The Vintage Office

[Irena]

Here's my wonderful adding machine, I think my model is from the 1940's.

The base is bakelite, and at a handy angle, and the machine itself can be lifted from the base, so it is portable. The little dials are turned with the stylus to add and subtract, and there are directions for multiplication and division. They did expect you to know your basic math, though - "we take for granted that every user...knows the multiplication tables." The little metal thing on the left pulls out to zero the numbers.

Here's a link to the workings of the adding machine - in German. I used Google translator to read it, and it worked quite well. Mine is #2.

http://www.boelters.de/Rechenmaschinen/_Lightning/Lightning.html

This picture above isn't mine, and I don't have the box. I do, however, have the original instruction booklet ("How to Get the Most from Your New Lightning Sesk Model Portable Adding Machine") and a one-year guarantee certificate.

This little machine is a joy to use, much more fun than an electronic calculator. Of course, the Lightning can't graph, but nothing is perfect.

Irena

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Where's the USB port? lol

Seriously, that's a cool gadget. They were pretty darn clever back then, weren't they?

 

[wackyvorlon]

Ha! 'Tis nothing. Now, what you need is a Curta!

 

[boomerchop]

Totally cool

As a math teacher I would love to have something like that. The kids would be amazed. Both of those machines are really neat.

 

[Quigley Brown]

That's a Da Vinci calculator if I ever saw one...

 

[Barry]

I love old adding machines! I wish I could find a picture of the old punch-card machine my grandparents had in their clothing store - they used it to keep track of customer's accounts.

My grandmother still has a few old machines like this left over from her store.

 

[fabiovenhorst]

A very interesting machine...:eusa_clap

 

[vitanola]

Please forgive me for reviving a thread which has laid quiet for sixteen years, but…

This is my office at work. I share the space with my bookkeeper and an occasional helper during rent season. All of the equipment works and is used on a daily basis, including the radio, telephones, and (alas) the cuspidors.