The Bar-Lock Typewriter, which had a double keyboard, was introduced in 1889. The name of the

machine refers to a mechanism that locked the type-bars in position while they printed.

In 1896, the Bar-Lock type writer's name in the U.S. was changed to Columbia Bar-Lock. During 1896-

99, U.S. ads claimed that the machine was widely used in offices and by the Navy. See illustration to the

right.

The machine was sold as the Royal Bar-Lock in Great Britain. A c. 1898 English ad for the Royal Bar-

Lock stated that the machine had "fifty thousand users." The ad stated that over 200 of the machines were

being used by Lever Brothers Ltd., over 60 in total by the London, Glasgow, and Liverpool municipal

governments combined, over 40 by the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance Co., and over 30 each by

the Secretary's Department of the General Post Office, by Arthur Guinness, Sons & Co., by the Eastern

and Associated Telegraph Cos., and by the English offices of the Mutual Life Insurance Co. of

New York. In 1899, an ad claimed that the Sunlight Soap Co. was using over 160 Royal Bar-Locks. In

1901, an ad claimed that 150 Royal Bar-Locks were used in post offices in the UK. E. H. Beach, Tools of

Business, 1905, states that the British royal palaces used five times as many Bar-Locks as all other makes

combined, that the three largest British city governments (London, Glasgow, and Liverpool) used eight

times as many Bar-Locks as all other makes combined, and that the three largest companies (The Bank of

England, the Eastern Telegraph Co., and Messrs. Dever Brothers, Ltd.) used nine times as many Bar-

Locks as all other makes combined. Beach also states that the British war office and admiralty used over

400 Bar-Locks. The photo to the right shows a number of Bar-Locks in an English office.

Other downstrike typewriters were the Horton Typewriter (1886) and Salter Typewriter (1892). The

earlier of the two Horton models weighs 19 lb. The 1892 Franklin weighs 11.5 lb.

Single element machines used type-shuttles, type-wheels, or type-sleeves rather than

type-bars. These type-elements rotated and moved either up and down or side to side

to position the correct letter. One of the selling points of most single-element

typewriters was that the type-elements could be changed to permit typing in different

fonts and languages. Both Hammond and Blickensderfer sold over 100 different type-

elements. Key tops could be changed to facilitate typing in different languages. It is

reported that most single-element machines were slower than typebar machines

because the single-element returned to its base position between characters.

The most successful early single-element machine, the Hammond type-shuttle

typewriter, is described in our Antique Office Typewriters gallery.

Index typewriters do not have keyboards. Generally, one hand operates a pointer that

selects a letter from an index while the other hand depresses a lever that moves the

type to the paper.

The first practical index typewriters, the American Hall Type Writer (1881) and the

German Hammonia Typewriter, were introduced in the early 1880s, several years

after the first keyboard typewriter. Index typewriters were much cheaper than

keyboard typewriters during the 1880s and 1890s, and advertisements for index

typewriters stressed this fact. Index typewriters generally sold for $10-$20, although

the Hall was $40. (See advertisement to the left and table below.) In 1895 the

Champion Typewriter Co. advertised that over 9,000 Champions were in use in the

U.S.

Malling Hansen's Writing Ball c. 1870

The Hansen Writing Ball was invented in 1865 by the reverend and principal of the Royal Institute for the deaf-mutes in Copenhagen, Rasmus Malling-Hansen, 1835-1890. The writing ball was first patented and entered production in 1870, and was the first commercially produced typewriter. In Danish it was called theskrivekugle. The Hansen ball was a combination of unusual design and ergonomic innovations, but like most of the early 19th century typewriters, it did not allow the paper to be seen as it passed through the device.

Its distinctive feature was an arrangement of 52 keys on a large brass hemisphere, causing the machine to resemble a giant pin cushion. From the book Hvem er Skrivekuglens Opfinder, written by Malling-Hansen's daughter Johanne Agerskov, we know how Malling-Hansen made experiments with a model of his writing ball made out of porcelain. He tried out different placements of the letters on the keys, to work out the placement that led to the quickest writing speed. He ended up placing the most frequently used letters to be touched by the fastest writing fingers, and also placed most of the vowels to the left and the consonants to the right. This, together with the short pistons which went directly through the ball, made the writing speed of the writing ball very fast.

The first models typed on a paper attached to a cylinder, and included an electromagnetic escapement for the Ball, thus making Malling-Hansen's machine the first electric typewriter. He made several improvements on his invention throughout the 1870's and -80's, and in 1874 he patented the next model, and now the cylinder was replaced by a flat mechanical paper-frame. The electromagnetic battery was still used to move the paper along as the Ball typed upon it, and the design led to a lower possibility for error. Malling-Hansen improved further on his design, and created a semi-cylindrical frame to hold one sheet of paper. This best known model was first patented in 1875, and now the battery was replaced by a mechanical escapement. All these improvements made for a simpler and more compact writing apparatus.

The IBM Selectric typewriter (occasionally known as the IBM Golfball typewriter) was an influential model line of electric typewriters. It was introduced in 1961.

Instead of a "basket" of pivoting typebars the Selectric had a pivoting type element (frequently called a "typeball") that could be changed so as to display different fonts in the same document, resurrecting a capacity that had been pioneered by the moderately successful Blickensderfer typewriter sixty years before. The Selectric also replaced the traditional typewriter's moving carriage with a paper roller ("platen") that stayed stationary while the typeball and ribbon mechanism moved from side to side.

Selectrics and their descendants eventually captured 75 percent of the United States market for electric typewriters used in business.

Sholes was a U.S. mechanical engineer who invented the first practical modern typewriter,

patented in 1868. Sholes invented the typewriter with partners S. W. Soule and G. Glidden,

that was manufactured (by Remington Arms Company) in 1873. He was born February 14,

1819 in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania, and died on February 17, 1890 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Before the computer, the typewriter may have been the most significant everyday business

tool. Christopher Latham Sholes and his colleagues, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soulé,

invented the first practical typewriting machine in 1866. Five years, dozens of experiments,

and two patents later, Sholes and his associates produced an improved model similar to

today's typewriters.

The type-bar system and the universal keyboard were the machine's novelty, but the keys

jammed easily. To solve the jamming problem, another business associate, James

Densmore, suggested splitting up keys for letters commonly used together to slow down

typing. This became today's standard "QWERTY" keyboard.

It was called the "Sholes & Glidden Type Writer," and it was produced by the gunmakers E. Remington & Sons in Ilion, NY from 1874-1878. It was not a great success (not more than 5,000 were sold), but it founded a worldwide industry, and it brought mechanization to dreary, time-consuming office work. . The idea began at Kleinsteuber's Machine Shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the year 1868. A local publisher-politician-philosopher named Christopher Latham Sholes spent hours at Kleinstuber's with fellow tinkerers, eager to participate in the Age of Invention to produce devices to improve the lot of Mankind. . It's said Sholes was working on a machine to automatically number the pages in books, when one of his colleagues suggested the idea might be extended to a device to print the entire alphabet. An article from "Scientific American" was passed around, and the gentlemen nodded in agreement that "typewriting" (the phrase coined in SA) was the wave of the future. . Sholes thought of a simple device with a piece of printer's type mounted on a little rod, mounted to strike upward to a flat plate which would hold a piece of carbon paper sandwiched with a piece of stationery. The percussive strike of the type should produce an impression on the paper. Sholes' demonstration model looked like this:

Keyboard typewriters

Keyboard typewriters are typewriters that are operated by pushing a key, or combination of keys in

order to print a letter or character onto the paper.

Between the 1880s and 1910s many people favored the so-called full keyboard that had individual

keys for each individual letter, capital, figure and symbol (for samples, see Upstrike typewriters). The

best knowns full keyboard machines were the Caligraph and the Smith Premier.

The division we use here between different sorts of keyboard typewriters is not based on the keyboard

itself, but on the way the characters are actually typed onto the paper. The difference is explained on

each of the linked index pages, that can be found when you click the links on the left.

Upstrike Keyboard typewriters

If you put type on the end of a typebar, and print by swinging the bar

against the paper, the typebar needs to fall back into its original position. Otherwise, you would have to pull it back manually, before striking the next

key. The easiest way to achieve this is by using gravity.

It wasn't even Christopher Latham Sholes who followed this train of thought for the first time. He was just the first to build such a machine that was

actually mass-produced.

The Austrian carpenter Peter Mitterhofer had built a typewriter with the

same odd upstrike system ten years earlier. The only difference was that his machine was made completely out of wood, and nobody was interested in

mass production.

Obvious as it may seem today that you can see what you writer, the 'blind

writing' upstrike typewriter was the benchmark machine for more than 20 years and the Remington Typewriter Company kept up production of this

clumsy system until 1915, despite the fact that the first truly visible writers had already appeared in 1895.

This section of the museum presents only upstrike typewriters, with single

keyboards and a shift key, and with 'full keyboards' where each character had its own key.

Downstrike keyboard typewriters

If you can't read what you write when the letters hit the paper from below,

the most logical thing to do would be to have the letters strike the paper from above. So there they are: the downstrike typewriters.

Striking down onto the paper creates new design problems, because the

upright typebars are inevitably in the way. And so the designers came up with every possible solution. Downstriking from the front, from the side,

from the back, from above, with a grasshopper jump and at an angle.

Frontstrike Keyboard Typewriters

The most comfortable way to type of course, is with the written text at a

pleasant angle in front of you. But it took 20 years after the introduction of the Sholes & Glidden until the Daugherty appeared, the first 'modern'

typewriter.

The typebars lay backwards in the type basket, swung up when a key was hit, printed a letter on the front of the platen and fell back. The Daugherty

failed miserably in the market, but next came the Underwood that set a standard for mechanical typewriters that would last a century.

But there were other frontstrike typewriters also, like the so-called thrust-action machines, that actually pushed the type against the paper. Good

examples are the Ford, the Wellington/Empire, the Adler and the Kanzler.

Single element machines

When IBM introduced the famous golf ball system on its electric typewriters in the 1950s, this was generally regarded as a major breakthrough in

typewriter technology. Few people realized that the concept of the single element typewriter was already 70 years old at the time.

It was James Hammond, inventor of the Hammond typewriter who was the first to combine all the characters he needed on his typewriter on a single

piece of metal.

The advantage of this was that the rest of the mechanism would be used only to bring the right character to the front.

The advantages were obvious. Single element machines never jammed, their alignment was perfect, type faces could easily be changed and they didn't

need as many parts and regular machines, which meant that they were also usually cheaper.

There were disadvantages also. Unless the actual type element struck the

paper (as on the Blickensderfer), a hammer system had to be used to strike the paper against the type. And this led to strange contraptions to hold the

paper (Hammond and Fitch).

Thürey

First year of production: 1909

Company: Thürey Schreibmaschinen Gesellschaft, Cologne, Germany

Serial nr: n.a.

The Thürey typewriter is one of these rare attempts to completely break with conventions that were already in place in 1909 and build a machine that was one of kind. And it is. It was also a commercial failure.

The keyboard of the Thürey consists of six vertical rows of keys attached to bars that are positioned sideways on the top of the machine. By pressing a

key a typewheel is turned into position with the correct character facing forward, while a hammer swings forward from behind the paper (see pic 6).

The hammer however, is not spring-driven as it is on the Hammond, but receives its momentum from the force with which a key is struck. Inking is

done with two ink rolls.

The machine, with a charming wooden handle on the right for lifting, is exactly twice as wide as the carriage, and one of the flattest designs around.

Travis Typewriter

First year of production: 1895

Company: Philadelphia Typewriter Company, Philadelphia, USA

Serial nr: 2006

Information is scarce about the Travis Typewriter. Different sources date this machine in 1905. However, documentation exists that shows that the Travis

was invented by Byron Brooks who had, in 1885, developed the Brooks

typewriter, a backstroke machine with a double shift.

Brooks sold the patents for his new machine to William Travis of the Philadelphia Typewriter Company. The PTC built the machine and put it on

the market locally. The company apparently ceased to exist by 1900. Very few Travis Typewriters were produced. The machine is extremely rare today.

The Travis featured a four-row keyboard and a horizontally placed typewheel. The paper was struck by a hammer from behind and pressed

against the typewheel, much like the Chicago and Hammond. The paper had to be rolled into a cylinder under the hammer.

Sterling (improved)

First year of production: 1905

Company: Sterling Typewriter Co, New York, USA

Serial nr: 3309

The Sterling typewriter was a three-row swinging sector typewriter, developed by C.J. Paulson. The machine was produced with the name Eagle

in 1905. Production was apparently resumed in 1910 or 1911 as the Sterling.

The principle of the Sterling is very similar to that of the Hammond, with a

single type element swinging around a vertical rod (see pic 6).

Not many details are known about its production history.

Postal 3

First year of production: 1902

Company: Postal Typewriter Co.,New York, USA

Serial nr: 10619

The Postal seems like a cross breed between the Blickensderfer and the Hammond. The machine had a typewheel almost identical to the Blick and the way it turned was controlled by a series of upright pins, similar to the

Hammond turret.

The Postal printed through a ribbon, that was fixed to two parallel ribbon

spools, right behind the platen. With the typewheel striking down onto the platen, with the ribbon under it, the writing was in effect invisible.

There are said to be 8 different models of the Postal, but in fact only three

have been reported, of which the number 7 is very rare.

The Postal 3 (presented here) and 5 (with a raised scale above the platen)

are the relatively most common Postals.

The Postal was exported to Germany, Austria, Russia and France.

Phönix

First year of production: 1908

Company: Gesellschaft fur Apparate-und Maschinenbau, Berlin,

Germany

Serial nr: n.a

The Phönix was originally called Merkur but the name was changed to Phönix (the firebird) after the producer changed its name to 'Company for the production of machines and appliances'. With the Lambert, the Phönix is the

only machine with a fixed keyboard. But the first comparison of course is

with the Blickensderfer.

The raised typewheel that strikes down onto the platen is very close to the system that made the Blick great. But the keyboard on this machine is very

odd. When a key is pushed, the entire keyboard tilts and goes down, while turning the typewheel into position and printing the paper. The keyboard has

28 keys and there are two shift keys for capitals and characters.

The machine was produced for a very short time only and few examples

survive.

Munson 2

First year of production: 1890’s

Company: Munson Typewriter Company, Chicago, USA

Serial nr: 7877

The Munson 2 is the machine that was re-released after a couple of years as the Chicago typewriter. It was a covered version of the Munson 1, a machine

introduced in 1890 of which the mechanism was virtually identical to that of the later Chicago.

The Munson was designed by S.J. Siefried and J.E. Munson of New York. The

machine was produced in a factory in Chicago, owned by Fred and Louis Munson.

The Munson 2 had a horizontal type sleeve with the hammer that struck the paper from behind to push it against the sleeve, similar to the Hammond.

Before the machine could be used, the typist would have to slide the rail holding the hammer out to the left to bring the hammer into position.

The Munson company produced the machine until 1897, when the patents

for the machine were sold to Edgar Hill of Chicago who took up production of the Chicago typewriter.

Moya Visible 3

First year of production: 1906

Company: Moya Typewriter Company.,Leicester, UK

Serial nr: 3979

Hidalgo Moya was a Spanish-American who married a girl from Leicester, England.

When he moved back to Europe, he brought an interesting invention with him: the

Moya Typewriter. He went into business with his father-in-law and built a factory in

Leicester.

The Moya typewriter, that operated with a typesleeve similar to the Crandall, was

not a very successful machine. Not too many were sold between 1902 and 1905,

when the improved Moya Visible 2 appeared.

The type sleeve with six rows of characters was turned and shifted by an intricate

system of gears and levers. Printing was done by the sleeve that moved forward

onto the platen. Some further improvements to the mechanism were made and in

1906 the Moya 3 appeared, that is presented on this page.

Although few machines were built and sold, the Moya was exported to several

countries, where it appeared with different names, such as Sekretar, Ideal and

Baka (see Pic 6-Mantelli coll.)

In 1908 production of the Moya was stopped in favor of a new invention by Hidalgo

Moya, a downstrike machine that would become a major success: the Imperial. The

Imperial Typewriter Company of Leicester would continue to produce typewriters

until well into the 1960s.

McCool 2

First year of production: 1909

Company: Acme-Keystone Manufacturing Co.,Beaver Falls, Pa, USA

Serial nr: 1718

The Acme-Keystone Manufacturing Co. of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, was not the most successful of typewriter producers. The three machines it

produced, the Keystone, the Sterling and the McCool 2 (there is no McCool 1) are all very rare today.

The McCool was a relatively cheap 3-bank keyboard typewriter. It used a typewheel similar to the Blickensderfer, a hammer that strikes from behind

from a sliding rail like the Chicago, and an impression strip along the carriage, similar to the Hammond (photo 3).

Very little is known about the history of the machine. It was invented by

William A. McCool who was granted a patent in 1910. The machine was apparently for sale in 1909. Not many were made.

Lambert

First year of production: 1902

Company: Lambert Typewriter Company, New York, USA

Serial nr: 3205

Frank Lambert was a French immigrant to the United States. He started work on his

typewriter in the 1880s, with the earliest patent dating back to 1884. The machine wasn't

marketed until 1902 and it was a remarkable success.

The Lambert typewriter is unique in shape and technology. It is the only keyboard typewriter on which

the keyboard consists of one single piece. On pushing a key, the entire keyboard and the attached

type stamp (pic 6) swivelled into position and printed the correct letter onto the paper. The Lambert is

often mistaken for an index typewriter.

There were three models of the Lambert Typewriter. The first 3000 machines had a keyboard that

could be rotated to the left and right, to allow it to write a crude form of italic letters. In fact they

were normal, Roman style letters printed at an angle.

This feature was dropped on the Lambert 2 (after serial number 3000) that had a fixed keyboard. The

machines were otherwise identical, with the embossed name on the base plate.

A small handle to the left, under the keyboard (pic 5) allowed for 'shifting' - it put the stamp in

position to print either lower case, capitals or figures.

Later, a Lambert 3 appeared with a slightly wider carriage and a non-embossed base. That machine

bore a decal with the name Lambert. The difference in size of the carriage and body is clearly visible in

the next picture:

The Lambert 3 also appeared as the Butler and the Garden City. Outside the United States the

machine was produced in London by the Gramophone and Typewriter Company, and in Lambert's

home country France.