West German Texas Instruments TI-74S

This TI handheld computer is a bit of a mystery to us. It’s the TI-74 S, aka the Hamburg-Mannheimer. It was sold in Germany, we’re guessing around 1985 or so. This little device has a ten-pin port in the top, and accepts cartridges in the upper right corner. We found this one holding a 256K cart, also labelled with Hamburg-Mannheimer. Its all dark-gray plastic construction is a departure from the status-quo light gray plastic and metal handhelds sold by Casio and Sharp at the time. UPDATE: Several folks emailed us to say that Hamburg-Mannheimer is a German insurance company so we presume actuaries or appraisers used these gadgets to calculate rates.

Tele-Art Directory Dialer Calculator DD120

This little pocket device has a seemingly endless list of functions: 115 name & telephone number directory; search functions; clock and calendar; credit card number storage; security lock…oh, and it’s a phone dialer. Store a phone number, hold it up to a telephone receiver, push a button and this little gadget will “dial” the number for you by sending the DTMF tones.

Sanyo World Clock CX-7214T

Very powerful calculator by Sanyo, but not for its computational power…this one’s a world time clock! We’ve got dual time, stopwatch, alarm, six function calculator with memory..so much in such a small package. Perhaps that’s why they engineered the on/off switch on the back. Lithium batteries were a rarity in personal electronics at the time, they provided plenty of power for infrequent replacement and no leaking.

Polaroid 600 Plus Promo Calculator

Polaroid attempted this product promotion for its 600 series film back in 1986 or so. There was a matching transistor radio too, and each was bundled in with the film as a freebie. This little wallet calculator is solar-powered and has membrane keys. These things will last forever in the right environment–no significant moving parts, no battery cells to corrode. And the price is right!