Litronix 1100 Handheld Electronic Calculator
date: label: date made
content: 1973-1974
name: label: maker
content: Litronix
notes: label: Description
content: Bruce Blakken left Monsanto Corporation in the spring of 1970 to establish Litronix, Inc., a maker of optoelectronic components, particularly light-emitting diodes. By 1973, the company was selling electronic calculators, first under the name Checkmate and then as the Litronix 1100. The firm would continue to sell calculators until 1976, when prices became too competitive. In 1977, bankrupt, it was purchased by the German firm of Siemens, Inc.
label: Description
content: The Litronix 1100 has a tan and brown plastic case with a metal plate at the top of the front, and seventeen rectangular plastic keys. These include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, four arithmetic function keys, a clear key, and a clear entry key. In addition the calculator has an on/off switch and a switch for determining whether results are shown to two decimal digits or to four. Behind the keyboard is an eight-digit red LED display. A mark above this reads: litronix. A socket for a power adapter is along the back edge.
label: Description
content: A compartment for three batteries is at the top of the back. A sticker below this reads: litronix 1100 (/) Serial No. 131310 (/) 4.5 VDC .27 Watts (/) Manufactured By: Litronix, Inc., Cupertino, CA (/) Assembled in Malaysia. Another sticker reads: TO AVOID DAMAGE IN SHIPMENT THIS CALCULATOR SHIPPED WITH- (/) OUT BATTERIES. MFR. SUGGESTS (3) ALKALINE SIZE AA BATTERIES (/) FOR MAXIMUM LIFE. BATTERIES ARE LOW AND SHOULD BE REPLAC- (/) ED WHEN THE NUMBER 8 CANNOT BE ENTERED OR WILL NOT AP- (/) PEAR ON THE LED DISPLAY.
label: Description
content: Introduced at a price of $39.95, the cost of the Litronix 1100 quickly dropped.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: [Advertisement], <I>Los Angeles Times</I>, December 17, 1973. Battery-operated Litronix 1100 advertised as selling for $39.95.
label: Description
content: [Advertisement], <I>Los Angeles Times</I>, March 15, 1974, p. A31. Litronix 1100 listed as on sale for $29.95.
label: Description
content: [Advertisement], <I>New Scientist</I>, November 1, 1973, p. 341. Machine with same keys, switches as Litronix 1100 advertised as on sale for 23.45 pounds.
label: Description
content: [Advertisement], <I>Los Angeles Times</I>, November 1, 1974, p. A13. Litronix 1100 advertised as selling for $29.95, Litronix 2120 (with memory) for $49.95.
label: Description
content: “Litronix Provides Variety of Positions,” <I>Los Angeles Times</I>, Oct 21, 1975, p. H8.
label: Description
content: “German Firm to Bid for Litronix,” <I>Los Angeles Times</I>, May 6, 1977, p. E19.
label: Description
content: “The President and Founder of Litronix Plans to Resign,” <I>Los Angeles Times</I>, November 30, 1977, p. F12.
label: Description
content: Oral History Interview of Gary Boone by David Morton, June 22, 1996, Interview #273 for the Center for the History of Electrical Engineering. Boone, who had worked at Texas Instruments, worked at Litronix when it was developing electronic calculators. The interview is online at the IEEE Global History Network.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Malaysia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
label: See more items in
content: Computers & Business Machines
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: 1986.0988.253
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0988.253
label: accession number
content: 1986.0988
objectType: label: Object Name
content: electronic calculator
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (case, display cover, keys material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (circuitry, plate material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (stickers material)
label: Physical Description
content: gallium arsenide (display chips material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7/8 in x 2 3/4 in x 5 7/8 in; 2.2225 cm x 6.985 cm x 14.9225 cm