Typewriter History: A Tribute to the Typewriter

typewriter is a mechanical device that uses a key mechanism to make a mark, generally via ink on a "ribbon," on a piece of paper, creating letters, symbols, words and sentences. What we call keyboards today lack the mechanical aspect and are actually the typing component of an electronic computer or word processor.

Inventors as early as the 1700s made machines resembling what we picture as a typewriter. While many mechanical writing machines were invented during the 1860s and 1870s, the first commercially successful typewriter was invented in 1867. Remington and Sons bought the patent and the machine was manufactured as the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. This first "typewriter" had a QWERTY keyboard, the style still most commonly used today.

Standardization of the typewriter style occurred during the 1910s. The first electric typewriter was made in 1902. In 1961, IBM released it Selectric design which replaced the type bar with a round typeball, eliminating the problem of jammed keys in mechanical models. From the 1970s into the 1980s, technology advanced rapidly with new machines being introduced frequently. Eventually, of course, typewriters were replaced, at least in most office environments, with desktop computers. Though some still hold to the old traditional typewriter, most have moved on and typewriters are often considered relics of the recent past. Some models are rare and collectible while others are plentiful and mostly worthless.

Find more detailed information on the history and cultural significance of the typewriter in this Wikipedia article.

It was a Dark and Stormy Night by writerscorner
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'm not at all athletic, but the one activity that brought out the competitor in me was typing class. Mr. Everett was my ninth grade typing teacher and he taught me well. I loved typing class. We were seated by our typing speed and accuracy and I was determined to maintain control of the first chair, which I did throughout the entire school year.

I don't remember the typewriters we used very well, though I'm sure we started out on a manual version. I remember typing on an IBM Selectric (the electric typewriter with the removable, interchangeable printer balls) which had been introduced several years before, in 1961. It must have been in Mr. Everett's class that we had the opportunity to use that machine and it became a favorite.

When I was 16, I attended a business school at night and learned to operate another machine with a typewriter attached, an IBM 024/026 keypunch machine. During my senior year of high school I actually taught keypunch classes at the same business school and enjoyed that immensely. After high school graduation, I got a job as a keypunch operator, providing my fingers with a daily workout and me with a paycheck.

Eventually I advanced up the computer room ladder and became a programmer/analyst, so not as much typing was involved in that part of my career. A major career change eventually followed when I became a full-time mom. Most of my typing then was done on the little portable manual machine my husband had won in an essay contest in high school. Talk about an antique!

After resisting technological progress for years, we finally succumbed and bought a PC, as in personal computer. My fingers settled in rapidly as I began typing again and doing a bit of desktop publishing. Ah, the pleasure and the speed. I still loved typing. A few years later I actually began a second career as a medical transcriptionist, so typing really began to pay off. Eventually I found Squidoo and now most days my fingers spend hours typing away, making lenses. I guess you could say I've advanced from being a novice typist to being a writer.

Thank you, Mr. Everett, for helping me learn to love typing, which in many ways has shaped my life!

(The picture above is not me, although a certain son, who shall remain nameless, might try to convince you otherwise. Click here to buy this German Typist poster at allposters.com.)

pangram is a sentence that contains all of the letters of the English language. This sentence, The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, is the most well known pangram, traditionally used for typing practice and for comparing font faces (as on this mug). The same sentence followed by the numerals 1234567890 were used in the past on telex communication devices in order to test each letter and number to be sure they were all working, as failure of one or more letters was not uncommon with mechanical devices. (We think this "Quick brown fox" mug is perfect for anyone who types or loves nostalgia. Click on the mug to order.)

Quick Brown Fox Mug by ImagineThatDesign
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