The photo exagerates the whiteness of the keys, they are still fairly grey in reality. The machine however really does look much better than it did:
It still shows signs of its age, with old repairs and old (and new!) refurbishments.
The '3' keys of columns 3 and 4 are not original, but are 1920s replacements. These keys may yet be replaced by new reproductions that are closer match for the composite keys of a model B. These celluloid replacements are however also 'original' and likely a century old themsevles - they are of Felt & Tarrant manufacture and an example of normal repairs that would have happened over the machine's lifetime.
(The likely reason for these replacements could be seen on the remaining black 3-key. The composite material has ground stone (mica?) mixed with the resin; the black 3-key showed that cracks were starting where porous particles were embedded. It looked like the batch of 3-keys had too-large particles (sawdust?) embedded that weakened the part.)
Also the typeplate is a later, probably 1930s, replacement. It shows a 1921 patent number (for features not on this machine) and looks to be chrome, not nickel. It also shows this is a French machine, exported and sold in France.
Below found image of Comptometer 30680 shows what the original plate would have been, with a 1904 patent as most recent.
These plates were however already often replaced for export machines, or swapped by the importer, with a localised typelate. Dutch machines often got a neutral plate without patent numbers, with text either in English or in Dutch. In the collection of Comptometers here, one ~1921 model H had just such a plate.
Because the French patent 528,226 of 1921 actually does describe the improved clearing mechanism of the H and would be correct for it, the plates were swapped out between the two machines. (No longer 'original state' now, but the B's plate wasn't original already. Fitting new/different plates and panels was routine during refurbishment of Comptometers, judging the configurations of several observed machines.)
This particular Compptometer was used; the holes for the keystems do have wear. Especially the colum 2 had a lot of 9's entered.
Placing the model B (left) next to a model C-light (right) shows some of the changes made, their development path of Felt & Tarrant. The keys were of course changed from composite to celluloid with a slightly different design and different front panel mounting.
Internally the very noisy B clearing mechanism was completely re-designed in the C (light) and more oiling holes were added to the case (lots of them).
Also an unexpected, small difference is in the subtraction cut-off tabs. On the B they are bent to the right, whereas on the C they are bent to the left. This probably make sense, an improvement - it visually links the tab more obviously to the column it is blocking the carry of.
On a model B the serial number is on the front panel between columns 4 and 5. This model B has serial number 30639 that places manufacture around 1908.
Thinking about that, 1908 is actually quite a long time ago.
Ladies at the Longchamp Hippodrome, Paris, 1908
Looking at it again, it is neat to be able to own and operate such a machine, calculating fine at well over a century old!
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