Calculator Inventory Tags
© 2020 & 2025 Douglas Mendez & Nigel Tout
This is a new article which was not originally in "The International Calculator Collector".
Early calculators, both mechanical and electronic, were very expensive and if purchased and owned by an organisation then an inventory tag might be attached to help track such capital equipment and indicate ownership. In the early 1970s the first hand-held electronic calculators were very expensive and also very portable so an inventory tag on a calculator also made it less likely to disappear from the premises.
Finding a calculator wth the inventory tag of a significant organisation gives increased interest to the collector since they can relate the calculator to its use in that organisation. Here is a selection of calculators with inventory tags from the collection of Douglas Mendez.
Canon Palmtronic FC-80 - 'United States Atomic Energy Commission Nevada Test Site' inventory tag
Canon Palmtronic FC-80 with 'United States Atomic Energy Commission Nevada Test Site' tag
The Nevada Test Site (NTS), 65 miles north of Las Vegas, was one of the most significant nuclear weapons test sites in the United States. Nuclear testing, both atmospheric and underground, occurred here between 1951 and 1992. After World War II, the U.S. government established the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to monitor the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. The 1950s became a period of rapid expansion for U.S. atomic weapons. Fear of the Soviet Union increasing their atomic weapons, and the belief that building up nuclear arms could help establish U.S. power, contributed to this rapid expansion.
In 1950 the AEC considered many sites for U.S. nuclear weapons development and effects testing. They then selected the Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range. On December 18, 1950, President Harry Truman authorized the establishment of a 680 square mile portion of the Range as the Nevada Proving Ground. Under the authority of President Truman, the AEC then designated, and managed, this land. In 1955, the name of the site was changed to the Nevada Testing Site. Over time the site rapidly grew in size. The NTS acquired more land for testing in 1958, 1961, 1965, 1967, and in 1999.[1]
In June 1958, it was officially designated Area 51 by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The adjacent AEC proving grounds became known as the Nevada Test Site and divided into numbered areas.
I checked FC-80 with my Geiger Counter and the calculator was not hot!
Canon Palmtronic FC-80 - 4-function, square root, metric conversion, red LED, 4-AA replaceable batteries.
National Semiconductor Novus 4520 - 'Raytheon Systems Company' inventory tag
National Semiconductor Novus 4520 'Scientist' with 'Raytheon Systems Company' tag
RSC, Raytheon Systems Company aka RMS, Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson AZ now called Raytheon Technologies.
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational conglomerate head-quartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitalization. It researches, develops, and manufactures advanced technology products in the aerospace and defense industry, including aircraft engines, avionics, aerostructures, cybersecurity, missiles, air defense systems, and drones. The company is also a large military contractor, getting a significant portion of its revenue from the U.S. government.[2]
National Semiconductor Novus 4520 - Scientific functions, memory, red LED, 9v replaceable battery.
The National Semiconductor Novus 4520 'Scientist' with the inventory tag.
Hewlett-Packard HP-35 - 'Australian Post Office Research Laboratories' inventory tag
Hewlett-Packard HP-35 with 'Australian Post Office Research Laboratories' tag
The Australian Post Office (APO), as part of the Postmaster General's Department (PMG), established the Australian Post Office Research Laboratories in 1923. The Laboratories continued as the domestic telecommunications services of the PMG progressed to Telecom Australia in 1975 and Telstra in 1995. Its final incarnation was as the Telstra Research Laboratories (TRL) until it was closed by Telstra in January 2006.[3]
Around the time that this HP-35 was in use the Australian Post Office Research Laboratories were vital to upgrading and maintaining the telecommunication infrastructure of the continent. They were reported to be researching advancements in long range communications electronics, microwave radio networks, possible uses of lasers in communications and satellite links. Apparently, a variety of electronic equipment was designed and tested in their labs and in the field in Australia.[4]
Hewlett-Packard HP-35 - The first hand-held scientific calculator, scientific functions, red LED, rechargeable battery unit. The HP-35 is a featured calculator.
The Hewlett-Packard HP-35, version '1304S', calculator with the inventory tag.
Hewlett-Packard HP-25 - with 'Energy Research and Development Administration' & 'Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory' inventory tags
Added Jan. 2025
Hewlett Packard HP-25 calculator.
Label at the top of the rear of the HP-25 calculator.
Hot brand "ERDA LASL" on the lower rear of the calculator.
This Hewlett Packard HP-25 calculator has two very interesting inventory tags, one being a label and the other being made by a hot 'branding iron'.
From its serial number the calculator is a 1975 vintage. The date fits with ownership by the 'Energy Research and Development Administration' (E.R.D.A.). Congress created the Energy Research and Development Administration on October 11, 1974, in response to the Nation's growing need for additional sources of energy. It brought together for the first time the major programs of research and development for all forms of energy. In 1977, it was merged with the Federal Energy Administration to form the United States Department of Energy.
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was established in 1943 to conduct scientific research for the Manhattan Project, an allied effort that developed the world's first atomic weapons. It was renamed to Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL), as on the calculator, on January 1, 1947, and reverted to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in 1981.
Located about 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe, LANL is a multi-program, federally funded research and development center for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). LANL's priority roles are serving as a nuclear weapons design agency and a nuclear weapons production agency; addressing nuclear threats; and performing national security science, technology, and engineering.
From its inventory tags this calculator appears to have been recorded at a facility of the Energy Research and Development Administration based at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.
Vintage Calculators
Text & photographs copyright, except where stated otherwise, © Nigel Tout 2000-2025.
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