The Game-Changing Adding Machine: Arthur James Postan‘s ‘Adder‘
Friends, have you ever faced down a towering pile of sales receipts or inventory reports needing tallying? For centuries, accountants battled these tedious calculations by hand. Surely there must be an easier way!
Salvation arrived in 1902 via British inventor Arthur James Postans and his innovative ‘Adder‘ adding machine. Postans engineered the Adder to swiftly turn onerous math into a simple, almost enjoyable task.
Let‘s explore how the Adder leapt beyond existing calculators – then proved a global sensation setting the course for all future computing.
Adding Troubles Spur Progress
In the 1800s, most stores still relied on clerks computing figures mentally or by quill. The few crude calculators then available featured only 2-3 number keys requiring extensive hand cranking to derive sums. Famed French clockmaker Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué introduced a nine-key design at the 1851 London Expo intriguing crowds. Yet unreliable materials hindered adoption outside the fair.
Progress crept along for decades. Various niche adding machines debuted but foundered commercially. Shop owners endured high error rates from human calculations eating profits.Typing all transactions into calculating machines still seemed a fantasy.
Bright-Eyed Briton Forges Ahead
Who would actualize the dream of automated math for the masses? A largely unknown British engineer named Arthur James Postans!
Born 1867 in rural Suffolk, England, Postans excelled in London technical colleges before apprenticing at engineering firms. He patented several unconventional creations over the years like ignition devices and even a ‘stropping machine‘ for sharpening razors.
Yet Postans prized most simplifying tedious addition chores. He judged existing calculators too fragile or complex for regular store use. Postans realized building a sturdy, foolproof adding machine could prove both his crowning glory and a liberating device for small business owners globally.
By 1902, the dissatisfied tinkerer completed his first adding machine prototype featuring ten plastic number keys labeled 0 to 9. Dubbed ‘The Adder‘, Postans‘ device employed sturdy iron castings to withstand pounding keys for years without fail.
Let‘s peek inside to see how this mechanical wizard works!
Peeking Inside Postans‘ Mechanical Marvel
Friends, behold the internal gears enabling The Adder‘s magic! Depressing any number key turns a series of precisely cut geared wheels connected to three adjacent counting dials.
These dials visibly display individual sums in the ones, tens, and hundreds columns through small glass windows atop the machine. For example, adding 236 results shows:
| Hundreds Dial | Tens Dial | Ones Dial |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 6 |
Unlike previous machines, no hand cranks are necessary! The Adder transfers digits between columns automatically. Exceeding 10 in the Ones column advances the Tens dial +1. Surpassing 10 Tens shifts the Hundreds dial +1 … and so on.
Such functionality brought unprecedented efficiency to tallying long columns of figures. No longer did clerks need track carries mentally. The Adder performed such drudgery flawlessly every time!
By 1906, Postans secured patents to protect his query device in Britain, Germany United States, and elsewhere. To manufacture The Adder, he launched the Adder Cash Register Syndicate Ltd based in London England. From 1908 – 1920s the company marketed Postans‘ Adder as one of the world‘s first key-set calculating machines for routine sale.
Calculating Craze Sweeps Britain!
The Adder took Britain by storm! Thousands purchased Adders to handle accounting, freeing staff for more valuable customer service roles. Adder‘s sturdy build withstood pounding keys in hectic stores inspiring confidence. Units often remained in service for decades with little maintenance beyond oil and cleaning.
Production estimates show over 45,000 Adders sold in Great Britain alone before WW1 as store owners hastened automation. Abroad, worldwide patents ensured production in Germany, Canada, and America as well. By 1910, no self-respecting British businessman would be without Postans‘ adding ally!
With Adders costing between £10-15, shrewd shop keepers recouped the investment in under a year from payroll savings alone. Improved profitability enabled many stores to expand wares catering to more neighborhoods. In this way, Postans‘ ingenuity indirectly helped whole communities flourish.
Birth of an Industry
The Adder‘s success proved concept viability for producing reliable, commercially affordable key-set calculators. The design principles Postans pioneered provided a template influencing calculator inventors for generations.
In fact, early electronic calculator makers of the 1960s-70s relied extensively on the Adder‘s layout when adapting operations to digital interfaces. Tracing the lineage of the simple handheld calculators ubiquitous in schools and offices today reveals Arthur James Postans‘ seminal early influence.
Given Postans‘ knack for clever innovations, one wonders what he might have devised had he access to microchips and programming. Imagine a smartphone app named AddPro+‘, the beloved calculator for the 22nd century!
Friends, I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about this unsung father of modern computing – Arthur James Postans! Perhaps the story inspires you to view mundane gadgets in a new light. For one never knows what humble device may transform the world when build correctly!
