Antique Original Odhner Mechanical Calculator, Model 27. Sweden, 1930s-40s

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Antique Original Odhner Mechanical Calculator, Model 27. Sweden, 1930s-40s

Amazing antique Original Odhner mechanical calculator model 27, made in Sweden in the 1930s-40s and in perfect working order. This wonderful machine was manufactured by the company founded by W. T. Odhner, a pioneer in the design of mechanical calculators. It is made of black-enameled metal, with embossed and engraved numerals and inscriptions painted in matt gold and white. We can see the calculator’s name and manufacturer at the top left corner, together with the city where the factory was located (GÖTEBORG – SVERIGE). The sliding pointers and the mobile elements are made of silvery metal and remain in excellent condition. The calculator works really fine, making it possible to perform arithmetical operations with accurate results. The mechanism works fluidly and softly, making the calculator’s use into a great experience. At the back of the machine we can see the serial number 29-181000 clearly engraved in the metal.

This antique Original Odhner mechanical calculator model 27 is a real collector’s piece, worthy to belong to a lover of early-20th-century business machines.

Dimensions: Width: 11.81 in / 30 cm. Height: 4.72 in / 12 cm.

Odhner’s Calculators History

The history of Odhner calculators actually describes the first times of all mechanical calculators. W. T. Odhner was a Swedish engineer and entrepreneur who invented his first arithmometer (or pinwheel calculator) in Russia in 1871. Odhner was repairing a Thomas arithmometer, the only mechanical calculator in production at the time, and decided to replace its heavy Leibniz cylinder by a lighter pinwheel disk. So he created the first modern calculator whose design was imitated and reproduced countless times during the 20th century. Odhner produced and sold his owns calculators, but after the Russian revolution of 1917 he moved to Sweden and opened a new factory where he manufactured his arithmometers under the ‘Original Odhner’ commercial name.