The Widow Jones’ typewriter, which was offered with the purchase of a boy’s suit, was similar to the Simplex typewriter and perhaps even a rebranded model. Widow Jones was a men’s and boys’ clothing brand that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Advertised as the “pocket” typewriter, it was featured in a few advertisements in the Kennebec Journal in 1900.
A sample letter from the machine is charming:
From the Kennebec Journal (Augusta, Maine), September 14, 1900 –
© 2026, Mark Adams. All rights reserved.
.. very interesting, Mark, I never saw this before !
But since you have been posting AI-generated articles and photos lately, how can we trust this contribution?
Jos Legrand, Typewriters Paradise
That’s a fair question. I do not post AI-generated articles, though I do sometimes use AI to create accompanying images, which are identified as such. To edit photos, I use Preview (not even Photoshop), and mainly to sharpen images and improve contrast. As a researcher, I provide sources in my posts. The post on the Widow Jones’ typewriter is geniune, though I suspect the typewritten specimen was composed by the advertiser.