Antique Felix Soviet Mechanical Calculator. USSR, 1920s

Awesome antique Soviet Felix mechanical calculator made in the USSR in the 1920s. This is model NS 893, one of the first to be constructed and launched by the brand. The calculator is well preserved and boast a powerful look, with the sturdiness and the functionality inherent to the machines built in the Soviet Union. It is in good working order though the mechanism shows some slight flaws: the box with the revolutions (to the left) cannot be reset as the locking handle is broken down. Nevertheless the calculator can be used without any problem and makes it possible to perform arithmetic operations addition and subtraction with accurate outcomes. The metal case that hides the pinwheel system of the calculator bears a black enameled finish, well preserved though showing some signs of wear in different parts. These signs are logical in such an ancient machine, a piece that was surely subject of heavy use through the decades. The Cyrillic inscriptions in golden lettering printed on the black case remain in perfect condition; one of them, the one located at the top of the calculator, contains the symbol of the hammer and sickle among the letters. This calculator is a rare and interesting model, so this is a good chance of acquiring an original piece at a wonderful price. Every lover of early-20th-century machines will find a treasure in this antique Soviet Felix mechanical calculator, an original item in working order. Measurements (without cranks): Width: 12 in / 30 cm. Depth: 6 in / 15 cm. Height: 4.4 in / 11 cm. Felix Calculators History The first pinwheel calculator was designed by W.T. Odhner in Saint Petersburg in 1886. After the Revolution of 1917, the USSR government nationalized the invention. The Soviets kept on manufacturing Odhner aritmomethers (calculators) under the Iron Felix name after a famous and dark character: Felix Dzerzhinsky. Dzerzhinsky founded the Soviet calculator factory in Moscow in 1924, and was also the founder of the famous Cheka (Bolshevik secret police). He was sadly notorious for his hardness and was awarded the nickname Iron Felix, just like the calculator, among his own colleagues. Odhners original design was nationalized by the URSS in 1917 and was used by Dzerzhinsky for his Felix calculators. While in the rest of Europe arithmometers were becoming obsolete, Felix calculators kept on being manufactured in the Soviet Union until 1978.