Saturday, December 13, 2008
New toy
Once or twice a year I break frugality and buy myself a completely unnecessary toy. This year's choice, inspired by reviewing Polistra's previous musings on the history of bookkeeping, is an "Addometer". It's a beautifully made device, probably from 1927 or so. Made of solid steel, all numbers and instructions engraved and ink-filled. All the dials move smoothly and cleanly, and the carrying and borrowing mechanisms snap and click satisfyingly. The tool and its leatherette case have a wonderful smell, redolent of scientific instruments.
I'd guess this was a store display / demo unit, because the case contains directions and advertising literature, it's quite clean, and the dials show roughly equal signs of wear ... as you'd expect from people trying out random numbers. A machine used in a real office would have coffee and ash stains, and the top few dials would be nearly untouched.
And I'd also guess that the Addometer didn't sell well. The list price was $12.95, equivalent to $150 today, and there wasn't a real niche to justify that expense. If you were a full-time accountant, you'd buy or lease a full-sized adding machine or Comptometer; and if you only needed to run a few sums each day, you'd use pencil and paper. Perhaps the Addometer would be useful if you didn't trust your own figuring skills! Anyway, it's a fine American machine, Union Made, with materials, design and labor of a standard that no longer exists.
Once or twice a year I break frugality and buy myself a completely unnecessary toy. This year's choice, inspired by reviewing Polistra's previous musings on the history of bookkeeping, is an "Addometer". It's a beautifully made device, probably from 1927 or so. Made of solid steel, all numbers and instructions engraved and ink-filled. All the dials move smoothly and cleanly, and the carrying and borrowing mechanisms snap and click satisfyingly. The tool and its leatherette case have a wonderful smell, redolent of scientific instruments.
I'd guess this was a store display / demo unit, because the case contains directions and advertising literature, it's quite clean, and the dials show roughly equal signs of wear ... as you'd expect from people trying out random numbers. A machine used in a real office would have coffee and ash stains, and the top few dials would be nearly untouched.
And I'd also guess that the Addometer didn't sell well. The list price was $12.95, equivalent to $150 today, and there wasn't a real niche to justify that expense. If you were a full-time accountant, you'd buy or lease a full-sized adding machine or Comptometer; and if you only needed to run a few sums each day, you'd use pencil and paper. Perhaps the Addometer would be useful if you didn't trust your own figuring skills! Anyway, it's a fine American machine, Union Made, with materials, design and labor of a standard that no longer exists.
Labels: new toy
¶ 6:53 AM
