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Comptometer operator

S

samcat

Guest
My Grandmothers job was a 'comtometer' operator (unsure of spelling), at Kynocks.
Can anyone tell me what that was?
 
Samcat I used to work for Sumlock comptometer and found them far too complicated for myself. I just worked in the office in the middle of their service dept. They had a school where people were trained to us them and gain qualifications. There was another company next to us but I can't remember their name. Google in Sumlock comptometer and see what comes up. Jean.
 
Samcat have just googled Sumlock Comptometer Birmingham and there is a whole page for you to browse through. Our headquarters were 39 st James street London. Let me know how you get on. Jean.
 
I worked for T. Elvins & Sons Ltd in the 80's, they were a builidng contractors. One of the ladies who worked in the estimating department was called Beryl. She worked a machine called a comptometer. It was like a large typewriter and was used to add up columns and columns of figures. So in essence was a calculator. We did have calculators then but she was admanent that this method was a lot quicker. As I remember it was very noisy and seemed a little scary to me at the time. She could press the keys without looking at them rather like a secretary touch typing.
 
What ever a comp operator actually did, I can remember that in the Birmingham Mail, in the days when you could find pages and pages of job vacancies advertised. there were always at least a column or so vacancies for them. So they must have been in demand.
 
My old friend Sheila Baggot was the teacher at Sumlock for years I was only there for a while and she used to say that more gave up than saw the course through. Jean.
 
i used to work the comptometer at gec witton. it is a form of calculator. it took me quite a while to learn how to use it but really enjoyed it once i got used to it. the men from the factory downstairs would come and give me slips of paper with calculations to work out and they were very impressed when i held all my fingers over the keys and pressed them all at once going along from left to right and came up with the answer. i was only about 16 yrs then so was very proud of myself :D
 
So you should be proud Chris I ran a mile when Sheila told me she would teach me. Can you remember your teachers name?. Sheila was around for years. Jean.
 
the woman who taught me was joyce gilbert who was a manager at gec lrpd dept. she lived in middleton and i remember she owned horses.
 
Thanks to everyone.
I had a go at Googling 'comptometer' & did indeed come up with lots info so thanks for the tip.
At least I can understand what she did now - makes her life that much more interesting.
 
Anyone a Comptometer Operator ? A position overtaken by the the electronic calculator perhaps ?

Description: operators were taught to use their machine in the same way that typewriters and computer keyboards can be operated using the "touch typing" technique. ... An important feature of Comptometers, which is widely used in these instructions, is that keys in different columns can be pressed simultaneously.

Here’s one type of comptometer.
D7EE95B3-3270-4E11-91C0-9C50A5451D14.jpeg
 

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Hi Viv,

A job that needed quite a bit of training!

I used to work in an office with 2 Comp operators, but I don't
remember much about their operation except that they would
add, subtract, multiply and divide, and the handle on the side
is to clear the display.

I do remember that addition was achieved by just pushing the
the relevant keys and that would add into the running total
displayed. For multiplication you would do this by multiple
presses of the relevant keys. For example, if you wanted to multiply
15 times 12, you would place your fingers over the one and five
keys. You would then press the keys twice, and then move your
fingers left 1 column and then press once. Hopefully 180 would
show on the display! I didn't even try to get my head around
subtraction and division. It was quite something to see the rate
a good operator could work at.

There was also a small version also made by Sumlock called
the Plus Adder which only had keys 1 to 5. Imagine trying
to get your head round that.

Kind regards
Dave
 
Vivienne14 said:
Anyone a Comptometer Operator ? A position overtaken by the the electronic calculator perhaps ?

Description: operators were taught to use their machine in the same way that typewriters and computer keyboards can be operated using the "touch typing" technique. ... An important feature of Comptometers, which is widely used in these instructions, is that keys in different columns can be pressed simultaneously.

Here’s one type of comptometer.
View attachment 167725
Click to expand...
I was not a comptometer operarator but did work on manual calculating machines at BSA for a Summer job in about 1967. We were ’writing down‘ valuations of capital assets - in this case capstan lathes/machinery. We took the details from very heavy books that listed all the machines and calculations were printed out on paper rolls.
 
My sister was one in the early 60's. She left school and trained to use one, to have some skill to offer. If you asked her a maths question at home her hand would automatically try to find the comptometer keys even though they were back at the office.
 
In 1820, twenty-four-year-old Thomas de Colmar, a French-born mathematician, invented the world’s first commercial calculating machine called the "Comptometer", which was much faster than other mechanical calculators in use at that time. The comptometer was a large machine with a complex system of gears and levers, the operator had to have a background in engineering or mathematics to even comprehend the machine.
 
ComptometerSchool_1.jpg
This photograph is from the journal "Office Magazine" for January 1955 and has the caption "Over 180 girls a year pass through the Liverpool school for Comptometer operators run by Felt & Tarrant Ltd. Course normally lasts three months, but there is a shorter course, provided free, which covers three weeks and deals with one specific application of the Comptometer".


3 Months !
3 weeks for a specific application !

ComptometerEducator_1.jpg
The photograph above shows a "Comptometer Educator", which is a dummy "abbreviated" Comptometer used for training purposes. It is used to practice entering complete numbers in one movement using all the fingers of the hand.

Source for both: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/comptometer.html

I presume this little box was 'homework' for the students.

Perhaps the really advanced engineering models had logarithmic gears inside. :(

Andrew.
 
Comptometer Operator was a job that could be done from home. My schoolfriend's mother had such a machine, complete with fabric cover, in the corner of the living room. That must have been around 1958-59. I don't know if it was hers or if it belonged to her employer or perhaps an agency?

In the days before 'everyone' had a home computer/word processor there were many typists working from home in a similar way to my friend's mum.
 
Hi Dave no it was in Fore Street round the corner from the Mail factor. It was on the top floor and overlooked the C & A.
 
Hi Jean,

My mind playing tricks again, and I knew that building quite well.
Would the Sumlock place have been over the snooker hall, as I remember
going upstairs to the snooker hall (the entrance was just round the corner
from Cannon St), and we used to go to the windows overlooking C & A,
and wave to the girls in the offices above the shop.

Simple youthful pleasures I suppose!

Kind regards
Dave
 
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