Object Details
maker
Brother International Corporation
Description
This sturdy handheld electronic calculator has an array of ten round digit keys and a decimal point key. It also has four arithmetic function keys, a total key, a percentage key, a C key and a Cl key. Behind the keys is an off/on/K switch. A mark behind this reads: brother PROCAL 408AY. Behind this is an eight-digit vacuum fluorescent display. A connection for a power supply is on the side at the top.
Four batteries would fit in a compartment in the back. A sticker above this reads: brother ELECTRONIC (/) CALCULATOR (/) MODEL 408AY USE MODEL 4086 (/) 6V DC 0.8W (/) NO B4013688 (/) BROTHER INDUSTRIES, LTD. MADE IN JAPAN.
Ball and Flamm give a date of about 1973 for this calculator. An advertisement for what was said to be the Brother 408AY appeared in the Los Angeles Times in October 1974, but this shows a different calculator. A December, 1974, advertisement in the Chicago Tribune lists the Brother 408AY as a calculator that cost over $50.00 and was on sale for $39.00.
References:
Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin CA: Wilson/Barnett,1997, pp. 39–40.
Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1974, p. a6.
Los Angeles Times, October 19, 1974, p. C4.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of John B. Priser
date made
ca 1973
ID Number
1986.0988.273
catalog number
1986.0988.273
accession number
1986.0988
Object Name
electronic calculator
Physical Description
plastic (case; keys material)
metal (circuitry material)
Measurements
overall: 1 3/4 in x 4 in x 6 1/8 in; 4.445 cm x 10.16 cm x 15.5575 cm
place made
Japan
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Computers
Computers & Business Machines
Handheld Electronic Calculators
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1305806