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Marchant

Marchant Pony A
Marchant Pony Special A
   Video
Marchant XL
   Videos
Marchant ACT-10M
   Videos
SCM 1011 CB adding machine
   Video
The History of Marchant Calculating Machines
Models
Manuals
Advertisements and sales leaflets
Newspaper and Magazine Advertisements
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Patents
Links

Marchant Pony A

The Marchant Pony is a small pinwheel calculator, basically a miniaturised version of their previous Marchant Standard calculator. The model A has an input register with 9 digits, while the carriage contains an 8-digit counter and 13-digit output register. It has serial number 04046. This model was in production from 1917 to 1922, but I do not know when this particular one was made.

Unfortunately this machine is badly damaged. It has likely been dropped to the floor, and not only has this broken off the clearing nut and overflow bell, the internal mechanism that locks the carriage in place has fractured into pieces. For pictures of the mechanism, see the Pony Special A below.

Marchant Pony Special A

The Marchant Pony Special A is a small pinwheel calculator. The Special designation means it has an input display register and the A means that the registers have the standard capacity: Its input register has 9 digits, while the carriage contains an 8-digit counter and 13-digit output register. It has two buttons on the front that shift the carriage one step in either direction. The small lever between the buttons releases the catch allowing the carriage to slide freely.

It has serial number 60246. This model was in production from 1917 to 1922, but I do not know when this particular one was made.

The pinwheel mechanism is very standard, virtually identical to any Odhner machine. The carriage shifting mechanism is unique to Marchant however.

Video

Marchant XL

The Marchant XL has a moving carriage with an 18-digit register, and in the main body of the machine a 9-digit revolution counter to the right of a set of 9 input levers. It looks similar to a pinwheel machine, and is used in the same way. Internally it uses a different mechanism however, as evidenced by the fact that the input levers stay in place when the crank is rotated.

Pushing the small lever on the front to the left or right will shift the carriage one in that direction, or the carriage can be moved a longer distance by using the grips at the left of the carriage. The counter at the top right has a pointer indicating the currently active digit, and this moves whenever the carriage moves. The switch located between the counter and the input selects whether the counter counts additions of subtractions, for use in multiplications and divisions respectively. The counter and the main register both have a small crank that you can turn to reset them. The input can be cleared by pushing the bar upwards, which pushes all the input pins up to zero.

Internally the XL uses an "adaptive segment" mechanism. Whereas a pinwheel is a gear with teeth that extend or retract when the input is set, and stay in that state when the crank is turned, the Marchant XL has wheels in which a whole segment with 9 teeth retracts at just the right moment during the rotation of the crank so that it effectively acts as if it had fewer teeth.

This XL is in reasonably good condition. The input pin for the units has broken off, so it is a bit difficult to use, and the units digit therefore also won't be cleared by the bar. Other than this, it only has some minor cosmetic blemishes. This model was made from 1923 till about 1935. It has serial number XL100215, and as this is higher than any other I have found online, it must be one of the last ones made. Note that the toothed segments in this machine are hinged so they rotate when retracting instead of sliding directly inwards. This improvement was patented in 1930. The serial numbers seem to start at 90000, so it seems that a little over 10,000 of them were made.

Videos

Here is a video where I demonstrate the Marchant XL.

This video shows the internal mechanism in action.

Marchant ACT-10M

The Marchant ACT-10M uses the proportional gear mechanism, also known as the "Silent Speed", which was introduced by Harold Avery in 1934. It has a moving carriage with a 20 digit register and an 11 digit counter. It has a full keyboard with 10 columns and an input display register. All the control keys and switches are to the right of the keyboard.

The machine is driven by a 110 Volt electric motor. The power lead has a so-called "oval" three-hole connector, a type which is apparently designated PH163, and made by Belden.

This ACT-10M is in reasonably good condition, with only some minor cosmetic blemishes. It is fully working, though it took me a lot of effort to lubricate and work loose the carriage tabulation mechanism and some of the register wheels which had seized up. This model was made from about 1942 till 1948, when the design was modernised. It has serial number 283,020, which means it was one of the last ones made.

Here is a quick overview of what the keys and switches do:

Internally the ACT-10M uses the proportional gear or "Silent Speed" mechanism. This combines several clever techniques.

The register uses a planetary gear differential at each digit to allow a number wheel to be driven from two inputs added together - carry from the number wheel to its right, and the input from the keyboard. Note that Burroughs calculators have this too. What is unusual is that the gearing to the adjacent wheel is permanently engaged. This means that carries are not triggered, but successive wheels are connected by a 10:1 gear ratio. This idea was not actually new, as Pafnuty Chebyshev built an adding machine with these principles in 1878.

The problem with this permanent gearing is that if for example the 25 were displayed, the tens wheel would be halfway between 2 and 3. To keep each number wheel centred on a whole number when displaying the result, the Marchant machines had an additional cam gear to offset them correctly. This offset only gets applied when no calculation is occurring. When a calculation starts the register becomes disengaged from this offset mechanism and engaged with the main actuating mechanism so that the calculation can be done smoothly.

The actuating mechanism for each column in the keyboard acts essentially as a 9-speed transmission, so that when a 9 is selected, this will drive the number wheel 9 times as fast as when a 1 is selected in a column. This smooth continuous direct transmission during the calculation allowed these machines to be much faster than any other calculators.

Videos

Here is a video where I demonstrate the main functions of the Marchant ACT-10M.

In this video I show some more uses of the Stop button.

This is a slow motion video of the Marchant ACT-10M doing a division.

SCM 1011 CB adding machine

The Smith-Corona-Marchant 1011 CB is an electric adding-listing machine made in Japan by Eiko Business Machines Co., and then imported and rebranded by SCM. It has a typical late 1960s styling with an orange top and brown keys. It has all the standard functions of such machines:

The ink ribbon has two colours, so all added numbers and positive (sub)totals are printed in black while all subtracted numbers and negative (sub)totals are printed in red. The roll of paper is held inside a compartment with a transparent cover, without the need for threading it onto a spindle.

To access the ink ribbon the case needs to be opened by removing two screws at the bottom front. The ribbon has a standard width of half an inch (about 12 mm). The mechanism is attached to the base by the four plastic parts inside the feet which can be given a quarter turn to release.

There should be a label on the bottom of the machine, but this is missing. It would have had the serial number, and state that it was made in Japan by Eiko Business Machines Co. Ltd., and list the voltage requirements. Clearly SCM merely imported these machines and rebranded them. In fact, Bohn also imported the same machine, and marketed it as the Bohn Addmatic E 2071, though that version was blue instead of orange. There was also the Olympia OAM 211, which had exactly the same mechanism but a differently styled case. I do not know exactly when this machine was on the market, but clearly it must have been the late 1960s and maybe the early 1970s.

Video

Here is a video where I demonstrate the SCM 1011 CB.

The History of Marchant Calculating Machines

Rodney Marchant (shown in picture left, source) had encountered Odhner-type pinwheel machines when he was in Europe in 1905. After he returned home he wanted to market them in the USA, so he became a salesman of the French Dactyle calculators. In 1911 Rodney and his brother Alfred Marchant founded a company, Marchant Bros, in Oakland, California (see picture right, source). This company was to make such pinwheel calculators, incorporating some design improvements. Two years later the company was incorporated and renamed the Marchant Calculating Machine Company Inc. Their first machine was the Standard, which came in two register sizes. In 1915 an electrically driven version was made, too.

In 1917, they released a new model called the Pony which was about 20% smaller in size and lighter than the Standard. Due to patent challenges they had to develop a different mechanism, and in 1921 the engineer Carl Friden came up with the adapting segment design. Apparently the Pony was then changed to use that mechanism, though I have not been able to confirm that.

This adapting segment mechanism was subsequently used in the models XL and XLA, released in 1923. See the model XL above for more details of this mechanism. While the XLA still had the register and counter on the moving carriage, looking very similar to the previous Odhner type models, the XL had the counter in a fixed position to the right of the input. Many models and variations were made based on the XL - usually with a full keyboard instead of setting levers, and often with electric drive. In the early 1930s the depression forced them to reduce the number of models and variants from 40 to just 2, one of which was the XL. Carl Friden left in about 1930 to found his own rival calculator company in San Leandro.

A new mechanism was designed by Harold Avery. The first machines based on this mechanism were released in 1934, and called "Silent Speed". See the model ACT10M above for more details of the mechanism. After the war, improved versions were called "Figuremaster" or "Figurematic", and later "Transflo". Marchant continued to produce models using only this mechanism until the 1960s.

In 1958, Marchant was bought by the typewriter company Smith Corona, to form SCM. While they did move into electronic desk calculators, they could not compete against electronic pocket calculators, so stopped making calculators in the early 1970s.

Models

Marchant made only a few models of pinwheel machines. The exact years of manufacture are somewhat uncertain.

Apparently in the last year or so the Pony was redesigned to use the adapting segment mechanism. This mechanism was then the basis for a large number of new models. Below is a table listing most of these models. Only the XLA/XLB and XL use input pins, all the rest have a keyboard. There were also several models not included in the table that have a name with a K (such as KA, KB, KC, KE, KR) but I do not have the details of those.

In the first generation of proportional gear calculators there were relatively few different models. Most were available with an 8-column or with a 10-column keyboard, indicated by the number in the model name (denoted by x in the names below).

In 1948 the calculators were redesigned, getting a more modern streamlined case. The number of variant models exploded, and I have not found any good overview of the differences between them all. Generally the Figurematic models had multiplier keys, the Figuremaster models had multiplier keys and carriage tabulation keys, while the semi-automatic models had neither.

After the 1959 merger with Smith-Corona they also imported various adding-listing machines which were then rebranded as Marchant or SCM machines. These included Diehl and Olympia adding machines from Germany, as well as machines from Japan such as SCM 1011 CB above.

Manuals

Operating Instructions Marchant Calculators    (PDF, 18.2 MB or archive.org)
Marchant Calculating Machine Company; Oakland, California, U.S.A.
1940
38 page stapled book
154mm × 228mm

This is the standard manual for Marchant's Silent Speed calculators, which at this point were the models xD, xM, CT-xD, and CT-xM (where x is 8 or 10).

Operating Instructions Marchant Calculators    (PDF, 18.0 MB or archive.org)
Marchant Calculating Machine Company; Oakland, California, U.S.A.
1946
40 page stapled book
154mm × 228mm

This is a slightly later edition of the standard manual for Marchant's Silent Speed calculators. It has no copyright year, but the code inside the rear cover suggests it was printed in 1946. The models are the ACR-xD, ACR-xM, and ACT-xM (where x is 8 or 10).

Simple Instructions for the easy operation of your Marchant Figurematic Calculator Model ADX    (PDF, 3.79 MB or archive.org)
Marchant Calculators, Inc.
1953
8 page booklet
150mm × 224mm

This is a shortened manual for Marchant model ADX calculator.

Operating Instructions for the Marchant Figurematic Model ADX    (PDF, 9.31 MB or archive.org)
Marchant Calculators, Inc.
1956
24 page booklet
151mm × 228mm

This is the standard manual for Marchant model ADX calculator.

Instrucciones Sencillas para el Fácil Manejo de las Calculadoras Marchant    (PDF, 1.85 MB or archive.org)
Marchant Calculating Machine Company; Oakland, California, U.S.A.
1947
12 page booklet
99mm × 172mm

This is a small Spanish manual for Marchant's Silent Speed calculator.

Marchant Rekenmachine Handleiding en rekenvoorbeelden voor het volautomatische model ADX    (PDF, 6.50 MB or archive.org)
Veenman kantoormachines n.v.
1955?
20 page booklet
155mm × 227mm

This is a Dutch manual for Marchant model ADX calculator.

Marchant Methods    (PDF, 35.4 MB or archive.org)
Marchant Calculating Machine Company; Oakland, California, U.S.A.
1939-1958
44 loose or stapled sheets, 88 pages
218mm × 280mm × 5mm

This is a collection of 25 issues of Marchant Methods, which describe methods for performing mathematical calculations on a mechanical calculator. The first 8 were printed in the early 1940s, the rest have no dates but were probably printed in the early 1950s (they have a Figuremaster/Figurematic letterhead), except for one which is from 1958 (after Marchant became part of Smith-Corona-Marchant)

Number	Date	Pages	Title
52	1939-02	1	Straight-Line Interpolations
91	1942-02	1	Inverse Straight-Line Interpolation - Direct Method
92	1939-08	1	Inverse or Direct Straight Line Interpolation - Build-Up Method
152	1941-02	4	Curvilinear Interpolation By The Method Of Constant Second Differences
189b	1942-02	1	Direct Interpolation and Sub-Tabulation
245	1943-04	1	Hansen-Ahlberg Method For Obtaining Parabolic Trends
434B1	1941	8	A Short Method For Evaluating Determinants And Solving Systems Of Linear Equations
434B2	1941	4	Notes On Use Of The Marchant Calculator For Solution Of Simultaneous Equations
434D		6	The Birge-Vieta Method of Finding Real Roots Of Rational Integral Function
434F		4	Approximating Polynomial From Difference Array (Stirling Method)
434J		5	Nogrady Method For Solution Of Cubic Equations
437E2		4	Starting Values For Milne-Method Integration Of Ordinary Differential Equations Of First Order
439D		3	Curvilinear Interpolation By Lagrangean Coefficients
439E3		1	Direct Interpolation and Sub-Tabulation
439J2		5	Inverse Curvilinear Interpolation By "Divided Differences"
439K		4	The A. C. Aitken Method Of Curvilinear Interpolation With Equal Or Unequal Intervals Of The Argument
441A1		1	Summations Of X, Y, X², Y² and 2XY Two-Digit Amounts
441A2		1	Summations Of X, Y, X², Y² and XY
441A3		1	Summations Of X, X², and XY, Or Y, Y² and XY Two-Digit Amounts
441B		2	Summations Of X², and (UX²), or X³
441C		2	Outline Of Summation - Work For Linear Multiple Correlation
441D		1	Summations Of X, XY and XY²
442		1	Summation Of Factors Of The Type Of AB/K When A, B, and K Are Variable
445A		5	Statistical Method Mean And Stadard Deviation - Data Grouped By Equal Class Intervals
446		2	Statistical Method Linear "Least Squares" Line Of Regression And Coefficient Of Regression

Advertisements and sales leaflets

Marchant Postcard
Genuine Curteich, Chicago
1939
139mm × 90 mm

Postcard illustrating the Marchant Calculating Machine Company Exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair held in New York.

Silent Speed Leaflet
Marchant Calculating Machine Company, Caliornia
1947
93mm × 208mm

Leaflet advertising the Marchant Silent Speed Calculator.

Veenman's Brochure    (PDF, 2.05 MB or archive.org)
Veenman's K.I.B., Rotterdam
1947
8 page booklet
148mm × 213mm

This is a small brochure for Veenman's K.I.B., a Dutch company supplying office equipment. It includes Marchant Figurematic and Figuremaster calculators, next to various other machines such as dictaphones and copiers.

Marchant Figuremaster
Kantoormachine-bedrijf Portelange N. V., Kunstlaan 36, Brussel
1950s
One page flyer
203mm × 272mm

A flyer for the Figuremaster in the Dutch language.

Marchant Postcard
Continental Büromaschinen GmbH., Kochstr. 60, Berlin SW68
1950s
145mm × 90 mm

German postcard promoting a new variant of the Figurematic.

Marchant Ruler and Calendar
Marchant Calculators, Division of Smith-Corona Marchant Inc.
1959
148mm × 213mm

This is a small celluloid plastic ruler with green printing. One side depicts the Marchant factory and a 6-inch ruler, and the reverse has a calendar for the year 1959. It also has the name ED McSwain of Vancouver, who was presumably a representative or reseller of Marchant calculators.

Leaflets/booklets for the SCM Marchant CAB, CM & CMF, TR & SK    (PDF, 14.7 MB or archive.org)
SCM Marchant, Subsidiary of SCM Corporation
1963?
4 page folded leaflet, 8 page stapled booklet, 8 page stapled booklet
210mm × 148mm

Three similar German booklets advertising the latest SCM Marchant calculator models, namely the CAB, CM & CMF, and TR & SK.

Patents

Here is only a small selection of the patents that were filed for Marchant calculators.

Links

• Marchant on Wikipedia
• Oakland localwiki has information about Marchant's factory locations and what the buildings are currently used for.
• John Wolff has a page with various Marchant models and an extensive breakdown of the Figurematic mechanism.
• Rechner Lexikon has a page about the Marchant company, as well as pages for the Marchant XL and various other models.
• Rechenmaschinen Illustrated has a page with pictures of Marchant machines
• Cris Vande Velde has a Standard, a Pony, an XLA, two XL machines, some twinplex XL machines, an H9, and an EEG.
• Vintage Calculators has a page about the Marchant company, with some serial number information for later models and examples of their final electronic calculators.
• XNumber has an article by Ernie Jorgenson, a former employee, and two articles by Nicholas Bodley about Marchant and the Proportional gear mechanism.
• The Marchant XL site with videos of how to use it.
• Marchant Calculators site has some history but the other pages have no content.
• Mechanisms by Tchebyshev has a page about his Arithmometer from 1878, which was the first to use a register with planetary differential gears and 10:1 gearing.
• Arithmeum has in its collection many Marchant models Standard A, Pony A, EA 9, EB 9, XLA, 8D, ACR 8D, ACR 8M, 10 FA Figuremaster, 10 SDX Figurematic, 8 EFA Figuremaster, 8 DRX Figurematic, 10 ADX Figurematic, TR 10 FA, TR, and also a Bohn Addmatic E2071.
• The Oakland Wiki has a page about the Marchant Calculating Machine Company.

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