Dummy at work, please ignore. Need Coffee.

[Paper Roses]

Happy New Year.

[Ptah]

1. Like this?

[taterguy]

2. That's a Comptometer, not coffee

[Ptah]

3. .

[Pool Hall Ace]

4. I was born in '62, so I'm not a boomer.

How did that contraption work? And who would pay $70.00 for one on e-bay?

[Paper Roses]

5. Hi, read this and shudder. I'm not kidding, it was hard to learn.

Hard to figure out if you had an error also.

I was so excited when the first hand held calculators came out. Four functions, plug in, no 2 handed, fight to push buttons foolishness. $129.00 from our local, in town store.(no big box wally-marts then.) I think the Comptometer was considered progress. I considered it torture.

http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/operating_a_comptometer.html

[Pool Hall Ace]

6. Good gravy, there is nothing the least bit intuitive about that.

One thing that really stuck out for me was the picture caption: "Over 180 girls a year pass through the Liverpool school for Comptometer operators run by Felt & Tarrant Ltd. Course normally lasts three months, but there is a shorter course, provided free, which covers three weeks and deals with one specific application of the Comptometer".

I don't see any girls in the photo, but I see plenty of women.