Monroe Calculators
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About 63 years ago World War II ended after America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
These nuclear bombs were developed in a massive undertaking that was called the Manhattan
Project. At its peak 130,000 people worked on the Manhattan Project, including Benjamin Hadley Garland, my father.
Back in those days mathematicians didn’t do complex calculations by computer. The digital calculator didn’t come along until 25 years later (when I was in college). Back during WWII people used mechanical calculators.
One of the top manufacturers of calculators was t
he Monroe Calculating Machine Company which was founded in 1912 by Jay R. Monroe. It had factories in New Jersey and in Amsterdam, Holland. Keeping these mechanical calculators operating was essential to the war effort, and my father got a deferment from going to war because he worked for Monroe Calculator as a repair technician. This was his first career.
He only worked for Monroe Calculator for a few years, and he changed jobs before I was born. Nonetheless these Monroe Calculators have always held a very special appeal to me.
Today in the Flea Market at Ascarate Lake in El Paso, Texas I bought an old Monroe Calculator for $4-. Boy these things weigh a ton. Carrying it to the car was a challenge. These machines would make good boat anchors.
LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_calculator
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