# Friden, Inc. > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Friden%2C_Inc. > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Friden%2C_Inc..md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friden%2C_Inc. > Source revision: 1328936370 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American manufacturer of typewriters, and mechanical and electronic calculators}} {{Infobox company | name = Friden, Inc. | image = The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Friden model 132 calculator.jpg | logo_size = 200px | image_caption = Friden Model 132 Calculator, 1965 | type = Private | genre = Technology | fate = Acquired | predecessor = | successor = [Singer Corporation](/source/Singer_Corporation) | foundation = [San Leandro, California](/source/San_Leandro%2C_California), U.S. | founder = [Carl Friden](/source/Carl_Friden) | defunct = {{End date|1965}} | location_city = | location_country = | location = | locations = | homepage = | footnotes = }} '''Friden Calculating Machine Company''' ('''Friden, Inc.''') was an American manufacturer of typewriters and mechanical, later electronic calculators. It was founded by [Carl Friden](/source/Carl_Friden) in [San Leandro, California](/source/San_Leandro%2C_California), in 1934. ==History== thumb|Friden Calculator [[File:Flexowriter.JPG|thumb|[Friden Flexowriter](/source/Friden_Flexowriter)]] In 1934 the Friden Calculating Machine Company launched the Friden calculator model A for 8 digit entries and the Friden calculator model B for 10 digit entries. Friden calculator model C had its product launch in 1936 and supported automatic return clearance for the carriage. The Friden calculator model C8 supported 8 digits, while the Friden calculator model C10 supported 10 digits.{{cite web|url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_692275|title=Friden Model C 10 Calculating Machine|publisher=National Museum of American History|access-date=12 July 2025}} In 1957, Friden purchased the Commercial Controls Corporation of [Rochester, New York](/source/Rochester%2C_New_York). This gave them the [Flexowriter](/source/Friden_Flexowriter) teleprinter, an electric typewriter capable of being used as part of [unit record equipment](/source/unit_record_equipment) developed in World War II for the Department of the Navy to automatically type "regret to inform you" letters to the survivors of fallen servicemen, the predecessor to modern computers. The Flexowriter could be attached to Friden calculators and driven by [paper tape](/source/paper_tape) to produce bills and other form letters which had names of customers and amounts of bills filled in automatically. Friden eventually expanded into production of a few models of early transistorized computers. {{anchor|EC-130|EC-132}}Friden introduced the first fully [transistor](/source/transistor)ized desktop electronic calculator, the model EC-130 in June 1963, designed by Robert "Bob" Appleby Ragen.{{cite web |title=1928–2012 Obituary Condolences Robert (Bob) Ragen | website=[Legacy.com](/source/Legacy.com) |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/insidebayarea/obituary.aspx?n=robert-ragen-bob&pid=158717663 |access-date=2016-01-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218233505/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/robert-ragen-obituary?pid=1000000158717663 |archive-date=2017-12-18 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden130.html|title=Friden EC-130 Electronic Calculator|website=www.oldcalculatormuseum.com|access-date=2006-06-06|archive-date=2024-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625155146/https://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden130.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden132.html|title=Friden EC-132 Electronic Calculator|website=www.oldcalculatormuseum.com|access-date=2007-10-05|archive-date=2007-10-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016233139/http://oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden132.html|url-status=live}} This machine had a 13-digit capacity and a 5-inch [CRT](/source/Cathode_ray_tube) display. It used a magnetostrictive [delay-line memory](/source/delay-line_memory), to save money on expensive transistors. The EC-130 sold for $2,200 ({{Inflation|US|2200|1963|fmt=eq|r=-2}}), or about three times the price of comparable electromechanical calculators of the time. It was the first calculator to use [reverse Polish notation](/source/reverse_Polish_notation) (RPN), which eliminated the need for [parentheses](/source/Bracket) to specify the [order of operations](/source/order_of_operations) in complex calculations. The successor model EC-132, introduced in April 1965, added a square root function. In 1965 the company was purchased by [Singer Business Machines](/source/Singer_Business_Machines), part of [Singer Corporation](/source/Singer_Corporation), but continued operation under the Friden brand name until 1974. The Singer – Friden Research Center in Oakland, California, later moved to Palo Alto, California (1965 to 1970), was unable to develop a pocket-sized calculator to compete with the corresponding new Japanese products, such as the [Busicom](/source/Busicom), based on [Intel 4004](/source/Intel_4004) in 1971, Casio Mini and Sharp EL-805 in 1972. ==In popular culture== An early Friden electromechanical calculator is shown operating in closeup in the 1949 British film ''[The Small Back Room](/source/The_Small_Back_Room)''. Friden calculators, with their hypnotic mechanical movements, populate the hundreds of desks in the office of the imaginary "Consolidated Life" insurance company in the 1960 motion picture ''[The Apartment](/source/The_Apartment)''. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Bibliography== *{{cite web |title=Oral History of George Comstock |location=Mountain View, California, USA |author-first=George E. |author-last=Comstock |interviewer-first=Gardner |interviewer-last=Hendrie |date=2003-08-13 |id=CHM X2727.2004 |publisher=[Computer History Museum](/source/Computer_History_Museum) |url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Comstock_George/Comstock_George_1.oral_history.102658008.pdf |access-date=2017-03-23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323110042/http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Comstock_George/Comstock_George_1.oral_history.102658008.pdf |archive-date=2017-03-23}} ==External links== {{commons category|Friden}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20191229092107/http://www.fridenites.com/ Friden tribute web site (archived 2019)] *[http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/fridenstw.html Friden STW-10] Electromechanical calculator sold from 1949 to 1966 *[http://blinkenlights.com/classiccmp/friden/ Friden Flexowriter] combination typewriter and [paper tape](/source/paper_tape) punch, designed by IBM during the 1940s and bought out by Friden in the late 1950s (Retrieved April 10, 2007) *[http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden130.html Friden EC-130] Electronic calculator (1963) *[http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden132.html Friden EC-132] Electronic calculator (1965) *[http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden1152.html Singer/Friden 1152] Electronic printing calculator with [DTL](/source/Diode%E2%80%93transistor_logic) logic *[http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/friden1162.html Singer/Friden 1162] Electronic calculator with [DTL](/source/Diode%E2%80%93transistor_logic) logic and CRT display *[http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/fri1112.html Friden/Singer 1112] with 507 transistors and twelve digit [Nixie tube](/source/Nixie_tube) display, designed and built by [Hitachi](/source/Hitachi%2C_Ltd.) Category:Mechanical calculator companies Category:Electromechanical calculator companies Category:Electronic calculator companies Category:Companies based in San Leandro, California Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1974 Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1934 Category:1934 establishments in California Category:1974 disestablishments in California Category:American companies disestablished in 1974 Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States Category:Defunct computer hardware companies Category:Defunct computer systems companies Category:Defunct computer companies based in California --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Friden, Inc.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friden%2C_Inc.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friden%2C_Inc.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.