Typewriters

Before the Internet there were computers. Before computers there were word-processors.  Before word-processors there were electric typewriters. Before electric typewriters there were manual (non-electric) typewriters.

Manual typewriters were invented around 1870 and continued to exist for the next hundred years. They were still in use when I grew up. With valuable prescience, my mother insisted I take a typing class in junior high school and I was taught on a manual. Electric machines were available then but they were more expensive and reserved for adults. Manuals were cheap, could take a lot of abuse and were given to teenagers. There were even manual typewriters designed for children with smaller keypads and bright colors (Tom Thumb was a popular brand).

I like old technology. It captures the spirit of an era. Last mid-century was filled with typing -- which provided employment to many women in the workplace. From 1930-1970 companies hired scores of young unmarried women to type; huge rooms were filled with them. Manual typewriters are noisy and the clacking in those rooms was deafening. Professional typists had to meet a minimum number of words without error. Correcting errors was an ordeal so accuracy was prized.

There were many odd conventions which, today, amuse me. For example, early typewriters saved keys by not having a key for a character that could be created by another one. E.g., many lacked a key for the number one which was created by typing a lower-case L; many lacked a key for the number zero which was created by typing an upper-case O; many lacked exclamation points which were created by typing a period, backspacing and typing an apostrophe over it; many lacked the symbol for cents which was created by typing a lower-case C, backspacing and typing a slash through it.

When I was in high school, you were allowed to submit handwritten work but you got better grades if you went to the trouble of typing your reports. In college, everyone was required to submit typed work. Many students couldn't type so they had to pay or beg other students to do it for them. It was possible to make good money off of this skill back then.

Whether you realize it or not, the design of current computer keyboards follows early typewriters. An example: the first typewriters didn't have both upper and lower case letters but only one of them; later machines had two separate sets of letters for both upper and lower cases; finally the "shift" key was invented to require only one set of letters which could shift between upper and lower case by holding down a shift key with your pinkie. The "Caps Lock" on your computer today is a direct descendant of the shift key, as is the whole QWERTY arrangement of letters on your keyboard.

I'd like to buy a few vintage machines both to use and display. They're getting harder to find and ironically more expensive. Until ten years ago, sellers couldn't give them away; old manuals were considered worthless but now people like myself are interested in collecting them. Prices are rising.

Have you used a typewriter? Electric or manual?