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RELAY/RICOH ARCHIVE: notes on U.S. distributors

Relay/Ricoh

Many slide rules were of course sold under these two brand names, which were used by the company which actually manufactured these slide rules. This company actually changed its name a couple times, but at the time they started importing in large numbers it was the "San-Ai Keiki Co. Ltd." Without getting into too much detail, this company was preceeded by the Nippon Slide rule Co., which distributed under the brand name "Nikkei". This company then became San-Ai, and adopted the "Relay" brand name. When the company again changed names, "Ricoh" became their brand name. Many rules survived the change from Relay to Ricoh without change. Some rules, presumably made during the changeover between names, are unmarked. It is thought that none survived the change from "Nikkei" to "Relay" unchanged, but that's still unknown for sure. In the U.S., we see many "Relay" and "Ricoh" brand rules, in addition to all the re-branded ones. Many of the "Relay" types come in the familiar red and black stiff paperboard box/case, ( which are clearly labelled "San-Ai Keiki co. ltd.") but most if not all "Ricoh" types came in leather or 2 part plastic cases. (For a better breakdown of the company history, refer to Bill Lise's excellent website on Japanese Slide rules.)

Lafayette

    A Long Island, New York based radio and electronics catalog outfit, this store was an early competitor to Radio Shack and Allied electronics. While Allied sold Pickett and Dietzgen rules, Lafayette sold re-badged Relay/Ricohs. This is probably the most common brand in the U.S., not only because they sold at least 5 different models, but did so for many years. Early rules often have "Lafayette" cases with "Relay" rules inside, and bear 1958 and 59 date codes. Codes as late as 1972 have been seen also.
     Lafayette used at least 3 different numbering schemes for their slide rules. The earliest was the "F" series, for example F-686 was their first version of the 157 electronics rule. Next came the "99-" series, where our F-686 became the 99-7012. This second series always used four digits in the second number grouping, for instance the 99-7055 was the re-labelled 151. The third series keeps the "99-" prefix, but goes to 5 digits in the second group. Many of these merely add "9" to the previous 4 number group, but some don't. Thus, our 99-7055 became the 99-70559. Here's the overall sequence for the 551: F-681, 99-7099, 99-70997.
     Very early, and very few, Lafayette rules were actually Nikkei rules, see Relay/Ricoh brand info above.

Sans and Streiffe

This company was an optical equipment supplier, located in Brookfield Illinois. Many pairs of "Made in Japan" binoculars can be had on E-Bay. Presumably they then were just a re-seller, as with their slide rules. They used a numbering system for their rules unlike Relay/Ricoh's, and like Lafayette above presumably to fit in with their own numbering scheme of things. All numbers began with "3" and were 3 digits. Their 311's and 312's are not at all uncommon here, those being the re-numbered 150 and 151. May have been one of the longest sellers, date codes range from 1959 through 1971!

Staedtler-Mars

Staedtler, like so many other sellers of slide rules, is believed to have never actually made any of their own rules. All the rules I have seen can be traced to another maker, and the three that come to mind are Nestler, Relay/Ricoh, and, believe it or not, Fuji. The 945-24 ( relabelled 551 ) that I have is an exceptionally nice rule as it has fully self-documenting scales, unusual for 551's. The 151 was also sold by them as their 944-24, and other re-badged R/R rules have been seen, though currently I don't own any.

Olson Electronics, Omega

These two separate sellers are listed here together for a very unique reason. Both brands featured rules with some odd numbers on them, model numbers that is. Omegas had numbers like DT-1065, or DB-517, while Olson rules had numbers like TL-473 and TL-472, and Monarch branded rules may have had similar odd numbers as well, such as S.L.R.-3. We now know what the Omega numbers mean (see the 1957 manual/catalog page). I have an old Relay 150, marked as such, which also has TL-214 on the manual and the two piece red/black box case. Is this an early but unlabeled re-brand rule? I don't know. For now, the numbering system of some brands is not fully understood, but is mentioned here just in case anyone sees a rule, box, or manual with odd numbers on them.

Micronta, Compass

These two separate brands have something in common, which is that the two of them are among the first to import R/R rules, based on date codes. More than a few 1956 coded rules have been seen in both brands, as well as numerous '58 and '59 codes. I believe that in fact these two were the first large scale re-branders of Relay rules here in the U.S. Again, most rules we see are 1959 or later, but a high percentage of both of these brands are earlier than that. Neither brand is especially common, especially the Microntas, but it is odd that so many early codes show up, by percentage. No Microntas later than '62 have been seen thus far by me, nor any Compass later than '61. Perhaps these two started early and got out of it. I don't know. But for sure these two brands pre-date the flood of types here, and who knows maybe they were responsible for it, proving to Relay that re-branding was indeed a viable option. Whereas Hemmi decided not to import on a large scale except through the Frederick Post Co, R/R did, and maybe these two started it!