In the beginning Sholes and Glidden created a machine that allowed an operator to press a key and a letter would appear on a piece of paper. The typewriter was born and relied on the operator's physical strength to propel the type bar at the paper, making a mark via the ink of the ribbon. Hundreds of manufacturers created thousands of different models of mechanical typewriter over the following decades and many millions have been sold to the present day.
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| Silver-Reed Silverette - mechanical |
However, later on in the twentieth century boffins decided to use electricity to help tired out secretaries and accounts clarks. Instead of using physical effort instead a way was found to propel the hammers at the paper (and ribbon) using electricity. The electric typewriter was born. Thus there are two main types of typewriter... or should it be three?
The electric typewriter should really be separated into the electro-mechanical and the electronic. The former, an example being my Olympia Monica, works very much like a manual typewriter and even looks very similar (though the electrical equipment may make it a bit bigger and heavier). The hammers are the same as a mechanical typewriter but are propelled electrically. Otherwise it looks very similar, indeed you may not realise such a typewriter is electric until you press a key and nothing happens until it is turned on!
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| Olympia Monica - electro-mechanical |
The final category of typewriter therefore is the electronic. These are the final incarnation of typewriter technology and work more like computer printers or teletypes. A moving print head produces the letters on the page. Typefaces can be changed depending on need. The electronic typewriter is almost a word processor but without the screen. Which type of typewriter do you prefer?
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| Smith Corona XE1630 - electronic |
