Corvus 804 Handheld Electronic Calculator
date: label: date made
content: ca 1976
name: label: maker
content: Corvus Corporation
notes: label: Description
content: This handheld electronic calculator has a plastic case that is bright orange on top and black on the bottom. The twenty-three plastic keys appear to have plastic stickers atop them—these are worn. The keys include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a clear key, a total key (this is illegible), four arithmetic function keys, four memory keys, a square root key, and a percentage key. The on/off switch is in the upper left corner of the keyboard. Behind the keyboard is an eight-digit red LED display. A sticker behind this reads: CORVUS. An outlet for a power adapter is on the top edge.
label: Description
content: The back has a battery compartment for a single battery. A sticker below this has stamped on it: 34856. Scratched on the sticker is the number 804.
label: Description
content: The instrument has a black leather zippered case, which may not have come with it.
label: Description
content: Images of other examples of the calculator that are available online indicate that it was made in Hong Kong.
label: Description
content: For a brief time in the 1970s, Mostek Corporation sold electronic calculators through a subsidiary, Corvus Corporation of Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1969 as a spinoff of Texas Instruments, Mostek became a leading manufacturer of semiconductors. Some of its first products were chips used by the Japanese firm of Busicom in desktop electronic calculators. In 1970, Busicom introduced such a calculator that used only a single Mostek chip. Mostek became one of the world’s leading manufacturers of metal oxide semiconductor read only memories, before being acquired by United Technologies in 1979. According to trademark registration for Corvus, the term was first used in commerce referring to an electronic digital calculator in 1973. This is the latest Corvus calculator presently in the collections, dating from about 1976.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: [Advertisement], <I>Lincoln Star</I>, August 26, 1976, p. 110. Corvus 804 calculator sells for $14.95.
label: Description
content: [Advertisement], <I>Texas Monthly</I>, October, 1976, p. 47. This advertisement is for games that could be played on a Corvus 804 calculator.
label: Description
content: For images of a similar Corvus calculator, see the datamath.org website, accessed June 17, 2014.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: China: Hong Kong
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
label: See more items in
content: Computers & Business Machines
label: See more items in
content: Handheld Electronic Calculators
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of John B. Priser
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0988.101
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0988.101
label: accession number
content: 1986.0988
objectType: label: Object Name
content: electronic calculator
label: Other Terms
content: electronic calculator; Handheld
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (case; display cover; keys material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (stickers material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (circuitry material)
label: Physical Description
content: ceramic (display base material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (case material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 1/8 in x 3 in x 5 3/8 in; 2.8575 cm x 7.62 cm x 13.6525 cm