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In
the beginning, there was the abacus 
Do you remember your first calculator with affection, or even a hint of awe? If so, then you are probably a member of the generation that witnessed the birth of the electronic calculator. For Generation-Calculator, the calculator was salvation in your pocket, a miniature deity that brought liberation from ‘doing sums long hand’, paper and pencil, or the dreaded slide rule. For
Generation-C members, that first treasured device likely would
have been a chunky box with a glow in the dark screen and more
functions than any human could need. It would also have been about the
coolest thing that you had ever seen. That is until you caught sight
of the kid at the next desk with their mini Hewlett Packard
supercomputer - a gadget with more buttons than the USS Enterprise,
but possessing a Zen-like air of mystery and grace though the
inexplicable absence of an ‘=’ key.
“Pocket
electronic calculators first appeared about 1971, just as I was
finishing high school”, Guy explains.
“They were pretty earth-shattering when they first came out
– up until then everyone used paper or calculated numbers in their
heads – but the cost was prohibitive.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I was able to afford
my first, but at $50 it was still quite a lot of money”. The
Classic Years Classic
era calculators can fetch tens or even hundreds of dollars on the
collector market. So we asked Guy to explain what fuel’s such
passion? “For
me it’s partly nostalgic,” Guy reflects. “I remember the
evolution from adding numbers in my head to
pulling out the calculator instead. I also really like the retro design of the early machines,
when designers where trying to figure out what a calculator should be
and what it should look like. To
me, calculators signalled the birth of the consumer electronic
revolution – for many people the calculator was their first exposure
to the benefits of integrated circuit technology.
Now, the IC is virtually taken for granted.” “I
was out shopping for an old camera about 16 years ago,” he
continues. “I came
across a beautiful Panasonic model 850 calculator with a white, almost
sculpted base and lovely blue, glowing numbers.
It was from 1973 and still in perfect working order.
I was hooked immediately.
I paid $2 for it, and have never looked back.” Investment
potential?
Despite
these high prices, Guy is pragmatic about his collection. “I don’t buy them as an investment, but purely because I
like them. I doubt there
will ever be a large enough collector base to drive prices to the
extent that there is investment potential – the 300 or 400 serious
collectors I am aware of will ensure that there will always be an
interest, but probably no more than that.” Thinking
of starting a collection? “Anyone
who is thinking of starting out should talk to a few established
collectors and visit as many collectors’ sites as they can.
There’s a great rapport among the calculator collecting
community, so most of them would be only too happy to help out a
newcomer. There’s also
a vintage calculator e-mail group, which anyone can join.
And if they are really interested, they could always buy my
book!” “The
most important thing, however”, he continues, “is to decide what
they want to collect and why. Do
they want to stick with early LED-types, or the more recent LCD
models, of HP models only or what?
I’d recommend that newcomers start with the LED types, where
it’s still possible to build a nice, representative collection
without huge outlay, maybe $10 or less per purchase.” IC
a final request So,
if you are reading this, take an expedition into the attic and see
what you can find. If you
find a Sanyo ICC-804D, then we are sure Guy would be interested in
hearing from you. If you find a Busicom LE-120A, then we suggest you take to the hills and wait for the stampede
@ Alt Stuff Guy's book is: The Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, by Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm [Wilson/Barnett Publishing, April 1997, ISBN 1888840145] and can be purchased in the Alt-Stuff shop courtesy of Amazon.com. - Selected Calculator links
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Most
vintage calculators now fetch $10 to $50 in good working order.