Victor Technology LLC (also known as Victor Calculator) is a supplier of printing calculators, scientific calculators, financial calculators, basic calculators, and desktop accessories with headquarters in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Victor products are sold primarily throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico through independent office supply dealers.
Company history
Victor Adding Machine Co. was a fledgling company in 1918 when the operator of a chain of meat markets gave a Victor salesman $100, intending to buy an adding machine. Instead, he got 10 shares of the company's stock. In an effort to protect his investment, that man – Carl Buehler – became a director of Victor in September 1918 and was elected president of the company three months later. The first Victor adding machine, Model 110, was introduced in 1919.
In 1921, Carl selected his 24-year-old son, A. C., as Vice President of Operations and advised him to operate the company by "working like the devil, but treat the employees right and allow them to make some money." Carl also believed in reinvesting most of the profits so the company could grow. A.C. assumed control of the company on the death of Carl Buehler in 1932.
During World War II, Victor manufactured an aircraft compass, a B-24 bomber turret gunsight, and the Norden bombsight. After the war, Victor had all the necessary elements for success in the adding machine industry – quality products, a good research department, an efficient factory, an effective sales organization, and a dedicated service department. Therefore, it was no surprise that by 1947 Victor had become the world's largest exclusive manufacturer of adding machines, and five years later topped the million mark in units sold.
In 1953, Victor went into the cash register business, acquiring its long-time customer, the McCaskey Register Company. This purchase immediately contributed to sales and marked the beginning of a major expansion phase.
A. C. began to evaluate the computer market during the 1950s. He decided that the market had potential, but that he would stay out of it until he could find or develop a product suitable for both large and small businesses. The solution came in 1961 when Victor merged with the Comptometer Corporation, which produced calculating machines and a telecommunication device called the Electrowriter.
In 1965 Victor Comptometer Corporation produced the Victor 3900, a fully electronic calculator with multiple functions, three storage registers, and a small CRT display. The unit incorporated an early MOS integrated circuit for processing and storage. The unit was designed for desktop use, but was extremely large and heavy. Due to manufacturing difficulties, manufacturing was discontinued in 1967.
The newly formed Victor Comptometer maintained an aggressive stance towards product line expansion. In 1966, the cash register line, which had begun with a calculator on top of a cash drawer, was expanded to include the Hugin cash register. This Swedish-made product was distributed by Victor in the U.S. and Canada. By 1967, there were 75 basic models in the Victor line.
After 1967, Victor began designing electronics into Victor products. In 1971, the 1800 series was introduced as the first full line of electronic calculators. In 1973, a revolutionary electronic dot-matrix printer was introduced and sold as an OEM product. In 1974, a series of programmable calculators were introduced and quickly captured a large segment of the banking and small-business market. In 1975, Victor began producing a series of electronic cash registers.
Kidde, Inc. of Saddle Brook, New Jersey, acquired the company and renamed it Victor Business Machines in 1977. Under new ownership, Victor began to search for products for the office of the future. At the top of the list was to find a superior microcomputer product. Toward the end, Kidde made a deal with Chuck Peddle's Sirius Systems Technology, Inc. – a company recognized for manufacturing a technologically advanced, affordable desktop computer designed for the needs of small businesses, Sirius 1. It was an Intel 8088 based machine running MS-DOS and CP/M-86, but more powerful than IBM PC, released at the same time, regarding RAM, display, floppy disk, etc. They realized that the computer would fit perfectly into Victor's well-established network of 50 branches and 680 dealers. An arrangement was made for Victor to have exclusive domestic distribution rights for a three-year period. The computer was sold as the Victor 9000.