iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 27/09/2026

Today I learned that baby jumpers were invented way earlier than I ever thought. The following newspaper ad is from January 1906. I found this during my research into the latest addition to my calculator collection. I'm sure you can figure out what it is. The second ad is by the same company.

Newspaper ad from January 1906 for a baby jumper.

Ad from May 1903 for the Locke Adjustable Table. It shows a man in a rocking chair with a magazine resting on a reading table which is attached to the armrest of the chair.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 20/09/2026

I saw no mechanical calculators at today's flea markets, so instead I'll show you the Olympia 1182-030 adding machine that I added to my website yesterday. It is a pretty standard manual adding machine, but it is nice how the rear hinges open for replacing the two-colour ribbon. jaapsch.net/mechcalc

The Olympia 1182-030 adding machine, made in Germany about 1957-1966.

You can release a catch to hinge open the rear section, giving you access to the two-colour ink ribbon.

What the Olympia 1182-030 adding machine looks like without the outer casing.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 13/09/2026

I did not buy it because I already have a Triumphator CRN2. Here is a link to my machine: www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/tri...

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 13/09/2026

On today’s visit to the fleamarkets I saw just one mechanical calculator, a good-looking Triumphator CRN2 pinwheel machine. These were made in Leipzig, East Germany, from about 1958 to about 1964.

Triumphator CRN2, seen at a Dutch antiques market earlier today. It has a sticker with a price of 85 Euros.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 07/09/2026

I didn’t see any old mechanical calculators at the fleamarket yesterday, but I did see one adding machine last week while I was on holiday. I didn’t buy it, as this Olympia was not special enough to lug all the way back from Tenerife.

Market stall in Tenerife which has an adding machine and a typewriter amongst other things.

Close-up of the Olympia AE-10 adding machine at a market stall in Tenerife

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 12/08/2026

Some pictures of the partial solar eclipse. I used a stack of old photo negatives as a filter on the first one, and a CD on the second one. #SolarEclipse2026

Partial solar eclipse, photographed using a stack of old negatives as a filter.

$Partial solar eclipse, photographed using a CD as a filter. There are two extra suns due to internal reflections, both slightly refracted.$

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 09/08/2026

On this weekend’s stroll through the fleamarkets I saw only another Plus Adder. Not the same one as last week though, as it has 6 input columns.

Plus Adder found at a flea market. It is a key-driven adding machine with 6 columns of buttons, 1 to 5 in each column. One button is missing.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 02/08/2026

Went to the fleamarkets today as usual on Sunday, but there was not much of interest. I only saw a Solo (a small plastic adder with coaxial input wheels) and an older Plus adder, shown below. Still, nice to be out and about in this weather.

A Plus adder by Bell Punch, made in the UK in 1948-1958. It is metallic green, but looks a bit orange here due to the tarp of the market stall.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 01/08/2026

A local second hand shop has some antique sewing machines, of various brands. This one caught my eye because I recognised the name Naumann. It was made by Seidel & Naumann who also made some adding machines. I have one of those adders of course.

Sewing machine by Naumann, seen in a local second hand shop.

The maker’s plaque says it is by Seidel und Naumann.

This is my SuN (Seidel und Naumann) adding machine, a chain adder from the 1910s.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 26/07/2026

By the way, the Add-O-Matic from Chicago (1947) should not be confused with the Add-O-Matic from Chicago (1937). They are completely unrelated adding machines. (3/3)

1937 advertisement for the Add-O-Matic adding machine. It Adds, Subtracts, Multiplies, Divides. It's easy to Operate. Absolutely Fool-Proof! All Steel - Lasts Indefinitely. Exclusive with GIMBELS in Manhattan!

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 26/07/2026

They may have first diversified into making glow-in-the-dark gardenias (worn as broches or hair decorations) but there was too little proof of this to include in the video. They then made this adding machine, and lastly began selling rat poison! (2/3)

United Enterprises Inc. Stainless steel tableware, rat poison.

1951 Advertisement by United Enterprises: d-Con will help you WIN the WAR ON RATS.

Advertisement for the Add-O-Matic. Note the same Chicago address. After they stopped making this adding machine, they started selling rat poison.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 29/06/2026

Later when a full version of Phillips's "The Bandit Invincible" manuscript was found, a more plausible theory emerged. A previously unknown associate of Butch was called William T Wilcox. Some deeds in the manuscript were Wilcox's. So a calculator was created by an outlaw, just not Butch Cassidy.

Mugshots of Wilcox and Cassidy, and a picture of Phillips just before he settled down in Spokane. (2012-07-22 The Spokesman Review, Spokane, Washington)

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 29/06/2026

... that he was actually Butch Cassidy. That somehow Cassidy had survived the shoot-out in Bolivia in 1909, moved to Spokane in 1911 and lived a nice quiet life there working in his machine shop. Eventually even Phillips's son, William R Phillips began to believe his father was Butch Cassidy. (2/3)

William R. Phillips says he believes his father was Butch Cassidy. (1987-03-22 The Spokesman Review, Spokane, Washington)

Photo of W T Phillips in a 1923 Oldsmobile, with a dog on the running board. "If he was Butch Cassidy, you have to be pretty impressed with him as an example of a criminal rehabilitating himself." - James Dullenty (1987-03-22 The Spokesman Review, Spokane, Washington)

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 29/06/2026

There was an inventor named William T Phillips who in 1917 developed an mechanical calculator. Just before he died in 1937, he wrote a biography of Butch Cassidy. Phillips had confided in friends that he had an outlaw past, and the unpublished manuscript had details that led some to believe ...(1/3)

Newspaper article about William T Phillips. He explains that his adding machine can also subtract by going in reverse.

A picture of Phillips in his machine shop, holding a cat, and surrounded by various machines.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 13/06/2026

It was much later that I found the photo in an online newspaper archive (The Sacramento Star, 1918-04-22). You can see how the inking made the printed photo very clear. The sides are cropped to make it fit into the column, and there were arrows on the original photo to mark the cropping.

"HANDS - What Are You Doing With Yours?", with the photo of Genevieve Deasy.

The text of the newspaper article about Miss Deasy holding the world record on the Comptometer mechanical calculator.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 13/06/2026

Here is a peek into how newspapers used to be made. I have a newspaper photo from about 1918, showing one Genevieve Deasy who was the world record holder on doing calculations on the Comptometer mechanical calculator. They inked the background black, and used white to accentuate some lines. (1/2)

Newspaper photo of a woman using a comptometer. The background is inked black, and the edges of the desk and comptometer are accentuated with white ink. There are arrow markings to show the left and right margins to crop to when printing.

The back of the newspaper photograph. It has handwritten text "Miss Genevieve Deasy, Winner Worlds Record on Comptometer", as well as various numbers, and the name of the source of the photo - J. J. Morris in San Francisco.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 07/06/2026

I have a site about my mechanical calculator collection, and had look through for any UK WW1 ads involving women in the workplace, but only found the one below. Felt & Tarrant Mfg Co began setting up Comptometer training schools worldwide just before the war, and then they came to be only for girls.

Ad asking for young ladies to become Comptometer operators. (1917-11-22 Western Daily Press)

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 07/06/2026

Here is a better quality image of the complete advertisement (Daily Telegraph, 1916-01-25)

"Machine-Guns in the Office" An ad for the Burroughs Adding Machine, featuring a drawing of a woman behind an office desk, partly hidden behind a large pile of books and handling a machine-gun.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 07/06/2026

BTW, here is a better image of the Burroughs ad that I quoted:

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 07/06/2026

Burroughs were always trying to one-up Felt and Tarrant, the makers of the Comptometer. Felt and Tarrant printed The Soldiers' French Phrase Book, giving it to soldiers for free. In the back is a Comptometer ad calling it the "Rapid-Fire Adding Machine", and the "Machine Gun of the Office".

Front cover of The Soldiers' French Phrase Book

The Soldiers' French Phrase Book was printed by Felt & Tarrant Mfg Co. as their part in the war effort of WW1, and given to soldiers for free.

At the back is an ad for Felt & Tarrant's Comptometer adding machine. It calls it the "Rapid-Fire Adding Machine", and claims "The Comptometer is the Machine Gun of the Office". Given the sounds the machine makes, it is quite an accurate description.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 17/05/2026

Saw this gorgeous Britannic mechanical calculator at a fleamarket this morning. If I didn’t already have one, I’d have snapped it up.

Beitannic pinwheel calculator at a fleamarket stall. It was in nice condition except that the clearing of the counter did not work on one number wheel.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 22/03/2026

I think this is the oldest thing in my calculator collection - a Stephenson adder. On the back it says Beardstown Illinois, and an 1873 patent date. Stephenson moved to Wilmington in around 1879, so that makes it about 150 years old. I do wonder what kind of person first bought it back then

Stephenson Adder, type I. A simple brass adding machine, with two dials. It is used to add up a column of digits.

Stephenson Adder, type I. On the back it has the patent date of March 1873.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 31/12/2025

Let’s see what happens…

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 21/12/2025

It was too late to save the company - it was bought by Victor. The Electrowriter was considered the most valuable asset, more than the Comptometer calculators themselves. The gif below shows some amazing footage of a pair of Electrowriters in action, from an office exhibition from 1966. (2/2)

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 21/12/2025

At the end of the 1950s the Comptometer Corporation (formerly Felt & Tarrant) was not doing well financially. They desperately needed a hit product, and came up with the Electrowriter. Two machines connected by a phone line, like a fax machines, but you could transmit live writing and drawing. (1/2)

1959 ad for the Electrowriter by the Comptometer Corporation.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 13/12/2025

The calculator illustrated in the ad is a slightly later version of this machine, a Brunsviga Nova II. This is amongst the first machines I added to my collection.

Brunsviga Nova II mechanical calculator with a pinwheel mechanism.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 13/12/2025

Awesome 1936 ad for the Brunsviga mechanical calculator, which apparently was used aboard the Hindenburg zeppelin to calculate its course. The vessel flew for only 14 months till its disastrous crash in May 1937.

Sicher und schnell
errechnet LZ129 Hindenburg seinen kurs auf
Brunsviga Rechenmaschinen

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 05/12/2025

The instruction leaflet has a list of 10 commandments for good dictation. Number 10 is ... of its time. Very Mad Men. "10. While noticing the blonde file clerk or other interesting distractions, I will try to remember to keep the microphone near my lips while my head rotates." (3/3)

Page from the instruction leaflet for the Comptometer dictation machine. It has a list of 10 commandments for good dictation:

1. I will dictate clearly and distinctly and spell out unusual names and places.

2. I will talk to my secretary through the unit, not to the machine.

3. In an unusually noisy room I will make an extra effort to speak more distinctly into the microphone.

4. When I pause during dictation I will remember to release the microphone switch so that my secretary will be able to judge the length of the letter by looking at the recording log.

5. I will eliminate guesswork for my secretary by dictating punctuation and paragraphs.

If there are any notations, isolated P.S.'s, etc., I will make note of them on the recording log which I will use to identify each letter.

7. When an error or changes occur I will take full advantage of this unit's Erase-O-Matic belt and turn over Error-Free dictation to mmy secretary.

8. I will make my letters concise and conversational.

9. If cigars, chewing gum, etc. muffle my voice, I will abstain until my dictation is completed.

10. While noticing the blonde file clerk or other interesting distractions, I will try to remember to keep the microphone near my lips while my head rotates.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 05/12/2025

Here's another ad for this dictation machine. Doesn't he look very shifty... The machine used a very wide short loop of Mylar recording tape, more like a cylinder, called the Erase-O-Matic belt. This allowed for quick seeking to any spot in the recording. (2/3)

Another ad for the Comptometer dictation machine. It pictures a close up of a man speaking into a microphone, looking sideways very guiltily as if he is about to be caught by lieutenant Columbo.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 05/12/2025

The Felt & Tarrant company made the Comptometer, a type of mechanical calculator that was in production from 1889 till about 1960. In the 1950s they tried to expand to other products. Here is an advert for their dictation machine. It was given the manly name, the "Comptometer Commander. (1/3)

Advert from March 1956 for the Comptometer Commander, a dictation machine made by Felt & Tarrant.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 25/11/2025

“Are machines smarter than me?” This 1949 ad for the Comptometer mechanical calculator discusses the question we are still struggling with now, and comes to the conclusion that grey matter beats any new-fangled machine.

“Are machines smarter than me?”
On the right is a line drawing if a distraught man cowering inside a box.
It is a 1949 ad for the Comptometer mechanical calculator.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 15/11/2025

Some close-up pictures. It will be a while before this makes it to my website

Some of the controls and a counter used in division.

Part of the mechanism is visible when you shift the carriage to the right

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 15/11/2025

My latest buy. I hope I can get this very heavy bit of machinery to work again.

A large mechanical calculator, the MADAS model IX T, from the 1920s.

The badly corroded metal cover tells you what MADAS stands for: Multiplication, Automatic Division, Addition, Subtraction.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 12/11/2025

The ZX81/80 Print ‘N’ Plotter was a semi-transparent sheet that allowed you to trace pictures with pencil and pixelize them so that they can be approximately displayed on the Sinclair ZX81’s screen of 22x32 characters or 44x64 pixels. The sheet can be washed clean.

The ZX81/80 Print ‘N’ Plotter. As you can see, I was into maps

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 12/11/2025

Here you go. It was a properly produced thing, but I don’t know by whom. Here it is on a piece of A4 paper. It was just transparent enough to pencil trace over pictures, and the pencil could be washed off. As you can see, I was into maps.

The ZX81/80 Print ‘N’ Plotter Film, for tracing over pictures and converting them to pixel images on the Sinclair ZX81.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 23/10/2025

Thanks for the scan. Burt Harrison & Co provided learning materials for schools and home schooling, but I don't know how this reissue came to be. archive.org/details/find...

Excerpt from the 1989 catalog "Find it! : a resource guide to hands-on math" describing the Pascal-type Calculator.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 22/10/2025

Recently I bought this toy calculator from 1971. It is quite clever how its 2-digit register is shown not just as digits but also with columns of coloured dots.

A toy calculator, made from yellow plastic, with a rotary dial for entering numbers, a two-digit accumulator register on the left, and a counter register on the right.

The register show the value 69. Below that are two vertical rectangular windows showing a column of 6 dots and a column of 9 dots. The finger is in the rotary dial at the number 2, and about to turn it.

The finger has hit the stop after dialling in the number 2. The register now shows 71, with the windows below it showing a column of 7 dots and a column with 1 dot.

This is the *original* box. It is called the Minirechner 99, made by Schildkröt.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 12/10/2025

On an auction site someone is claiming to have a Comptometer for sale, but the picture is some kind of AI-generated rubbish. I don't see the point, but it makes for a fun game: How many errors can you spot?

Not a real Comptometer. How many errors can you spot?

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 28/09/2025

The instruction manual for the Facit NTK mechanical calculator included many pictures of the Facit Wizard.

Cover of the Facit NTK manual, showing the mechanical calculator with the Facit Wizard standing on top of it.

The Facit Wizard juggling ten balls that are labelled with the digits 0 to 9. The German text means "The Facit NTK masters the 4 arithmetic operations with just 10 digit keys."

The Facit Wizard is shown taking off his wizard's cap and taking a bow. The German text means "Thank you for your attention. The time you dedicated to the study of this booklet will be saved many-fold by the Facit machine."

The Facit Wizard is shown sitting exhausted on a stool in the corner of a boxing ring, being fanned by a towel. The German text means "Even a master at calculating has to take a breather", and recommends having the machine regularly serviced by Facit specialists.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 28/09/2025

This little guy is the Facit Wizard. It is the advertising mascot for the Facit mechanical calculators. His first appearance was in the 1950s. 1/3

Facit Wizard figurine, facing left with his arm outstretched.

A Facit Wizard figurine, body turned to the right, head turned towards the camera, and arm down. The 2 Euro coin is for scale.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 25/09/2025

Maybe I'll be lucky and be the only bidder... But seriously, that thing is valued at 500 times my whole collection, but does not function as well as a 5 dollar plastic one

A Dialamatic adder with 6 dials and a stylus.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 21/09/2025

Today I opened a box from my storage unit and pulled out six Contex B adding machines. These were in production from 1951 till about 1970.

Six Contex B adding machines. The front two are for British currency (pounds, shillings, pence), the middle two are for ordinary decimal additions, the back left one is British currency with farthings (quarter pence), the back right one is decimal but with a halves column.

The underside of the six Contex B adding machines, showing their serial numbers and list of patents. The original rubber feet deteriorate with age, so they are often missing or replaced.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 09/09/2025

I’m not sure that’s going to do much

Light switch with the label above it saying “No function”

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 07/09/2025

I went to a large car boot sale today and found several calculators. Here are some pictures. I only bought the Odhner in the last picture, since I already had the others in my collection.

Two similar Brunsviga pinwheel calculators - one an older black Nova II, the other a later 13RK.

A Burroughs Calculator, i.e. a class 5. It seemed to work fine except that the clearing lever was not connected properly.

Another pinwheel calculator, an Original Odhner 129. It was completely stuck, halfway through a back transfer operation. I bought this and quickly managed to get it all working, but it will need some more cleaning.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 16/08/2025

Here are two older Nationals I came across in an antiques store, both still installed on shop counters, though I don’t know how much they are still in use

A National cash register on the shop counter in an antiques store. It has a lovely wood grain finish

A National cash register on the shop counter in an antiques store. It has a beautiful decorated metal case

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 10/08/2025

It's been a while since my last calculator collection update, and this time it's not even a calculator.

A gorgeous Schäffer & Budenberg revolution counter in a lined box.

A close-up of the 4-digit revolution counter. On the face says "The Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company, New-York-Brooklyn, German manufacture". Underneath it has a small drawing of a pressure gauge, in the middle of the work Trademark.

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Jaap Scherphuis @jaapsch.net · 05/07/2025

Deathwatch (2002) is a creepy horror movie set in WW1 that is far better than the reviews suggest.

DVD cover for Deathwatch (2002), a creepy horror movie set in WW1.

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