Type-Writer.org

True that…

by Mark Adams on January 25, 2023

Howard County Herald (St. Paul, Nebraska), December 27, 1899 –

{ 0 comments }

1910: “Convincing the prospective buyers that they cannot get along without an Oliver typewriter”

by Mark Adams on January 18, 2023

Oliver salesmen in Chicago in 1904.

The Oliver Typewriter Company published an in-house periodical called The Bulletin, and while I can’t say it makes for interesting reading, it certainly offers unique insights into the minds of Oliver sales people. Somes volumes have been archived by Google including issues from 1904-1906 (click here).

The Bulletin, December 10, 1904 –

{ 0 comments }

“Papa lets me write on his typewriter”

by Mark Adams on January 11, 2023

The San Francisco Call (San Francisco), January 15, 1899 –

{ 0 comments }

When the night is your page and your ship the typewriter

by Mark Adams on January 4, 2023

“The main dependency for night signaling, however, falls upon the Ardois system which consists of a cluster of red and white lights (incandescent lamps) the various combinations of which, signifying the respective figures and letters of the alphabet, are controlled and manipulated with almost incredible rapidity by means of a keyboard located on the bridge of the battleship and operated much after the fashion of a typewriter keyboard.” – Popular Mechanics (Chicago), November 1910

I don’t want to overstate the reality, but in one sense, the Ardois system turned an entire battleship into a typewriter, wherein a sailor could type out messages in light.

The system was introduced in 1891 by Captain Ardois (a Frenchman?) and originally employed a circular keyboard. Later versions incorporated a regular keyboard as pictured (above) in Popular Mechanics in 1910 (click here to read the article).

A detailed description of the Ardois system can be found in Information from Abroad by the Office of Naval Intelligence, 1891 (click here). The circular keyboard is illustrated below: