Triumphator K2
The very cute 1924 "Sparmodell" of the Triumphator Werke. Needless to say, it wasn't much of a success. Other recorded serial numbers are 38688 and 38773, mine is 38676, suggesting a small consecutive series of machines built. A second series came in 1925, in the 42000 range.No expense was spared to make this machine as cheap as possible to build.
The very fist order of business was to reduce the number of digits - the machine has a capacity of no less than 5 x 4 x 9 - perfect for small shops and home bookkeeping, and reducing the number of parts.
Secondly, the carriage lock was simplified. You could now only tabulate the carriage to the right - no tabbing was provided for moves to the left.
Finally, and most counterintuitively, they did away with the intermediate gear for the main crank. The surprising effect is that in order to add, you need to crank counterclockwise instead of clockwise as usual.
A final adaptation that defies logic is the depression in the top cover for the zero position of the setting pins. They are easy to grab that way, but as soon as you actually set them, of course the cover resumes its normal height. Why ? Who knows ...
What inspired the engineers at Triumphator to give the housing its strange bell-shape in the first place we may also never find out, but it does make the machine different and desireable. In addition, it is very rare - so that means it gets pride of place in my collection.
Unfortunately, for all the efforts to make it cheap, compact and small, it isn't in fact so small. Most of the Rema and Mira machines, which have much more useful capacities, are in fact smaller than the Triumphator K2.
