Object Details
maker
Rockwell International
Dataking, Inc.
Description
Early handheld electronic calculators used vacuum fluorescent or light emitting diode displays. The Dataking LC-800 was one of the first to use a liquid crystal display, reducing the power required for calculations. Rockwell International actually manufactured the calculator, a fact openly acknowledged in advertisements. The same calculator also sold as the Ibico 86 and the Lloyd’s 40.
The calculator has twenty cream-colored rectangular keys with an on/off switch above the keyboard. In addition to ten digit keys, a clear key, a decimal point key, a percentage key, a total key, and four arithmetic function keys, there are two memory keys that are operated in conjunction with the arithmetic function keys. A mark next to the switch reads: DATAKING.
At the back is the liquid crystal display, with a window behind it to illuminate the display. There is no provision for a power adapter as the calculator operated only on batteries.
The bottom of the back has a compartment for two nine-volt batteries. A sticker above this reads: DATAKING LC-800 (/) DATAKING, INC. (/) DC 18V. (/) SERIAL NO. 145160 (/) assembled in MEXICO (/) primarily of UNITED STATES parts.
Unscrewing four screws allows one to remove the back of the case. The circuit board covers the chip.
References:
[Advertisement], New York Times, May 12, 1974, p. 48. Calculator has a national introductory price of $59.95 and a suggested retail price of $99.95.
[Advertisement], New York Times, June 2, 1974, p. B4.
[Advertisement], Washington Post, June 16, 1974, p. L4.
[Advertisement], Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1974, p. E16.
Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 66.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of John B. Priser
date made
1974
ID Number
1986.0988.141
catalog number
1986.0988.141
accession number
1986.0988
Object Name
electronic calculator
Other Terms
electronic calculator; Handheld
Physical Description
plastic (case; display; keys material)
metal (circuitry material)
paper (stickers material)
Measurements
overall: 1 3/4 in x 3 3/8 in x 6 in; 4.445 cm x 8.5725 cm x 15.24 cm
place made
Mexico
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_334555