typewriter

typewriter, instrument for producing by manual operation characters similar to those of printing. Corresponding to each key on the instrument's keyboard is a steel type. Activated through a series of levers or an electronic impulse when its key is pressed, the type strikes the paper in the machine through an inked ribbon; the carriage holding the paper then automatically moves, providing space for the next character. The first recorded patent for a typewriter was taken out in England by Henry Mill in 1714. In the United States the typographer of William Austin Burt, patented in 1829, was the first practical writing machine. An improved French machine appeared in 1833. The early models were chiefly for the blind and produced embossed writing. A practical commercial machine invented in the United States in 1867 by Christopher Latham Sholes and his associates, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soulé, was manufactured by Philo Remington and placed on the market in 1874. This early model had only capital letters. A shift-key model, permitting change of case, appeared in 1878. The electric typewriter, which allowed greater speed with less effort than a manual machine, came into use c.1935. The Selectric, introduced by International Business Machines (IBM) in 1961, replaced the usual type bars with a metal globe that moved across the surface of a stationary paper holder, replacing the moving carriage of the traditional typewriter; interchangeable globes provided a variety of typefaces and special symbols, allowing a single typewriter to be utilized for scientific writing, foreign languages, or other uses. The globe was later replaced by the daisy wheel, which spins the proper type into position. These innovations have allowed typewriters to become versatile printing instruments, capable of storing entire documents before printing, identifying and correcting errors as they arise, and connecting to computers. Nonetheless, the typewriter was almost completely superseded by personal computers using word-processing software and printers by the mid-1990s; the machines are still used for specialized printing functions. Other forms of typewriters included the stock ticker, which recorded its message on a narrow strip of paper, and the teletypewriter, which transmitted typing over an electric circuit such as the telephone or telegraph.

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typewriter

Machine for writing characters similar to those made by printers' types, especially a machine in which the characters are produced by steel types striking the paper through an inked ribbon, the types being activated by corresponding keys on a keyboard and the paper being held by a roller (the platen) that is automatically moved along with a carriage when a key is struck. The first practical typewriter was patented in 1868 by Christopher L. Sholes; commercial production began at the Remington firearms company in 1874. By the end of the century the typewriter had come to dominate the American office. The first electric typewriter for office use was introduced in 1920. From the 1970s typewriters began to be replaced by personal computers and their associated printers.

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typewriter

A mechanical or electromechanical device that is used to print text on a paper document. Although there were various typewriter-like devices created throughout the 1800s, the first typewriters with a carriage that moved the paper to the next character location began to emerge in the 1870s. The first commercially successful machine was the "Sholes & Glidden Type Writer" made by the Remington Arms company in Ilion, NY from 1874 to 1878. The QWERTY keyboard was created in that same time frame.

Electric and Selectric
Greatly reducing the effort it took to produce a typewritten page, electric typewriters were introduced by Remington and IBM in the 1920s and 1930s, still using the horizontal moving carriage. In 1961, IBM revolutionized the typewriter world with the introduction of its golf ball-like Selectric type wheel. Allowing the machine to reside in less desk space, the platen only moved the paper to the next line, while the type ball was moved across the page. Balls came with different typefaces and could be easily switched to change fonts. For more information about old typewriters, visit www.typewritermuseum.org.

High Tech in the 1890s!

Considered the first portable typewriter, George Blickensderfer created this beauty in 1893. (Equipment courtesy of Dorothy Hearn.)

The Selectric "Golf" Ball

Selectric typewriters were office workhorses for decades. This type element sits in a 26-year old Selectric II that was still going strong in 2006, probably because the machine was professionally cleaned every five years.