Antique Time...

Who out there has used one of these?

It's an Otis King Model L Calculator which I used in school when I was 12 or 13.

That was back pre-calculator days when we had to learn how to use log tables and slide rules. I remember having a standard 12" long (that's about 30 cm, children) slide rule until the day when my father presented me with one of these. This is essentially just a slide rule, but with a 66" long scale meaning it's potentially much more accurate. My father had used one of these during his PhD in the 1950s, and at some point acquired a second one which he passed on to me.

I remember being excited when I got this one in the early seventies, almost as excited as I was to get it back yesterday. Thanks Dad.

I was also delighted to see that there were instructions which I do need to read this time. As I started writing this piece, I was transported back to my school in Lisburn. On the day I first had this cylindrical slide rule I was really proud of it, but unfortunately hadn't properly read the instructions so I got all the calculations wrong... Oh the embarrassment.

Update: to give a sense of date, I've just noticed one of the example calculations in the instruction book. If 54 articles cost £39 4s 6d, what is the price of 15 articles. The answer works out at 217.9 shillings (or £10 17s 11d).

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