Virtual Museum > Toys and Fun
This was a Toy, patented in 1915, where the Monkey would show the result of the multiplication of 2 numbers:
You simply move the feet of the monkey to different numbers, i.e. 5 and 9 as shown in the picture above, and the hands of the monkey will show you the result of the multiplication: 45 in the example above.
I searched for more details about this toy, and found a very interesting story:
In 1909, a Movie was called: Consul crosses the Atlantic. This was a story about a Monkey, taking the boat from Africa to America. On the boat, the monkey did all kind of tricks. I was only able to locate a picture from the movie, showing the Monkey, named Consul, smoking a cigar !
The story goes that this monkey later toured throughout America, and visited a company making calculators. A couple years later, one of the employees, even if he wasn't present when the monkey visited. had the idea to create a toy based on multiplications, and named it Consul, like the one in the movie.
You simply move the feet of the monkey to different numbers, i.e. 5 and 9 as shown in the picture above, and the hands of the monkey will show you the result of the multiplication: 45 in the example above.
I searched for more details about this toy, and found a very interesting story:
In 1909, a Movie was called: Consul crosses the Atlantic. This was a story about a Monkey, taking the boat from Africa to America. On the boat, the monkey did all kind of tricks. I was only able to locate a picture from the movie, showing the Monkey, named Consul, smoking a cigar !
The story goes that this monkey later toured throughout America, and visited a company making calculators. A couple years later, one of the employees, even if he wasn't present when the monkey visited. had the idea to create a toy based on multiplications, and named it Consul, like the one in the movie.
This was patented in 1915, and you can find a copy of the patent below:
Patent 1188490 from 1916
An interesting brochure was sold with the toy, showing how to use, and giving some directions:
Just for fun, read the last line, shown below:
Interesting selling point: even if your kids are stupid, they can still play this game !!!
Although the toy was not a big hit, I think it should be part of the history of calculators, because it was an ingenious idea and help us relate to what happened at that time.
Patent 1188490 from 1916
An interesting brochure was sold with the toy, showing how to use, and giving some directions:
Just for fun, read the last line, shown below:
Interesting selling point: even if your kids are stupid, they can still play this game !!!
Although the toy was not a big hit, I think it should be part of the history of calculators, because it was an ingenious idea and help us relate to what happened at that time.
There is even a Replica sold today, called the same name, but with a slightly different design. Here is a view of this replica. You will notice the corner, more round
The original is collectible, but the replica is made in big numbers and not quite rare.
See a short video below demonstrating how to use the toy.
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times since January 2019