Diskussion:Consul

AUS: "Descriptions of Slide Rules and Other Devices for the IM2025 Auction from the Conrad Schure and Dick Rose Collections (October 25 2025)":

13. Consul The Educated Monkey – Original, not a Reproduction

Make no mistake, this is NOT a slide rule. “Consul” The Educated Monkey is a toy, invented between 1912 and 1915 by William Henry Robertson, a draftsman at NCR (National Cash Register). In 1915 Robertson applied for two patents, one for the mechanism that makes Consul work, and the other for the toy itself; both patents were issued in 1916, the first on June 27 and the second on November 26. Remember those dates, they will be important later.

Consul was manufactured by the Educational Novelty Co. of Dayton, Ohio, a company that Robertson formed with a few other NCR employees. The Educational Novelty Co. only lasted a couple years, but manufacturing of Consul moved to Massachusetts and continued for several more years. Robertson remained with NCR in Dayton, OH, was promoted to Designer, and again to Inventor. He authored several patents which were assigned to NCR. This example of Consul was almost certainly manufactured in Dayton, Ohio by the Educational Novelty Co., at sometime in mid-to-late 1916. I say this because only the first patent is listed on the front of the device, with the note “other patents pending”. Later examples show both patent dates. That makes the most likely date of manufacture for this particular Consul sometime between July and December of 1916. This is a complete example, with the protective card cover, and the addition table card that can be slipped under Consul’s hands to make it do addition and subtraction instead of multiplication and division.

(F. Diestelkamp 13:21, 25. Okt 2025 (CEST))

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Diskussion:Consul