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The 'Golden' Odhner
Original Odhner Golden Model 7 Sweden Brass Mechanical Calculator
Original Odhner Model 7 Sweden circa 1938
This piece is a rare all brass version of the Original Odhner Model 7 made in Sweden circa 1938. (see video below)
 
Here is a blurry video demonstration (Can't see the play button? try refreshing your browser via the F5 key):
(if video won't show, enable javascript and download the latest Macromedia Flash Player)
 
These machines were typically painted entirely black with white numerals. Below you can see the standard black finish typical of nearly all mechanical calculators in the first half of the 20th century:
Black paint was standard for these calculators
 
I purchased this 'Golden' calculator in Japan (via a good friend) from an antique dealer who did not know (or would not tell) its history.
 

 
It's possible that some enterprising individual stripped the paint from this piece, however, I suspect it was originally finished in all brass as shown, because even the sliders and screws appear to be of brass, which is unusual as far as I can tell. (If you have any information about this, I'd be interested to hear from you! Send me a note)
 
I have seen examples where the top plate is brass while the carriage and the rest below remains painted, and these two-tone machines are also quite beautiful. Here is an example from the same era:
 
 
 
Here you can see that though the top plate has been stripped of paint, the screws do not appear to be made of brass as with the 'Golden' model.
 
Original Odhner is one famous brand of a great many that produced this 'pinwheel' style of machine (so-called because a set of pins project from the large central drum, which rotates as the crank is turned). Willgodt T. Odhner invented the design in 1874 in St. Petersburg (though the American inventor Frank Baldwin independently originated a very similar concept two years earlier).
 
 
There is a good website with a brief history of the Odhner brand from the great grand nephew of the inventor here: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wtodhner/calcs.html
 
And here is another describing the pinwheel mechanism: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/odhner.html 
 
And how to operate the calculator for multiplication division etc.: