Business Description

The Bell Punch Company, established in London in 1878, initially focused on manufacturing ticket punches for buses and trams. SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP COLLECTION Over time, it expanded its product range to include various business machines, notably public transport ticket machines and mechanical calculators. In the early 1960s, the company achieved a significant milestone by developing the world's first desktop electronic calculator, the Sumlock ANITA. The ANITA calculators, introduced in 1961, utilized vacuum tubes and cold-cathode tubes in their logic circuits, with Nixie tubes for numerical displays. This technology was robust and cost-effective for the era, marking a pivotal advancement in electronic computing devices. In 1966, the calculator manufacturing operations were reorganized into a separate entity, Sumlock-Anita Electronics Ltd., which continued producing both mechanical and electronic calculators. This division was later acquired by Rockwell International in 1973. The Bell Punch Company ceased trading in the early 1980s.

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