Friden 1203 Calculator
Friden 1203
The Friden 1203 is a fairly generic 1970’s single chip 4-function calculator. It combines a US-made Rockwell calculator chip with design and construction values from previous Friden products. Perhaps it was one of the last models to be made in the US, before Friden switched to sourcing their calculators from Japan.
It is a basic 4-function, two memory machine with accumulation, percentage and decimal selection functions.
The 1203 seems to have been designed and built with the expectation that it would provide many years of service. The machine has a service sticker underneath that records one field repair. Mechanical claculators required regular care and feeding and Friden had an extensive field service infrastructrure. The viability of this service must have declined rapidly as electronic calculators became cheap non-repairable commodity products.