog number

  1986.0988.016

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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