Hewlett-Packard HP 19C Handheld Electronic Calculator

This handheld electronic calculator is programmable and prints on a paper tape. It has thirty-one rectangular plastic keys. Most keys have three functions, one indicated on the keytop, one (in blue) on the front edge of the key and one (in gold) on the keyboard in back of the keys. Behind the keyboard are two switches and a red LED display. Behind this is the printing mechanism that displays up to eight digits of a result. A mark at the front of the calculator reads: hp HEWLETT-PACKARD 19C. A mark at the bottom of the keyboard reads: Continuous Memory. This phrase signifies that programs remained stored in the calculator after the device was turned off.

Two stickers are on the upper part of the back of the calculator. One reads: HEWLETT - PACKARD (/) 5V 1W (/) MADE IN U.S.A. The other has conversion factors between common and metric units for length, area, volume, mass, energy, force, power, pressure and temperature. A battery compartment is below the sticker. A battery pack with four batteries was removed from the compartment. A mark on the case below the compartment reads: 1802A00967. The first four digits of this number indicate that the device was made in the second week of 1978. The model was introduced in 1977 and sold through 1979.

The calculator has a black leather, lined, zippered case. It had a list price of $345 which declined over time.

References:

W.A.C. Mier-Jedrzejowicz, A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers , Tustin, California: Wilson/Burnett Publishing, 1997, pp. 54, 132.

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

[Advertisement], Washington Post, February 9, 1978, p. MD7. This ad from the University of Maryland Book Exchange gives a list price of $345 and a sale price of $295.

Currently not on view