Old Calculators

[Bruce Page]

Carl Eyman’s “Graduation Present Advice” prompted me to dig out my dad’s old Curta mechanical calculator and shoot a few pic’s. My dad was a land surveyor and bought this in the late `40’s or early `50’s. My strongest memory of it was that I would die a painful death if I ever even thought about touching it!

They don’t make things like this anymore. Made in Liechtenstein, it’s about 2½” diameter by 3½” tall and weighs about a pound. There is not a speck of plastic in it, the owner’s manual has a picture of the innards and there must be a few hundred parts to it. When you turn the top crank it feels like a high precision machine. The case has an o-ring seal to make it “Tropic Proof”. I think my dad paid 2 or 3 hundred for it new, I have no idea what it would be worth today.

Anyone else have any old calculators lying about?

[Steve Evans]

Bruce

I just did a quick ebay search and saw one very similar to that sell for $1,400 about a week ago. That's a pretty cool looking item.

[Tyler Howell]

Very Cool Bruce,

Great momento and memory.

[Bruce Page]

Bruce

I just did a quick ebay search and saw one very similar to that sell for $1,400 about a week ago. That's a pretty cool looking item.

Wow, $1400!
I toured the National Atomic Museum in Los Alamos NM several years ago. They had one of these in one of the displays but it only had 8 sliders on the side. This one has eleven.

[Dan Mages]

Here is my beauty. It is a 1926 NCR cash register model 500. The register comes from my family's hardware store. It was in use until 2001 when the store was shut down. It has several options on it, including a DC motor and a reciept printer. Unfortunately, it is sitting on the basement floor until I build the bar. It weighs around 250 pounds, so the support cabinet needs to be substantial.

The second one is a Nemington Rand unit I picked up a few years back. It was given to me by a friend when I was in college.

Dan

[Bruce Page]

Here is my beauty. It is a 1926 NCR cash register model 500. The register comes from my family's hardware store. It was in use until 2001 when the store was shut down. It has several options on it, including a DC motor and a reciept printer. Unfortunately, it is sitting on the basement floor until I build the bar. It weighs around 250 pounds, so the support cabinet needs to be substantial.

The second one is a Nemington Rand unit I picked up a few years back. It was given to me by a friend when I was in college.

Dan

Dan, the NCR cash register is spectacular!

[Tony Falotico]

Bruce, one of the guys in my survey class had one of those back in the late 60's. I played with it a few times, never did get hang of it. Also, the one he had was kinda heavy for it's size. Your right though, NO plastic. If I remember right you had to count the number of turns on the handle when multiplying?

Anyway, If I were you I'd hold on to that one, especially being your Dad's.

[Bruce Page]

Bruce, one of the guys in my survey class had one of those back in the late 60's. I played with it a few times, never did get hang of it. Also, the one he had was kinda heavy for it's size. Your right though, NO plastic. If I remember right you had to count the number of turns on the handle when multiplying?

Anyway, If I were you I'd hold on to that one, especially being your Dad's.

Tony,
You have to count the number of crank turns but it also kept track for you. By rotating the upper head you could easily change the decimal point so that helped keep the number of turns down. I remember chaining for my dad during summer vacations, he would be in the back of the surveyor truck cranking away with it - nope, I'm not going to sell it!

[Dan Mages]

Dan, the NCR cash register is spectacular!

Thanks!! It is are real beaut! It is also a real ball buster at 250+ pounds. Its all steel with steel mechanicals. My brother has the other register that dates to the 1890s. That one is all brass!! Any tips on building a cabinet that will support this beast??

Dan

[Tony Falotico]

Tony,
By rotating the upper head you could easily change the decimal point

That's one of the things that always screwed me up, but I really didn't get to use one enough to get the hang of it.

BTW, Do you still have his copy of Peterson's Trig Tables?

[Bruce Page]

That's one of the things that always screwed me up, but I really didn't get to use one enough to get the hang of it.

BTW, Do you still have his copy of Peterson's Trig Tables?

Tony, the only original paperwork I have is a little Curta 3”X5” x 65 page “Mathematical Handbook” that seems to spend an awful lot of time on five-place logarithms and other formula.
In cruising eBay, I saw a leather carrying case, I vaguely remember my dad having one but I have no idea what ever happened to it. After seeing what a collector’s item these things are, I wish I had all of the paraphernalia that I know once existed.
Oh well, I can always buy them on eBay right?

[Tony Falotico]

Peterson's Trig Tables (I'm pretty sure it was Peterson's) was a very large hardbound book (Letter size paper) about 1 1/2 inch thick, very heavy, that listed the trig functions for every angle, to nine (?) significant digits for every angle to the nearest second. Pre-electronic calculators didn't have built in trig functions like we enjoy today.

[Dave Richards]

I've always wanted a Curta but I've seen the prices these things go for. I content myself with a Virtual Curta