OTHER VARIATIONS

Old typewriters didn't just look like, well, typewriters. There were many variations as inventors struggled to find new and more efficient ways of putting letters on paper. And many ways of getting around patent laws.


    • Some typewriters, like Caligraphs and Smith Premiers, had double keyboards. There were a few that actually typed double letters and in some cases, attempted to type whole words in one 'stroke.'
    The old Olivers (right) have two banks of type bars that swing down from the sides above the platen to strike the paper. Some Oliver models had rings to hold pencils and draw ledger lines on the paper being typed.
    Some typewriters - Hammonds, Crandalls, English, Franklins, Imperials, Salter, National - had curved keyboards, foreshadowing the ergonomical computer keyboards of today. A few, like the Crary and Skrivekugel, were nearly circular. Some were designed to type directly onto bound books, like the Elliot-Fisher.
    Many of the old machines were mounted on fine hardwood bases. Some came with stands resembling old treadle sewing machines.
    Others (more than you'd imagine) folded up in ingenious ways in order to fit into small carrying cases. The Corona No. 3 is the most numerous in this category, but the Hammond Multiplex also folded, as did the Standard Folding, the Baby Fox and many of the Blickensderfers.
    Most - but certainly not all - were painted black.
    Olivers, for instance, were olive green. Folding Coronas and some other Coronas came in a variety of decorator colors. At least one Molle was painted white. Other typewriters were brushed aluminum, brass, nickel, chrome, even silver. Many had inlaid brass, mother of pearl or gold fixtures. Some had elaborate cast iron ornamentation, like the Smith-Premier No. 1 or the Ideal. Most of the old machines had decorative decals and some elaborate scrollwork and pin striping. The workmanship, including the decorative touches, was impressive.
    There were many portables, including beautiful leather, bentwood, veneer or metal cases. And many with cases were way to large to be considered 'portable.' Some of the early Olivers, with heavy nickle bases, came with cases. Presumably also with hernia insurance.
    Some machines were tiny, like the Rem-Blick, Bennett, Bing (left) and Junior. Others massive, like the Caligraph, Smith Premier and some Williams models.

    Photo Courtesy Paul Robert
    Electrics were developed earlier than you might imagine. The Blickensderfer electric appeared around 1902 and then quickly disappeared. Others followed, including  the Remington Electric in 1925 and the Electomatic (IBM) in 1933.
    Inventors found lots of unique ways to apply type to paper. The most common, by far, is the traditional front-strike. That's the kind that came into common use with the Underwoods (the Daugherty or its variation the Pittsburg, was probably the first front-strike machine) and is still the norm today. But it certainly wasn't the first method, nor the only way to apply type bar to platen.
    The Blickensderfers (a German-sounding machine made in Stamford, Conn.) used what looks suspiciously like the 'innovative' IBM type ball of the 1960s.
    The Chicago (and variants) used a type sleeve that rotated to apply letter to paper.
    Hammonds used a type shuttle, a curved piece of hardened rubber that moved as the keys were pressed. The shuttles were easily removable so different fonts could be used at a moment's notice. The Hammond Multiplex - and its offspring, the Varityper - had two type shuttles, both easily removable and changeable.
    The earliest typewriters - the Sholes & Glidden and early Remingtons, along with early Densmores Smith Premiers (right), among others - used what us called an upstrike mechanism where the type bars strike the platen from below. In order for the typist to see what was typed, he had to lift the platen up.
    The Noiseless used a thrust action, where a weight pushed a type bar forward until momentum caused it to hit the platen.
    The Williams, Yost and a very few others used a grasshopper action. It's difficult to describe, even WITH diagrams. You'd have to see it to understand - and believe it. Check out this animation at Paul Robert's incredible Virtual Typewriter Museum site.
    There are other variations, as well. The Brooks used a backstroke mechanism. The Cash used a downstrike mechanism.
    The Commercial Visible used a type wheel not unlike the Blickensderfers wheel.
    The Fitch, in my mind one of the most beautiful (and unusual) of the old machines, used what has

    been described as 'downstrike type-bars in a backstroke configuration.' It's another one of those 'you gotta see it...' machines. It's also near the top of my all-time wish list. You can find photos at Paul's Virtual Typewriter Museum. His whole site is worth a couple hour's visit if you're interested in old typewriters.
    And then there are the index machines. They're another whole issue.

    Some day I'm gonna put together a page of my most wanted old machines. Unfoortunately, the internet is just so big and I'm worried I could exceed its limits with my list. There are a LOT of old machines I crave.
    Updated 07.27.06
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