BLOG POST #4

ETO PROJECT: HISTORY OF THE TYPEWRITER 

Traveling back to 1888, when the typewriter aged only a decade old, the business world already began to change due to its effectiveness. The first patent was created by Henry Mill back in 1714. Little did he know that his idea would become one of the most revolutionary pieces of technology known to mankind and become such a positive change in the business world. 

Christopher Latham Sholes was an American inventor who developed the typewriter. After he finished his years in school he moved to Wisconsin, he was a publisher for the Green Bay newspaper which shortly after led him to an editing job for the Wisconsin Enquirer, in Madison. With these jobs, he began to thrive in the journalist world which resulted in an upbringing in the political world where he served in the state legislature for Milwaukee. Sholes gave up his position to accept an appointment from President Abraham Lincoln as a collector of the port of Milwaukee. 

In 1864, Sholes worked with other inventors including Samuel W. Soule. 

The patent they made granted for a machine only printing numbers. Their idea was to print consecutive numbers for train tickets. A few years later in 1867, Carlos Glidden who worked along with Sholes suggested that his machine should print letters as well as numbers. 

Sholes, Glidden, and Soule soon got to work and resulted in a machine that could only print the letter "W." The first model they got to work on used piano keys to move each individual letter which was a clumsy design and needed much more work. Their second model which became a patent in 1868, was designed with more advancements and could print text faster than handwriting. Due to the fact it wasn't as successful as planned, there wasn't enough money raised to manufacture it. 

Later that year, James Densmore, a businessman bought a part of the typewriter patent to bring it to the Telegraph Company. Thomas Edison claimed that he could make a more significant model, costing less money. Finally, in 1873, Densmore arranged an agreement with a gun manufacturing company, E. Remington and Sons for $12,000. 

During the Civil War, Remington and Sons put up its first commercial typewriters for sale in the year 1874. They sold the typewriters for $125 and only sold 5,000 within 5 years.

The impact of these machines during the industrial revolution was substantial. Factories were able to produce more work at a faster pace, smaller workshops began to close, and trade and communication began to increase. The typewriter established the QWERTY keyboard which still remains on the keyboards we use today. Not only did this invention increase productivity in the office, but it also helped women in the workplace and new employment. In 1880, 5% of office clerks were women and by 1900, that percentage increased to 75%.  By 1909, there were over 89 typewriter manufacturers in the United States and the number of patents relating to typewriters was over 2,500. 

We can thank these founders of the typewriter for the technology we have today and the advancements it created.