Object Details
distributor
Tavella Sales Company
maker
Borg-Warner Corporation
Description
This stylus-operated notched band adder has eight columns. A sliding plate atop the machine allows one to adjust the columns for subtraction. A blue-black plastic case holds a metal stylus. Accompanying the instrument are “Instructions for Operating the Pocket Arithmometer.”
The TASCO pocket arithmometer closely resembles an adder sold by the Gray Arithmometer Company of Ithaca, New York, in the early 20th century. It was distributed by the Morse Chain Company of Ithaca in the 1920s. In 1929, the Morse Chain Company became part of Borg-Warner Corporation. Distribution of the adder soon shifted to the Tavella Sales Company of New York City.
Compare to 1986.0663.01.
References: P. Kidwell, “Adders Made and Used in the United States,” Rittenhouse, 8, (1994), pp. 78-96.
Advertisements in Popular Mechanics 83 (March 1945), p. 178, (April 1945): 180, and (May, 1945), p. 178.
Popular Science 153 (January 1948), p. 34.
Utility Supply Company, Office Supply Catalog (Chicago, 1946), p. 285.
New York Times, October 30, 1949, p. S12.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. S.H. Oliver
date made
1945
ID Number
MA.313629
catalog number
313629
accession number
189330
Object Name
adder
Physical Description
plastic (overall material)
steel (overall material)
Measurements
overall: .5 cm x 7.6 cm x 13.7 cm; 3/16 in x 3 in x 5 13/32 in
place made
United States: New York, Ithaca
place distributed
United States: New York, New York City
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Adder
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_690243