Vol. 2 - September - No. 43
The Original ComptometerThe first practical adding-calculating machine ever made.
 The first experimental model of the Comptometer, with crudely formed mechanism fitted in a rough wooden box. |
His hope: a machine that would calculate accurately without limitations of memory or physical strength. His idea was not new. Unsuccessful attempts had been made as early as the tenth century, but never had a successful machine been developed.
Bravely he started to translate his ideas into a model, using a jack-knife as his principal tool. By January of 1885 the wooden model was completed which embodied Mr. Felt's basic ideas. (This first wooden model is now in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, D.C.) After another year of improving and refining, he produced in 1886 a workable model in metal. He called it the Comptometer.
Thus was born the first practical adding-calculating machine ever made, herald of a new era in accounting and figure work of all kinds. Mr. Felt, who was then only 24 years old, lived to see thousands of leading business and industrial organizations the world over handle their figure work on the Comptometer adding-calculating machine.
learn more about this fascinating subject:
Comptometer: Biography of a Machine
Comptometer: Macaroni Box Calculator
Comptometer Online
Comptometer History
Swedish Typewriter Page: Comptometer
