The Brunsviga Midget calculator
c. 1906

Willgodt Odhner, inventor of the Brunsviga calculator, sold his patent rights to Grimme, Natalis & Co. A.G. of Braunschweig in 1892. In 1894 the Brunsviga Type B was introduced. Odhner-type calculators were based on a pinwheel mechanism. Eventually the company changed its name to Brunsviga after selling thousands of units of the small but practical device. Several similar models were manufactured, many in Russia even into the decade of the 1970s. The model in our collection was sold through a Philadelphia distributor in about 1906 and came complete with its own oak base and carry-case. And, after more than 95 years, it still works!

Donor: LaVerne Brehmer of Phoenix, Arizona