The typewriter was not simply an office tool for composing words. Over time the machine drove how business functioned, as illustrated in this 1899 article.
From The Typewriter and Phonographic World (New York), September 1899 –
© 2023, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.
The following is a cute, little poem, but I wonder if it represents a real typist’s thoughts, or what the author imagined a typist might have felt. Certainly there is drudgery in any type of work, but typists of the late 19th century generally expressed enthusiasm for their profession.
From The Robinson Index (Robinson, Kansas), January 18, 1895 –
Note: Spelling variant – “clickety click” and “clickity click.”
© 2023, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.
To prevent someone from using his typewriter, one typist erased the letters on his key tops. I imagine touch typists found this humorous.
The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri), September 21, 1905 –
© 2023, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.
Stories of typewriters (i.e., typists) marrying their bosses were fodder for the popular press. In a series of sensational stories, the San Francisco Examiner in 1905 reported on the case of James Street who abandoned his wife and six kids for “pink-cheeked, yellow-curled, little Edna Millar,” who was 17 at the time. Street, who was almost 50, left his wife and six kids destitute.
The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), December 31, 1905 –
© 2023, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.
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