Molly Ayala
An electric typewriter is a machine that uses electricity to power the typing stroke, initiated by the typist touching a key. The first electrically operated typewriter was invented by Thomas Edison in 1872, but it was not until 1920 that James Smathers pioneered the electric typewriter as an office writing machine. Electric typewriters became popular due to their ability to produce a high volume of output with less operator fatigue, and by the 1950s, practically every typewriter manufacturer produced a portable typewriter.
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What You'll Learn
Electric typewriters are powered by an electric motor drive
An electric typewriter is a machine for typing characters, powered by electricity. The first electrically operated typewriter was invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1872, using a printing wheel, which was later developed into the ticker-tape printer. The basic groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by the Universal Stock Ticker, invented by Edison in 1870. This device remotely printed letters and numbers on a stream of paper tape from input generated by a specially designed typewriter at the other end of a telegraph line.
The first practical power-operated typewriter was invented by James Fields Smathers of Kansas City in 1914. After returning from Army service in 1920, he produced a successful model and, in 1923, turned it over to the Northeast Electric Company of Rochester for development. Northeast was interested in finding new markets for their electric motors and developed Smathers's design to be marketed to typewriter manufacturers. From 1925, Remington Electric typewriters were produced, powered by Northeast's motors.
The final major development of the typewriter was the electronic typewriter, which replaced the typeball with a plastic or metal daisy wheel mechanism. The first electronic daisywheel typewriter marketed in the world was the Olivetti Tes 501 in 1976.
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They were first patented in the 19th century
The groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by Thomas Edison's Universal Stock Ticker in 1870. Edison's device could remotely print letters and numbers on a stream of paper tape from input generated by a specially designed typewriter at the other end of a telegraph line. Some electric typewriters were patented in the 19th century, but the first machine known to be produced in series is the Cahill of 1900.
The first electrically operated typewriter, consisting of a printing wheel, was invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1872 and later developed into the ticker-tape printer. The electric typewriter as an office writing machine was pioneered by James Smathers in 1920. In 1910, Charles and Howard Krum filed a patent for the first practical teletypewriter, which used a typewheel rather than individual typebars. This machine was used for the first commercial teletypewriter system, operating between Boston and New York City in 1910.
James Fields Smathers of Kansas City invented what is considered the first practical power-operated typewriter in 1914. In 1920, after returning from Army service, he produced a successful model. In 1923, he turned it over to the Northeast Electric Company of Rochester for development. Northeast was interested in finding new markets for their electric motors and developed Smathers's design so that it could be marketed to typewriter manufacturers. From 1925, Remington Electric typewriters were produced, powered by Northeast's motors.
By the end of the 19th century, a person who used a typewriter was also referred to as a typewriter. The first commercial typewriters were introduced in 1874 but did not become common in offices in the United States until after the mid-1880s. The typewriter quickly became an indispensable tool for practically all writing other than personal handwritten correspondence.
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The first commercial typewriters were introduced in 1874
The typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine used for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one produces a different single character on paper by striking an inked ribbon against the paper with a type element. The typewriter was first invented to mechanise the writing process, as the pace of business communication had increased, and stenographers and telegraphers could record information much faster than writers with a pen.
The Sholes & Glidden Type-Writer established the QWERTY layout for the letter keys, which has become the standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards. The QWERTY layout was not the most efficient layout possible for the English language, and other layouts such as AZERTY and QWERTZ were also developed. However, despite attempts to replace it with more efficient layouts such as Dvorak, the QWERTY layout has persisted and remains the standard today.
The typewriter had several economic impacts, one of the most significant being the effect on the employment of women. The original typewriter was aimed at female workers, and by 1900, there were around 200,000 women stenographers and typists in the US workforce, a number which rose to over two million by 1930. However, with the advent of computers and voice recognition software, the role of the typist has been declining since the early 2000s.
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The first electronic daisywheel typewriter was the Olivetti Tes 501
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine used for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one produces a different single character on paper by striking an inked ribbon against the paper with a type element. The typewriter was invented to make writing faster and more efficient than handwritten correspondence.
The groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by Thomas Edison's Universal Stock Ticker in 1870. This device remotely printed letters and numbers on a stream of paper tape from input generated by a specially designed typewriter at the other end of a telegraph line. However, electric typewriters did not achieve widespread popularity until much later. The first machine known to be produced in series is the Cahill of 1900, followed by another electric typewriter produced by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company in 1902.
The first practical teletypewriter was patented in 1910 by Charles and Howard Krum, and used a typewheel rather than individual typebars. The first practical power-operated typewriter was invented in 1914 by James Fields Smathers of Kansas City. In 1925, Remington Electric typewriters were produced powered by Northeast Electric Company's motors.
The final major development of the typewriter was the electronic typewriter. Most of these replaced the typeball with a plastic or metal daisy wheel mechanism (a disk with the letters moulded on the outside edge) or a thermal print head. The first electronic daisywheel typewriter marketed in the world in 1976 was the Olivetti Tes 501. Olivetti, founded as a typewriter manufacturer by Camillo Olivetti in 1908, has maintained its world record in the design of electronic typewriters by proposing increasingly advanced and performing models in the following years. The Olivetti Tes 501 was followed by the Olivetti ET101 in 1978, and the Olivetti TES 401, which featured a text display and floppy disk for memory storage. Unlike the Selectrics and earlier models, these were truly "electronic" and relied on integrated circuits and electromechanical components.
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Electric typewriters are faster and more uniform than manual typewriters
The electric typewriter is a significant advancement in the typewriter field. It is a mechanical typewriter with the typing stroke powered by an electric motor drive. The basic groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by Thomas Edison's invention of the Universal Stock Ticker in 1870. However, the first electrically operated typewriter was invented by Edison in 1872, which later developed into the ticker-tape printer.
The first practical power-operated typewriter was invented by James Fields Smathers of Kansas City in 1914. After returning from Army service in 1920, he produced a successful model, which he turned over to the Northeast Electric Company of Rochester for development in 1923. From 1925 onwards, Remington Electric typewriters were produced, powered by Northeast's motors.
The final major development of the typewriter was the electronic typewriter, which replaced the typeball with a plastic or metal daisy wheel mechanism. The first electronic daisywheel typewriter marketed in the world was the Olivetti Tes 501 in 1976. Electric typewriters are faster and more efficient than manual typewriters, making them a valuable tool for professionals, offices, businesses, and students.
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Frequently asked questions
An electric typewriter is a machine for typing characters, powered by electricity.
The typist initiates the keystroke, the carriage motion, and other controls by touching the proper key. The actuation is performed by the proper linkage clutching to a constantly rotating drive shaft.
Advantages of an electric typewriter include a lighter touch, faster and more uniform typing, more legible and numerous carbon copies, and less operator fatigue.
The first electrically operated typewriter, consisting of a printing wheel, was invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1872.
Electric typewriters did not achieve widespread popularity until nearly a century after their invention. They became common in offices in the 1950s, with every typewriter manufacturer producing a portable typewriter by this time.
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