Millionaire Calculating Machine.

I was watching one of those Pawn Stars shorts on Youtube because it was labeled "Millionaire Calculator".  Of course this sparked my curiosity because I usually associate millionaire calculators with those web based programs that help you figure out when you'll get a million dollars.  This is not what they were discussing. It turns out this is a "Millionaire Calculating Machine" which is the first mechanical machine that actually multiplied.

All previous calculating machines did not really multiply. They added and subtracted but for multiplication, they performed repeated addition but this machine actually multiplied and that was what it was known for.  Now for the story.

In 1893,  the German living in Switzerland, Otto Steiger invented his millionaire calculating machine.  He based it off of an 1878 US patent, and a 1899 French Patent that never went into commercial production. One made it to prove a Spaniard could create something and the other one was more focused on car racing at Le Mans. He was granted a patent in 1895 and shortly there after, it went into production.

This machine differed from others because it used a complex set of cranks, gears, cogs, pins, levers, etc to create a machine that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide.  Where it differed from previous machines is that this machine was set up to read a different metal multiplication table every time the handle was turned.  This means that each turn provided a partial product just like humans do when they remember their times tables.  The machine was capable of carry 10's so you needed one turn to multiply two one digit numbers, a second turn for two digit numbers, a third turn for the three digit number, etc.  In fact, a trained operator could multiply two eight digit numbers in about 7 seconds which was so much faster than any other machines in the past.

Although it was developed to be used in business, scientists found it quite helpful so in a sense it was the first scientific calculator. In addition, governments also liked it.  In addition to being developed in Switzerland, it was also produced there by Hans W Egli. He produced a total of 4,655 machines over a period of 40 years.  The machines came with a hand-operated or electric lever in the basic model, or the more upgraded model that came with a keyboard that could be either hand-operated or run by electricity.

The prices of the machines ran from $475 up to $1,100 in 1924 which is $5,900 to $13,750 in today's dollars.  The price of the low end ones was about the same as a new car. These weighed between 100 and 120 pounds and every machine came with extensive directions and a special brush to keep the machine dust and grit free.  The last machines were produced in 1935 because they were a bit slow when adding long columns of figures.  As improvements happened, the new fully automatic rotary calculators put these machines out of business due to the better speeds.

This machine was the stepping stone that lead to the modern machines.  When I heard about it, I thought it sounded so cool and it would be fun to play with.  I love that it was essentially the first scientific calculator.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.