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Throughout the 1890s and the early 20th century, newspapers regurgitated histories of the typewriter that were often riddled with inaccuracies. So it is refreshing to find a well-researched article from 1921 that also includes a personal reminiscence. In “Observations and Impressions of the Journal Man,” Fred Lockley recounts purchasing a second-hand Hall typewriter as a boy. His impressions of the machine are included in the excerpt below:
The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, Oregon), September 8, 1921 –
“When I was a boy I picked up in a second-hand store a Hall typewriter, patented in 1881. It had a dial plate two inches square, which had 72 characters. A stylus was used to poke through the perforation, which caused a cylinder below to turn and present the corresponding letter, while the lower cylinder revolved against an inked pad. It was so slow that by the time you had performed the necessary mechanical operations you had forgotten what you were going to say and decided that after all it wasn’t worth saying. It was like talking to a man who is very deaf. After you have shouted ‘It’s a nice day’ to him and repeated it half a dozen times, only to have him tell you to wait till he goes in and gets his ear trumpet, you begin to wonder if after all it is very important to tell him such a perfectly obvious thing.”
Click below for the full article:
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregon-daily-journal/193696385/
Article from Sep 8, 1921 The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, Oregon)
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