Hisgadgetoric: The Curta mechanical calculator peppers our eyes with nostalgia

Look, we know that the Curta Calculator is old. 1948 old in fact, after it was first conceived by Curt Herzstark while imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Still, why not introduce the post HP35 generation to what was widely hailed as the best portable calculator of its time? Besides, with that WWII intrigue and satisfying mechanical grind, what's not to love? See it in action after the break.

[Via HighTech]

[karts41 @ Feb 5th 2008 3:50AM]

If i throw it, will it blow up?

Cool. I want one.

[G Man @ Feb 5th 2008 5:05AM]

Just like the iPhone.

A calculator, pepper dispenser, paperweight, pencil sharpener, hair dryer, shaver, deodorant stick, illumination device, the list does on.

[w00t @ Feb 5th 2008 3:53AM]

His... Hisgag... hisgad, ah forget it. How exactly are you supposed to say that? :)

That really doesn't work, it just looks like you accidentally dropped the cursor in the middle of the word before typing 'gadget' :P

Cool device though!

[Tom Oliveri @ Feb 5th 2008 4:19AM]

wow, it hurts my brain just to imagine what's inside that thing

cool!

[w00t @ Feb 5th 2008 4:38AM]

Take a look, it's an incredible example of precision engineering!

http://www.vcalc.net/images2/Master20s-860x562.jpg

[RSDeuce @ Feb 5th 2008 4:53AM]

Looks like a type. Wikipedia has it as 1938.

But, even though they are wrong the camp was ran by the Soviets long after WWII for political prisoners. I doubt they had it much better.

[iANZhEREzPOP @ Feb 5th 2008 4:25AM]

Buchenwald concentration camp... In 1948? 1948? Three years after the end of WWII??

You guys might know something about gadgets but you don't know zip about history.

[Dustin Frazier @ Feb 5th 2008 4:52AM]

Superiority complex much?

The article said it was conceived in the prison camp. 1948 is the year it was actually built.

[RSDeuce @ Feb 5th 2008 4:56AM]

Ahh, yep. My other comment seems to be out of place. Wierd.

It was made in 1948. I had read it wrong as well...

I just didn't get all pissed about it and take it personally.

[Bad Beaver @ Feb 5th 2008 5:01AM]

Argh, these things go for €500++
What a sweet piece of engineering!

[tanporakuda @ Feb 5th 2008 5:06AM]

Fu**ing genious!

[lgs @ Feb 5th 2008 5:30AM]

It is cool. The manual even includes instructions for how to do square roots. I think it's time for me to put mine on eBay. I inherited it from my dad who was an accountant and a gadget freak. I don't know if he ever got much use of it though. I do remember he was using a bigger manual desktop rotary calculator in is office early on.

[Ryan @ Feb 5th 2008 10:34AM]

How much do you want for it?

[gentian @ Feb 5th 2008 5:58AM]

My curta is the most beautiful thing I own. My dad gave it to me and it had been lovingly looked after and maintained for 40+ years. Note: I don't own my wife or children, who are more beautiful.

You might need to be a certain type to see its incredible beauty (roughly a cross between a mathematician and a computer scientist, which I am.) But if you are the type, there is something magical about it.

[gentian @ Feb 5th 2008 6:00AM]

By the way, one nickname for it was the Coffee Grinder. Which is obvious if you have seen a manual coffee grinder. If you haven't seen one, you now know what it looks like.

[Sid @ Feb 5th 2008 6:17AM]

Simply, Wow!

/Sid stares...

[ether @ Feb 5th 2008 6:21AM]

These things are really amazing. I sadly never heard of one until I read Pattern Recognition and the spiel about the guys who were peddling them on the 'gray' market in the book made me go look them up. I want one too, 500 euros definitely sounds about right for one of these awesome machines, it makes me wonder how much they cost new relative to now. it's too bad 99% of our 'gadgets' now can't even compare to the craftsmanship.

Getting one of these through airport security would be probably be a great time as you try to explain why your calculator looks like a cross between a DiVinci inspired mechanical grenade and a peppercorn grinder. If you thought you got a lot of flak for having more than a couple ounces of lotion...

[ReggieXuk @ Feb 5th 2008 6:37AM]

was the guy who invented this a genius before he went into the concentration camp?
because it wud be crazy if he invented this out of thin air!

[gkoenig @ Feb 5th 2008 6:55AM]

Curt Herzstark's father ran a business manufacturing various mathematical machines in the days before electronic calculators. Herzstark took over the business before WWII and had been seeking ways to make the machines smaller. In Buchenwald, the Nazis were aware of both his background and his "pocket size" calculator and they gave him a small number of privileges to encourage his work.

After WWII, a manufacturing plant in Lichtenstein signed a deal with Herzstark to make the Curta. Interestingly, once his design was in production, he had very little to do with the ongoing concerns of marketing, manufacturing or development of the Curta Type II.

I just bought Curta #43632, a Type 1 on eBay. It is simply beautiful - everything is machined from stainless steel and aluminum (including the rotary number plates). Even though mine was made in the 60s, it still functions and looks brand new. People simply do not craft things like the Curta anymore.

[Lally @ Feb 5th 2008 7:32AM]

To their credit, the new ones do more stuff.

And you don't have to count the wheel up & down :-P

Still, a wonderful device.

[Jamie @ Feb 5th 2008 7:47AM]

More historic gadgets like this, please! Hisgadgetoric would be a good option for filling space on slow news days.

[OjNK @ Feb 5th 2008 8:42AM]

There's a number of hardcore car ralliers that use these for on the fly calculations. Three years ago at the Targa Newfoundland rally the president of SpeedTV Showed up and ran the event using the peppermill the whole way. Crazy stuff.

A GOOD condition working Curta will easily go for $1000+ on eBay. Awesome little things.

[Galley @ Feb 5th 2008 10:00AM]

Damn, I really want one, but that's too much for my tastes.

[atomische @ Feb 5th 2008 10:30AM]

Awesome! I just re-read Pattern Recognition and now I know what the Curta looks like. Not as 'hand grenade' looking as I got from the book.

[Jkbd52 @ Feb 5th 2008 12:07PM]

When he opened it up, and said "I probably shouldn't be doing this." He's right those Curta Calcs go for at least $1,000 (usd) on ebay.

[Timerider @ Feb 5th 2008 12:46PM]

Thats awesome. I want one.

[keithwwalker @ Feb 5th 2008 4:22PM]

With costs on ebay as it stands, they could probably start up production again (wishing)...

[Sirocco @ Feb 5th 2008 6:35PM]

I'll bid at ebay, but only if it's MIB.

[giftgadgetgateway @ Feb 6th 2008 3:39AM]

Now I wonder. Why a calculator from 1948 uses mechanical grind while the calculators in the modern era require battery, or batteries? And not to mention, it looks cool.

http://giftgadgetgateway.com

[Larry @ Feb 9th 2008 1:22PM]

Gosh, thanks! This makes my left hand famous... BTW: I bought the pictured Curta Type I for $10 at a Flea Market in the early 1980s.