Home > Hand-held Calculators

Keystone 88 & similar

Atlas-Rand 240
Berkey/Omega 100
Keystone 88

Display is 8 digits, amber Panaplex gas-discharge.

4-function %. Note that the Atlas-Rand 240 has a "Constant" switch.
The "Decimal" switch has two positions: "Norma"l gives a floating decimal point, and "$" gives a fixed decimal point with two places of decimals suitable for money calculations.

Main integrated circuit - by Rockwell.

6v (4x AA batteries).

78 x 133 x 44 mm. (5.7" x 8.5" x 2.75").

About 1974.

Made in U.S.A.

All of these calculators have identical labels on the back, marked "Keystone, Paramus, New Jesrsey".

The Keystone Company was founded in 1919 as a toy manufacturer. By the mid-30s it had started manufacturing cameras, and by 1945 was producing a range of movie cameras and projectors and was phasing out of the toy business. The company continued to be very innovative in photographic equipment and in other consumer goods.
In 1965 Keystone was purchased by Berkey Photo Inc., which owned the Omega trade mark.
I do not know of the significance of the name Atlas-Rand.

The use of a Burroughs Panaplex gas-discharge display in a hand-held calculator was not common. The digits are much larger than contempory LED (Light-Emitting Diode) displays and much more easily readable, as can be seen in the photographs.
However, unlike the LED, this display requires a high voltage to be generated for operation, and there is a warning on the back about the high voltages inside.

Vintage Calculators

© Text & photographs copyright Nigel Tout  2000-2008 except where noted otherwise.