Object Details
- Sharp Corporation
- Description
- In the second half of the 1970s, taking advantage of the introduction of liquid crystal displays, manufacturers of handheld electronic calculators designed and built ever-thinner products. In this Sharp calculator the usual keys have been replaced by a single thin membrane. This reduces the thickness of the calculator itself to about .16 cm (less than 1/8”). Pushing numbers on such a calculator produces no tactile sensation. To give users a sense that they indeed had entered information, the calculator could be set so that a tone sounded whenever a digit or function was entered. Pushing the section of the membrane with a musical note on it (called the sensor key) activated this part of the calculator.
- The calculator has a total of twenty-six “keys” In addition to the sensor key, these include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, four arithmetic function keys, and three memory keys. Behind these are a % key, and a clear entry key, as well as a STR key for storing a number in the memory and a COMP key for computing conversions by multiplying the stored value by the number shown on the display. Behind these are keys for off and for on/clear. Text next to these last two keys reads: ELSI MATE (/) EL-8152 (/) STORAGE COMPUTER. Behind this is the eight-digit LCD display. Text behind this reads: SHARP.
- Text on the back of the calculator reads: SHARP (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR (/) EL-8152. It also reads: SHARP CORPORATION MADE IN JAPAN BM. The most recent U.S. patent number listed is 3976994, a patent issued in 1976 and assigned to Sharp. A label below this reads: 07004741. The calculator ran on two squat cylindrical silver oxide batteries.
- The calculator has a dark blue cloth carrying case. Text on the front of it reads: SHARP. This case, in turn, fits into a cardboard box with a small pamphlet. The cover of the manual reads: SHARP COMPET ELSI MATE (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR (/) EL-8152 (/) INSTRUCTION MANUAL. Also included loose in the manual is a warning not to carry the calculator in a back pocket. The sleeve for the box reads: SHARP (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR (/) EL-8152 A.
- An example of the Sharp EL-8152 was shown in a 1994 exhibition on modern Japanese design, held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
- Sharp membrane calculators in the collections include 1997.0032.01 (Sharp EL-8152 or EL-8152A), 1987.0435.13 (Sharp EL-8130A), and 1986.0988.316 (Sharp EL-8145).
- References:
- [Advertisement], Chicago Tribune, December 23, 1979, p. B1. Calculator advertised (EL-8152) said to be 1/16” thick, selling for $39.95.
- [Advertisement], Los Angeles Times, May 1, 1980, p. 17. This advertisement lists the Sharp EL-8152 calculator (not the EL-8152 A) as on sale for $32.97.
- [Advertisement], Los Angeles Times, September 4, 1980, p. B13. Sharp EL-8152 (not EL-8152 A) advertised as on sale for $39.99.
- Kathryn B. Hiesinger and Felice Fischer, Japanese Design: A Survey Since 1950, Philadelphia; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1994, p. 123.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Cameron J. La Clair, Jr.
- 1979-1980
- ID Number
- 1997.0032.01
- catalog number
- 1997.0032.01
- accession number
- 1997.0032
- Object Name
- electronic calculator
- Physical Description
- metal (case; circuitry material)
- glass (display material)
- plastic (center material)
- velvet (case material)
- paper (box; instructions material)
- Measurements
- overall: .3 cm x 5.4 cm x 9.6 cm; 1/8 in x 2 1/8 in x 3 25/32 in
- place made
- Japan
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Computers
- Computers & Business Machines
- Handheld Electronic Calculators
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_210269
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a0-de4d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
