Lehigh Calculator
Well, this was a bit of a curve ball ... I received a message from someone who had bought a “Lehigh” calculator on ebay.
At first sight, it looks a lot like a Triumphator D which has been relabeled, but on closer inspection, it is something altogether different.
It turns out the Lehigh Calculator corporation was established in Lehighton, PA, by Hugo Enders, in July 1920. They start producing calculators, and by 1922 moved to Newark, NJ, into a new factory. The next year, however, calculator production suddenly stopped. Enders took out three patents on improvements for calculating machines, but none of the known machines actually sports these improvements. The patent for the quick clearing in the middle of the carriage (as used later by Calcorex in Yugoslavia) appears to have been used for the machines that were first built in 1920. The patents are Nrs. US1364624, US1413715A and US1414729. The other patent is a system for keeping the setting levers still, that is also not implemented on this machine. Later pictures and advertisments in 1922 show the machine with very classical clearing wingnuts (or even squares, in one case ...) at either end of the carriage. Enders himself is named a “citizen of Germany and resident of Belleville, PA” in the patents. He also patents a “dissolving camera shutter”, US1388938A. His name occurs one last time in the US patent database in 1944, and he is then apparently working for the Monroe corporation.
The machine itself is widely promoted, mainly in Typewriter topics - the links to these articles can be found under “Lehigh corp.” on the rechnerlexikon.
Emphasis is placed on the fact that his is a machine based on foreign patents that “have been in use for 15 years”. Probably the license to the patents was granted (“by the USPTO”) as a kind of war repayment for the Great War. The “foreign ruggedness” of the machine is stressed, but also the large capacity in contrast to the machines “of the Midget type”, which is a direct sneer to Brunsviga. Standardized production methods with interchangeble parts are used for the machine. Joseph Gooch is president and treasurer, and W.J. Peck is the General Sales Manager. The company is consistently pictured as growing, modern, looking for distributors, and succesful - why it then suddenly disappears in the beginning of 1923 is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps the “modern new factory” in Newark was sold for more profitable purposes as an exit strategy becasue sales were not as successful as the promotional materials seems to indicate? Intriguingly, according to the NY company register, The Lehigh Corporation still exists, and is still located at the same NY 25 W. 43rd street address.
Another mystery is this machine itself. It appears to be relatively late in the production, with the patented improvements no longer implemented. And it may indeed have been exported to Germany, because that is where it was found.
While it may superficially look like a Triumphator, the machine itself is quite different. It is quite light, as everything is cast aluminium.
The carriage moves on rollers, and the carriage tabulation system does not resemble any other I know of. The crank is quite short and stubby. There is tens carry on all 20 digits of the result and all 12 digits of the counter. There is an input control register, which can be zeroed if it gets misaligned. Every part of this appears to be American made.
When I got the machine, it was very dirty, and the clearing on the leftmost digit of the result register was faulty.
This was not easily fixed ... the carriage had to come out, and then I had to figure out what the “magic position” was for the central axle with the clearing teeth to withdraw. It turns out that for a Lehigh calculator, every digit needs to be placed on “4” for it to come out.
The rest of the repair went without any issues.
What is quite funny is that they cover the working bits of the clearing with a nickeled shroud, so it looks clean from the outside, and dirt will not be able to get in. I would dare to call that innovative - I’ve not seen it on any other machine.
The rest was reassembly and cleaning
The machine is quite well provided with documentation, although the paper labels have gotten hard to read through age and browning. Also the back of the machine contains all the patent numbers, and the message that it is manufactured and guaranteed by The Lehigh Corporation of 25 W.43rd street New York, U.S.A. and - Factory Newark N.J.
“To unlock carriage turn knurled screw to left as far as possible” “To lock carriage for shipment 1- Move carriage so N° 5 left carriage dial is under arrow 2- Turn knurled screw to right, for two or three turns 3- Move carriage to right as far as possible 4- Turn knurled screw to right as far as possible”
“Oil machine at places indicated at least once a month. Use typewriter oil If machine locks - - first make sure that carriage clearing knobs are in neutral position and that carriage itself is in mesh point. Do not force operating handle.”
There are also some helpful pointers on where to oil:
The serial number of the machine is 8146 - or maybe 8045 - or perhaps 6045 -or something inbetween. The base has been restamped a few times... It is quite improbable that that many have been made.
The direction change mechanism is quite different from the Triumphator machines:
When the machine was nice and clean, and the result register clearing repaired...
... I thought I should try my hand at reapinting the logo, as it is such a distinctive element in the looks of the machine. It is no great signwriting, but from a meter away, at least it doesn’t stand out. Added difficulty was that the font on the front is different from that in the decal on the back, otherwise it would have been easy, but there was enough left of the original logo to figure otu what had to go where.
And finally some beauty shots
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