Object Details
maker
Contina AG Mauren
Description
This compact cylindrical handheld calculating machine has black metal sides and a plastic top and operating handle. Eight slots along the side of the cylinder hold levers that are pulled down to set numbers. The digit entered appears at the top of the slot. Holes around the edge of the top reveal the digits of the multiplier, which may be up to six digits large. The result also shows through holes around the edge of the top, and may be 11 digits large. The top may be rotated, as one one would move a carriage on an earlier stepped drum calculating machine. Sliding decimal markers indicate decimal places in entries, multipliers, and results.
To zero the machine, one raises the carriage and rotates a black disc under the operating lever through one turn. The operating handle is pulled out for subtraction and division. A lever on the side of the cylinder may be set for subtraction rather than addition in the revolution counting register.
The machine fits in black metal cylindrical case. The lid of the case turns clockwise to open.
A mark on the side reads: CURTA. A mark on the base reads: System Curt Herzstark (/) Made in Liechtenstein (/) by Contina AG Mauren (/) Type I No 61644. A mark on the lid reads: OPEN.
The Curta calculating machine was invented by the Austrian Curt Hertzstark (1902–1988). Hertstark, a Jew, was subject to imprisonment by the Nazis when they captured Austria. He worked on the design of the Curta during World War II as a prisoner at the concentration camp of Buchenwald, and produced the machine after the war in Liechtenstein. The Curta Type I was sold from at least 1949 until early 1972, when handheld electronic calculators replaced it.
For related documentation, see 1981.0922.02,1981.0922.03 and 1981.0922.04.
Compare to MA.333848. This machine has red marks to make it easier to find the setting levers.
References:
Curt Hertstark, Interview with Erwin Tomash, September 10 and 11, 1987, Oral History 140, Charles Babbage Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hertstark dates the beginning of production of the Curta to 1949.
Cliff Stoll, “The Curious History of the First Pocket Calculator,” Scientific American, (January 2004), pp. 82–89. Stoll and others give 1947 as the date of introduction of the Curta.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of John White
date made
ca 1965
ID Number
1981.0922.01
catalog number
1981.0922.01
accession number
1981.0922
maker number
61644
Object Name
calculating machine
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 12 cm x 5.7 cm x 5.7 cm; 4 23/32 in x 2 1/4 in x 2 1/4 in
place made
Liechtenstein
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Calculating Machines
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_690690