Object Details
maker
Ludwig Spitz & Co.
Description
This sturdy German stepped drum, manually operated non-printing calculating machine has a brass and iron case painted black. The eight-digit entry levers are linked to dials that record the number entered and to steel stepped drums. Levers in front of the dials zero the entry. The addition & multiplication / subtraction & division lever is on the left, and the operating crank is on the right. The plate at the front is easily removed to show the levers and bell.
In back of the levers is the carriage, with nine revolution register dials and 16 result register dials. The zeroing bars for these registers are on the right of the carriage. A knob for lifting the carriage is on its far left. When the entry in the result register becomes negative (as in subtraction or division), a bell rings. It rings again if a number is added to bring the total to zero or more. The entire machine has a steel cover painted black.
A metal tag attached to the front of the machine reads: Sold by (/) The TIMES-INTO Co. (/) TRADE MARK. It also reads: Ludwig Spitz & Co. G.m.b.H. (/) T I M (/) TIME IS MONEY (/) TRADE MARK. It also reads: CHICAGO (/) U.S.A. The front of the machine reads: Made in Germany. Also stamped on the machine is: PATENT. A mark on the machine under the carriage at the right reads: 06573. Another mark on the machine, under the carriage at the left reads: 9239.
The machine was put into use at the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey (later the Public Service Electric and Gas Company) in 1923. The company considered scrapping the machine in 1962, but gave it to the Smithsonian Institution instead.
References:
Accession file.
E. Martin, The Calculating Machines (die Rechenmaschinen), trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, pp. 191–194.
J. H. McCarthy, The American Digest of Business Machines, Chicago: American Exchange Service, 1924, pp. 84–85. By this time, the American agent for the TIM calculating machine was the Times Into Company of Chicago.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Public Service Electric and Gas Company
date made
1923
ID Number
MA.321541
catalog number
321541
accession number
244668
maker number
06573 or 9239
Object Name
calculating machine
Physical Description
iron (overall material)
steel (overall material)
brass (overall material)
rubber (overall material)
german silver (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 19 cm x 56.2 cm x 16 cm; 7 15/32 in x 22 1/8 in x 6 5/16 in
place made
Germany: Berlin, Berlin
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_690669