View source for Typewriter

{{Short description|Mechanical device for typing characters}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

[[File:MEK II-371.jpg|thumb|Mechanical typewriters, such as this 1930s [[Underwood Typewriter Company|Underwood]], were long-time standards in government agencies, newsrooms, and offices.]]
[[File:Collections in Motion- Valentine Typewriter.webm|thumb|This late 1960s [[Olivetti Valentine]] typewriter designed by [[Ettore Sottsass]] became a pop-culture icon.<ref name="sottsass">{{cite web |author=Rosario Spagnolello |date=May 28, 2020 |title=Valentine, Italy's Iconic Ruby Red Typewriter |url=https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a32701120/olivetti-valentine-history/ |publisher=Elle Decor}}</ref>]]
A '''typewriter''' is a [[Machine|mechanical]] or [[electromechanical]] machine for [[typing]] characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of [[Button (control)|keys]], and each one causes a different single character to be produced on [[paper]] by striking an [[ink ribbon|inked ribbon]] selectively against the paper with a [[Sort (typesetting)|type element]]. Thereby, the machine produces a legible [[written]] document composed of ink and paper. By the end of the 19th century, a ''person'' who used such a device was also referred to as a ''type[[writer]]''.<ref>{{cite OED2|typewriter (2)|volume=18|page=789}}</ref>

The first commercial typewriters were introduced in 1874,<ref>{{Cite book |first=James W. |last=Cortada |title=Before the Computer: IBM, NCR, Burroughs, and Remington Rand and the Industry They Created, 1865–1956 |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4008-7276-3 |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbl9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT38  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626060339/https://books.google.com/books?id=dbl9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT38 |archive-date=2018-06-26 |url-status=live}}</ref> but did not become common in offices in the [[United States]] until after the mid-1880s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Typewriters |url=https://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227181833/http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |website=www.officemuseum.com}}</ref> The typewriter quickly became an indispensable tool for practically all writing other than personal handwritten correspondence. It was widely used by professional writers, in offices, in business correspondence in private homes, and by students preparing written assignments.

Typewriters were a standard fixture in most offices up to the 1980s. After that, they began to be largely supplanted by personal computers running [[word processing]] software. Nevertheless, typewriters remain common in some parts of the world. For example, typewriters are still used in many [[India]]n cities and towns, especially in roadside and legal offices, due to a lack of continuous, reliable electricity.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Typewriters, Writing a Social History of Urban India |publisher=The Wire |url=https://thewire.in/books/with-great-truth-and-regards-typewriter |access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref>

The [[QWERTY]] [[keyboard layout]], developed for typewriters in the 1870s, remains the [[de facto standard]] for English-language [[computer keyboards]]. The origins of this layout still need to be clarified.<ref name="Smithsonian"/> Similar typewriter keyboards, with layouts optimised for other languages and orthographies, emerged soon afterward, and their layouts have also become standard for computer keyboards in their respective markets.

== History ==
[[File:1864 Schreibmaschine Peter Mitterhofer.jpg|thumb|Peter Mitterhofer's typewriter prototype (1864)]]
Although many modern typewriters have one of several similar designs, their invention was incremental, developed by numerous inventors working independently or in competition with each other over a series of decades. As with the [[automobile]], the telephone, and [[Telegraphy|telegraph]], several people contributed insights and inventions that eventually resulted in ever more commercially successful instruments. Historians have estimated that some form of the typewriter was invented 52 times as thinkers and tinkerers tried to come up with a workable design.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Acocella |first=Joan |date=April 9, 2007 |title=The Typing Life: How writers used to write |url=https://newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage=1 |url-status=live |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011413/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage=1 |archive-date=December 3, 2013}}</ref>

Some early typing instruments include:

* In 1575, an Italian printmaker, [[Francesco Rampazetto]], invented the {{lang|it|scrittura tattile}}, a machine to impress letters in papers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scrittura | publisher=Museo dinamico della tecnologia Adriano Olivetti |url=http://museocasertaolivetti.altervista.org/scrittura/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621081930/http://museocasertaolivetti.altervista.org/scrittura/ |archive-date=2017-06-21 |access-date=2017-07-21 |website=museocasertaolivetti.altervista.org |language=it-IT}}</ref>
* In 1714, [[Henry Mill]] obtained a patent in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] for a machine that, from the patent, appears to have been similar to a typewriter. The patent shows that this machine was created: "[he] hath by his great study and paines & expence invented and brought to perfection an artificial machine or method for impressing or transcribing of letters, one after another, as in writing, whereby all writing whatsoever may be engrossed in paper or parchment so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print; that the said machine or method may be of great use in settlements and public records, the impression being deeper and more lasting than any other writing, and not to be erased or counterfeited without manifest discovery."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Mill Patents |url=http://www.todayinsci.com/M/Mill_Henry/MillHenryPatents.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128013806/http://www.todayinsci.com/M/Mill_Henry/MillHenryPatents.htm |archive-date=2012-11-28 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Todayinsci.com}}</ref>
* In 1802, Italian [[Agostino Fantoni]] developed a particular typewriter to enable his [[blindness|blind]] sister to write.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Computers and Computing, Birth of the modern computer, The bases of digital computers, typewriter and computer keyboard |url=http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/keyboard.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905195941/http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/keyboard.html |archive-date=2016-09-05 |access-date=2016-09-19 |website=history-computer.com}}</ref>
* Between 1801 and 1808, Italian [[Pellegrino Turri]] invented a typewriter for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=Italian Inventors and their Inventions |url=http://www.yourguidetoitaly.com/italian-inventors.html |access-date=2011-01-25 |publisher=YourGuideToItaly.com}}</ref>
* In 1823, Italian [[Pietro Conti da Cilavegna]] invented a new model of the typewriter, the {{lang|it|tachigrafo}}, also known as {{lang|it|tachitipo}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gianfrancesco Rambelli |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Om_KVDRCK8EC&pg=PA150 |title=Intorno invenzioni e scoperte italiane |date=1844 |publisher=Tipografia Vincenzi e Rossi |location=Modena |page=150 |language=it}}</ref>
* In 1829, American [[William Austin Burt]] patented a machine called the "[[Typographer (typewriter)|Typographer]]" which, in common with many other early machines, is listed as the "first typewriter". The London [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum]] describes it merely as "the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented", but even that claim may be excessive since Turri's invention pre-dates it.<ref>{{Cite book |title=William Austin Burt's Typographer |publisher=Science Museum |year=1829}}</ref>

By the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had created a need to mechanize the writing process. [[Stenographer]]s and [[telegraph]]ers could take down information at rates up to 130 words per minute, whereas a writer with a pen was limited to a maximum of 30 words per minute (the 1853 speed record).<ref name="Utterback">{{Cite book |last=Utterback |first=James M. Utterback |title=Mastering The Dynamics Of Innovation|edition=2nd|publisher=Harvard Business Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-87584-740-5}}</ref>

From 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production.<ref name="Early Office Museum">{{cite web |title=Typewriters |url=https://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |website=Early Office Museum |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref>

* American [[Charles Thurber (inventor)|Charles Thurber]] developed multiple patents, of which his first in 1843 was created as an aid to blind people, such as the 1845 [[Charles Thurber (inventor)#Career|Chirographer]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thurber's Chirographer – Scientific American |url=https://todayinsci.com/Events/Typewriter/Chirographer-SciAm.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327043255/http://todayinsci.com/Events/Typewriter/Chirographer-SciAm.htm |archive-date=2015-03-27 |access-date=2017-01-20 |website=todayinsci.com}}</ref>
* In 1855, the Italian [[Giuseppe Ravizza]] created a prototype typewriter called ''Cembalo scrivano o macchina da scrivere a tasti'' ("Scribe [[harpsichord]], or machine for writing with keys"). It was an advanced machine that let the user see the writing as it was typed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cembalo Scrivano – macchina per scrivere – Industria, manifattura, artigianato |url=https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/scienza-tecnologia/schede/ST120-00001/ |website=Lombardia Beni Culturali |access-date=27 April 2022 |language=IT}}</ref>
* In 1861, Father [[Francisco João de Azevedo]], a Brazilian priest, made his typewriter with basic materials and tools, such as wood and knives. In that same year, the Brazilian emperor [[Pedro II of Brazil|Pedro II]], presented a gold medal to Father Azevedo for this invention. Many Brazilian people, as well as the Brazilian federal government recognize Fr. Azevedo as the inventor of the typewriter, a claim that has been the subject of some controversy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adler |first=Michael |title=Antique typewriters: from Creed to QWERTY |publisher=Schiffer Pub. |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7643-0132-2 |location=Atglen, Pa.}}</ref>
* In 1865, [[John Pratt (inventor)|John Pratt]], of [[Centre, Alabama]] (US), built a machine called the ''Pterotype'' which appeared in an 1867 ''[[Scientific American]]'' article<ref>{{Cite news |date=1867-07-06 |title=Type Writing Machine. |volume=17 |page=3 |work=[[Scientific American]] |issue=1 |location=New York |url=https://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fscia%2Fscia1017%2F&tif=00011.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DABF2204-1017-3 |access-date=2009-01-14 |series=New}}</ref> and inspired other inventors.
* Between 1864 and 1867, {{Interlanguage link|Peter Mitterhofer|de}}, a carpenter from [[South Tyrol]] (then part of [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]) developed several models and a fully functioning prototype typewriter in 1867.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wN4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA751 |title=This is How Some of the World's Familiar Inventions Looked at the Time of Birth |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=May 1929 |page=751}}</ref>

=== Hansen Writing Ball ===
{{Main|Hansen Writing Ball}}
[[File:Malling Hansen,1867, Dänemark.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hansen Writing Ball]] was the first typewriter manufactured commercially (1870).]]

In 1865, Rev. [[Rasmus Malling-Hansen]] of [[Denmark]] invented the [[Hansen Writing Ball]], which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and was reported as being used in offices on the European continent as late as 1909.<ref name="Mares">{{Cite book |last=Mares |first=G. C. |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201721 |title=The History of the Typewriter |year=1909 |publisher=Guilbert Pitman |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201721/page/n234 230]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Office Museum |url=http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102201621/http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters.htm |archive-date=2 January 2014 |access-date=1 December 2013}}</ref>

Malling-Hansen used a [[solenoid]] escapement to return the carriage on some of his models, which makes him a candidate for the title of inventor of the first "electric" typewriter.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rasmus Malling-Hansen Invents the Hansen Writing Ball, the First Commercially Produced Typewriter |url=https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=5383 |access-date=27 April 2022 |website=History of Information}}</ref>

The Hansen Writing Ball was produced with only upper-case characters. The Writing Ball was a template for inventor [[Frank Haven Hall]] to create a derivative that would produce letter prints cheaper and faster.<ref name="Devil">{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=Erik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJp22rZDOZQC |title=The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4000-7631-4 |page=291 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626060339/https://books.google.com/books?id=kJp22rZDOZQC |archive-date=2018-06-26 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="3lives">{{Cite journal |last=Hendrickson, Walter B. |year=1956 |title=The Three Lives of Frank H. Hall |url=http://dig.lib.niu.edu/ISHS/ishs-1956autumn/ishs-1956autumn-271.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |publisher=University of Illinois Press |volume=49 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806034158/http://dig.lib.niu.edu/ISHS/ishs-1956autumn/ishs-1956autumn-271.pdf |archive-date=2010-08-06}}</ref><ref name="Museum">{{Cite web |last=Anonymous |date=24 April 2011 |title=Hall Braille Writer |url=http://www.aph.org/museum/braillewriters/1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427203920/http://www.aph.org/museum/braillewriters/1.html |archive-date=27 April 2012 |access-date=29 February 2012 |publisher=American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.}}</ref>

Malling-Hansen developed his typewriter further through the 1870s and 1880s and made many improvements, but the writing head remained the same. On the first model of the writing ball from 1870, the paper was attached to a cylinder inside a wooden box. In 1874, the cylinder was replaced by a carriage, moving beneath the writing head. Then, in 1875, the well-known "tall model" was patented, which was the first of the writing balls that worked without electricity. Malling-Hansen attended the world exhibitions in [[Vienna]] in 1873 and Paris in 1878 and he received the first-prize for his invention at both exhibitions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Otto Burghagen |title=Die Schreibmaschine. Illustrierte Beschreibung aller gangbaren Schreibmaschinen nebst gründlicher Anleitung zum Arbeiten auf sämtlichen Systemen |year=1898}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dieter Eberwein |title=Nietzsches Schreibkugel. Ein Blick auf Nietzsches Schreibmaschinenzeit durch die Restauration der Schreibkugel. Eberwein-Typoskriptverlag |publisher=Schauenburg 2005.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Johanne Agerskov |title=''Hvem er Skrivekuglens Opfinder?'' |year=1925}}</ref>

=== Sholes and Glidden typewriter ===
{{Main|Sholes and Glidden typewriter}}
[[File:Sholes typewriter.jpg|thumb|upright|Prototype of the first commercially successful typewriter, the ''Sholes and Glidden'' (1873) – with the first QWERTY keyboard]]

The first typewriter to be commercially successful was patented in 1868 by Americans [[Christopher Latham Sholes]], [[Frank Haven Hall]], [[Carlos Glidden]] and [[Samuel W. Soule]] in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 23, 1868 |title=Drawing for a Typewriter |url=https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/drawing-for-a-typewriter |website=docsteach.org |<!--original publisher-->publisher=Records of the Patent and Trademark Office, Record Group 241.}}</ref>  The working prototype was made by clock-maker and machinist Matthias Schwalbach.<ref name="WCH">{{Cite web |title=First Practical Typewriter |date=March 22, 2007 |access-date=25 April 2021 |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2697}}</ref> Hall, Glidden and Soule sold their shares in the patent (US 79,265) to Sholes and [[James Densmore]],<ref name=Current /> who made an agreement with [[E. Remington and Sons]] (then famous as a manufacturer of [[sewing machine]]s) to commercialize the machine as the ''[[Sholes and Glidden typewriter|Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer]]''.<ref name=WCH /> This was the origin of the term ''typewriter''.

Remington began production of its first typewriter on March 1, 1873, in [[Ilion, New York]]. It had a [[QWERTY]] keyboard layout, which, because of the machine's success, was slowly adopted by other typewriter manufacturers.  <span class="anchor" id="Understrike"></span>As with most other early typewriters, because the typebars struck upwards, the typist could not see the characters as they were typed.<ref name=Current>{{cite journal | last=Current |first=Richard N. |title=The Original Typewriter Enterprise 1867–1873 |journal=The Wisconsin Magazine of History |volume= 32 |number= 4 | year= 1949 |pages= 391–407 |jstor=4632060 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4632060 | access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> This arrangement, [[retronym]]ically known as ''understrike'' would eventually give way to so-called [[#Frontstriking|frontstrike]] mechanisms in later, competing machines.

=== Index typewriter ===
[[File:Hall 1 typewriter, 1881 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Hall 1 typewriter, 1881 – the first index typewriter]]
[[File:Mignon Mod.4,Bj.1924.jpg|thumb|right|Mignon Model 4 – a portable index typewriter still manufactured in 1934]]
The index typewriter came into the market in the early 1880s.<ref name="EOM">{{Cite web |title=Antique Index Typewriters |url=http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_index.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702212611/http://www.officemuseum.com/typewriters_index.htm |archive-date=2 July 2016 |access-date=13 March 2017 |website=Early Office Museum}}</ref> The index typewriter uses a pointer or stylus to choose a letter from an index. The pointer is mechanically linked so that the letter chosen could then be printed, most often by the activation of a lever.<ref name="Early Office Museum" />

The index typewriter was briefly popular in niche markets. Although they were slower than keyboard type machines, they were mechanically simpler and lighter. They were therefore marketed as being suitable for travellers and, because they could be produced more cheaply than keyboard machines, as budget machines for users who needed to produce small quantities of typed correspondence.<ref name="EOM"/> For example, the Simplex Typewriter Company made index typewriters for 1/40 the price of a Remington typewriter.<ref name="PoltWeb">{{cite web |first=Richard |last=Polt |website=The Classic Typewriter Page |url=https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/simplex.html |title=Simplex |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606050123/https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/simplex.html |archive-date=6 June 2021 }}.</ref>

The index typewriter's niche appeal however soon disappeared as, on the one hand new keyboard typewriters became lighter and more portable, and on the other refurbished second-hand machines began to become available.<ref name="EOM"/> The last widely available western index machine was the Mignon typewriter produced by [[AEG (German company)|AEG]] which was produced until 1934. Considered one of the very best of the index typewriters, part of the Mignon's popularity was that it featured interchangeable indexes as well as [[Sort (typesetting)|type]],<ref name="Mignon2">{{Cite web |title=The Mignon 2 |url=http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/brands/index.php3?machine=indexmignon2&cat=is |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003035122/http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/brands/index.php3?machine=indexmignon2&cat=is |archive-date=3 October 2016 |access-date=13 March 2017 |website=The Virtual Typewriter Museum}}</ref> [[font]]s and [[character set]]s. This is something very few keyboard machines were capable of—and only at considerable added cost.<ref name="Mignon2"/>

Although they were pushed out of the market in most of the world by keyboard machines, successful [[Japanese typewriter|Japanese]] and [[Chinese typewriter]]s are of the index type—albeit with a very much larger index and number of type elements.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mullaney |first=Thomas S. |date=2016 |title=Controlling the Kanjisphere: The Rise of the Sino-Japanese Typewriter and the Birth of CJK |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44166285 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=725–753 |doi=10.1017/S0021911816000577 |jstor=44166285 |issn=0021-9118|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Embossing tape]] label makers are the most common index typewriters today, and perhaps the most common typewriters of any type still being manufactured.<ref name="PoltWeb"/>

The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved horizontally to the left, automatically advancing the typing position, after each character was typed. The carriage-return lever at the far left was then pressed to the right to return the carriage to its starting position and rotating the platen to advance the paper vertically. A small bell was struck a few characters before the right hand margin was reached to warn the operator to complete the word and then use the carriage-return lever.<ref name="The Remington Type-Writing Machine">{{Cite journal |year=1876 |title=The Remington Type-Writing Machine |journal=Nature |volume=14 |issue=342 |pages=43–44 |bibcode=1876Natur..14...43. |doi=10.1038/014043a0 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Other typewriters ===
[[File:Fitch 1 typewriter, 1888 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Fitch 1 typewriter, 1888]]
[[File:Underwood 1 typewriter, 1896.jpg|thumb|Underwood 1 typewriter, 1896 – the typewriter that would set the design standard for the new century, with four rows of keys, front strike visible and a single shift key. It also had a light and fast typing action.]]
* 1884 – Hammond "Ideal" typewriter with case, by Hammond Typewriter Company Limited, United States. Despite an unusual, curved keyboard (see pictures in [[#Gallery|Gallery]] and citation), the Hammond became popular because of its superior print quality and changeable typeface. Invented by James Hammond of Boston, Massachusetts in 1880, and commercially released in 1884. The type is carried on a pair of interchangeable rotating sectors, one controlled by each half of the keyboard. A small hammer pushes the paper against the ribbon and type sector to print each character. The mechanism was later adapted to give a straight QWERTY keyboard and proportional spacing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Two Hammond 'Ideal' typewriters, one with case |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co37725/two-hammond-ideal-typewriters-one-with-case-typewriter |website=Science Museum Group Collection |access-date=27 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
* 1888 – Fitch typewriter – made by the Fitch Typewriter Company, Brooklyn, N.Y. and later in the UK with a slightly different look. Operators of the early typewriters had to work "blind": the typed text emerged only after several lines had been completed or the carriage was lifted to look underneath at the page. The Fitch was one of the first machines to allow prompt correction of mistakes with its visible writing; it was said to be the second machine operating on the visible writing system. The typebars were positioned behind the paper and the writing area faced upwards so that the result could be seen instantly. A curved frame kept the emerging paper from obscuring the keyboard, but the Fitch was soon eclipsed by machines in which the paper could be fed more conveniently at the rear.<ref name="Science Museum">{{Cite web|title=Fitch typewriter, 1891 {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co38149/fitch-typewriter-1891-typewriters|access-date=2021-11-23|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk|language=en}}</ref>
* 1893 – Gardner typewriter. This typewriter, patented by Mr J Gardner in 1893, was an attempt to reduce the size and cost. Although it prints 84 symbols, it has only 14 keys and two change-case keys. Several characters are indicated on each key and the character printed is determined by the position of the case keys, which choose one of six cases.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gardner typewriter, c. 1893 |publisher=Science Museum Group Collection|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co37730/gardner-typewriter-c-1893-typewriter|access-date=2021-11-23|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk|language=en}}</ref>
* 1896 – the "Underwood 1 typewriter, 10" Pica, No. 990". This was the first typewriter with a typing area fully visible to the typist until a key is struck. These features, copied by all subsequent typewriters, allowed the typist to see and if necessary correct the typing as it proceeded. The mechanism was developed in the US by Franz X. Wagner from about 1892 and taken up, in 1895, by John T. Underwood (1857–1937), a producer of office supplies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Underwood 1 Typewriter, 1897 {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co38171/underwood-1-typewriter-1897-typewriter|access-date=2021-11-22|website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk|language=en}}</ref>

=== Standardization ===
By about 1910, the "manual" or "mechanical" typewriter had reached a somewhat [[Standardization|standardized]] design.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mechanical Typewriter Explained: How Typewriters Work |url=https://www.gadgetexplained.com/2015/11/mechanical-typewriter-explained-how.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Gadget Explained – Reviews Gadgets Electronics Tech}}</ref> There were minor variations from one manufacturer to another, but most typewriters followed the concept that each key was attached to a typebar that had the corresponding letter molded, in reverse, into its striking head.  When a key was struck briskly and firmly, the typebar hit a ribbon (usually made of [[ink]]ed [[Cloth|fabric]]), making a printed mark on the paper wrapped around a cylindrical [[platen]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McCormack |first=Harry S. |date=2 May 1907 |title=Type-Writing Machine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4x1LAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA385 |journal=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office |volume=134 |pages=385}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of Typewriters |url=https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-history.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The Classic Typewriter Page}}</ref>

The platen was mounted on a carriage that moved horizontally to the left, automatically advancing the typing position, after each character was typed. The carriage-return lever at the far left was then pressed to the right to return the carriage to its starting position and rotating the platen to advance the paper vertically. A small bell was struck a few characters before the right hand margin was reached to warn the operator to complete the word and then use the carriage-return lever.<ref name="The Remington Type-Writing Machine"/> Typewriters for languages written [[right-to-left]] operate in the opposite direction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=The typewriter: an informal history |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_informal.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |language=en-US}}</ref>

By 1900, notable typewriter manufacturers included [[E. Remington and Sons]], [[IBM]], [[Godrej Group|Godrej]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=The archives times – March – April 2013 – Lost and found, a 1984 photo revives those times |publisher=Godrej archives |url=http://www.archives.godrej.com/assets/pdf/The_Archives_Times_Mar_Apr_2013.pdf |access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref> [[Imperial Typewriter Company]], [[Oliver Typewriter Company]], [[Olivetti]], [[Royal Typewriter Company]], [[Smith Corona]], [[Underwood Typewriter Company]], [[Facit]], [[Adler (cars and motorcycle)|Adler]], and <!--{{Ill|de|Olympia Werke}}-->[[Olympia-Werke]].<ref>Silver Reed{{Cite web |title=From behind the scenes – Godrej Prima and the Stenographers handbook |url=http://www.archives.godrej.com/assets/pdf/Steno%27s_Handbook.pdf |access-date=18 March 2019 |website=www.archives.godrej.com |publisher=Godrej archives |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809125527/http://www.archives.godrej.com/assets/pdf/Steno%27s_Handbook.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After the market had matured under the market dominance of large companies from Britain, Europe and the United States—but before the advent of daisywheel and electronic machines—the typewriter market faced strong competition from less expensive typewriters from Asia, including [[Brother Industries]] and [[Silver Seiko Ltd.]] of Japan.

==== Frontstriking ====
[[File:Daugherty typewriter (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Daugherty typewriter, 1893]]

In most of the early typewriters, the typebars struck upward against the paper and pressed against the bottom of the [[platen]] ([[#Understrike|understrike]]), so the typist could not see the text as it was typed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=Martyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mhUwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 |title=Approaches to the History of Written Culture: A World Inscribed |last2=Marquilhas |first2=Rita |date=2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-54136-5 |language=en}}</ref> What was typed was not visible until a carriage return caused it to scroll into view.

The difficulty with any other arrangement was ensuring the typebars fell back into place reliably when the key was released. This was eventually achieved with various ingenious mechanical designs and so-called "visible typewriters" which used frontstriking, in which the typebars struck forward against the front side of the platen, which became standard. One of the first front-strike typewriters was the Daugherty Visible, introduced in 1893.

==== Four-bank keyboard ====
The Daugherty Visible also introduced the four-bank keyboard, which also became standard, although the Underwood, which came out two years later, was the first ''major'' typewriter to support frontstriking and a four-bank keyboard.<ref name="Robert1">{{Cite web |last=Robert |first=Paul |title=Daugherty |url=http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/index.php3?machine=daugh&cat=kf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729132951/http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/index.php3?machine=daugh&cat=kf |archive-date=July 29, 2011 |access-date=July 5, 2012 |website=Collection |publisher=The Virtual Typewriter Museum}}</ref><ref name="Seaver1">{{Cite web |last=Seaver |first=Alan |year=2011 |title=Daugherty Visible |url=http://machinesoflovinggrace.com/ptf/VisDaughertyPittsburg.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511211636/http://machinesoflovinggrace.com/ptf/VisDaughertyPittsburg.html |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |access-date=July 5, 2012 |website=Machines of Loving Grace website |publisher=Alan Seaver}}</ref>

==== Shift key ====
[[File:Remington 2 typewriter keyboard.jpg|thumb|Remington #2 typewriter keyboard. Note the shift keys bottom-left and top-right. 1878.]]
[[File:Comparison_of_Full-Keyboard,_Single-Shift,_and_Double-Shift_Typerwriters_in_1911.png|thumb|A 1911 comparison of then-current full-keyboard (left), single-shift (middle), and double-shift typewriters (right)]]

A significant innovation was the [[shift key]], introduced with the [[E. Remington and Sons|Remington]] No. 2 in 1878. This key physically "shifted" either the basket of typebars, in which case the typewriter is described as "basket shift", or the paper-holding carriage, in which case the typewriter is described as "carriage shift".<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mark |first1= Adams on |date=October 24, 2013 |title=Remington Standard No. 2: 'Lower Case' vs. 'Shift Key'? |url=https://type-writer.org/?p=1765 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Type-Writer.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Either mechanism caused a different portion of the typebar to come in contact with the ribbon/platen.

The result is that each typebar could type two different characters, cutting the number of keys and typebars in half (and simplifying the internal mechanisms considerably). The obvious use for this was to allow letter keys to type both [[Letter case|upper and lower case]], but normally the number keys were also duplexed, allowing access to special symbols such as percent, {{char|%}}, and ampersand, {{char|&}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Typing Through Time: Keyboard History |url=https://www.daskeyboard.com/blog/typing-through-time-the-history-of-the-keyboard/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Das Keyboard Mechanical Keyboard Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

Before the shift key, typewriters had to have a separate key and typebar for upper-case letters; in essence, the typewriter had two full keyboards, one above the other. With the shift key, manufacturing costs (and therefore purchase price) were greatly reduced, and typist operation was simplified; both factors contributed greatly to mass adoption of the technology.

===== Three-bank typewriters =====
Certain models further reduced the number of keys and typebars by making each key perform three functions—each typebar could type three different characters. These little three-row machines were portable and could be used by journalists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mosher |first=Charles Philo |date=10 April 1917 |title=Type-Writing Machine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DngbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA537 |journal=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office |page=537}}</ref>

Such three-row machines were popular with WWI journalists because they were lighter and more compact than four-bank typewriters, while they could type just as fast and use just as many symbols.<ref>Alan Seaver. [http://sevenels.net/typewriters/3banks.htm "Three-Bank Typewriters"]</ref> To include those symbols, three-row machines like the Bar-Let<ref>[https://www.typewriters101.com/collection.html "My Typewriter Collection: Bar-Let Model 2"].</ref> and the [[Smith Corona#Corona Typewriter Company|Corona]] No. 3 Typewriter<ref>Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
[https://www.si.edu/object/corona-typewriter%3Anmah_849921 "Corona No. 3 Typewriter"]</ref><ref>[https://www.typewriters101.com/store/p430/1921_Corona_Folding_No._3.html "1921 Corona Folding No. 3"].</ref> had two distinct shift keys performing different functions, a "CAP" shift (for uppercase) and a "FIG" shift (for numbers and symbols).<ref>Anthony Casillo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=emcqDwAAQBAJ ''Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing''].
2017. pp. 116; 197–198.</ref> They were thus also known as ''double-shift typewriters''.

[[Teletypewriter]]s also often used a three-row typewriter keyboard,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AuIOu97MduQC "Principles of Telegraphy, Teletypewriter"]. 1967. p. A-15.
"[Murray] used a 5-unit code with two shifts, [and] 
(...) use of a three-row typewriter-style keyboard, with the numerals assigned to the top row of keys. 
Therefore, the numeral 1 had to use the same combination as the letter Q, 2 the same combination as W, etc."</ref>
which looked superficially similar in that it also had two shift keys, "FIGS" (figures) and "LTRS" (letters). However, these [[Murray code]]-based machines generally did not allow each key to perform three functions and were a different technology from double-shift typewriters.{{efn|Unlike shift keys on double-shift typewriters, teletypewriter shift keys were stateful—like [[Shift Lock]]. Typing or transmitting FIGS once shifted all following characters to "figure shift", until LTRS shifted the code back to "letter shift". Hence those two shift keys did not allow teletypewriters to include lower- as well as upper-case characters. A further feature finally allowing that only arrived as a 1988 extension to the Murray-based [[Alphabet 2]] code,<ref>[http://archive.org/details/enf-ascii "The Evolution of Character Codes, 1874-1968"]. 2000. p. 8.</ref> close to that technology's obsolescence.}}

==== Tab key ====
{{Main|Tab key}}

To facilitate typewriter use in business settings, a tab (tabulator) key was added in the late 19th century. Before using the key, the operator had to set mechanical "tab stops" (pre-designated locations to which the carriage would advance when the tab key was pressed). This facilitated the typing of columns of numbers, freeing the operator from the need to manually position the carriage. The first models had one tab stop and one tab key; later ones allowed as many stops as desired, and sometimes had multiple tab keys, each of which moved the carriage a different number of spaces ahead of the decimal point (the tab stop), to facilitate the typing of columns with numbers of different length ($1.00, $10.00, $100.00, etc.) such that the decimal points were vertically aligned. Typically, tab stops could be set by a key-set tabulator control (either by a lever or keys on the keyboard—usually labelled with "+" or "-", or "set" and "clear") or moveable tab stops at the back of the machine, similar to margin stops.

==== Dead keys ====
{{Main|Dead key}}

Languages such as French, Spanish, and German required [[diacritic]]s, special signs attached to or on top of the base letter: for example, a combination of the [[acute accent]] {{char|´}} plus {{char|e}} produced {{char|é}}; {{char|~}} plus {{char|n}} produced {{char|ñ}}. In [[Typesetting#Movable type|metal typesetting]], {{angbr|é}}, {{angbr|ñ}}, and others were separate [[Sort (typesetting)|sorts]]. With mechanical typewriters, the number of whose characters (sorts) was constrained by the physical limits of the machine, the number of keys required was reduced by the use of [[dead keys]]. Diacritics such as {{char|´}} ([[acute accent]]) would be assigned to a [[dead key]], which did not move the [[platen]] forward, permitting another character to be imprinted at the same location; thus a single dead key such as the acute accent could be combined with {{char|a}},{{char|e}},{{char|i}},{{char|o}} and {{char|u}} to produce {{char|á}},{{char|é}},{{char|í}},{{char|ó}} and {{char|ú}}, reducing the number of sorts needed from 5 to 1. The typebars of "normal" characters struck a rod as they moved the metal character desired toward the ribbon and platen, and each rod depression moved the platen forward the width of one character. Dead keys had a typebar shaped so as not to strike the rod.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Smalley |first1=William A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXM_RL4UWe0C&pg=PA115 |title=Mother of Writing: The Origin and Development of a Hmong Messianic Script |last2=Vang |first2=Chia Koua |last3=Yang |first3=Gnia Yee |date=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-76287-6 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Character sizes ====
{{further|Point (typography)|Pitch (typewriter)}}

In English-speaking countries, ordinary typewriters printing fixed-width characters were standardized to print six horizontal lines per vertical inch, and had either of two variants of character width, one called ''pica'' for ten characters per horizontal inch and the other ''elite'', for twelve. This differed from the use of these terms in printing, where [[Pica (typography)|pica]] is a linear unit (approximately {{frac|1|6}} of an inch) used for any measurement, the most common one being the height of a typeface.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief Chronology of the Typewriter |url=http://www.quadibloc.com/comp/pro05.htm |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=www.quadibloc.com}}</ref>

==== Color ====
Some ribbons were inked in black and red stripes, each being half the width and running the entire length of the ribbon. A lever on most machines allowed switching between colors, which was useful for bookkeeping entries where negative amounts were highlighted in red. The red color was also used on some selected characters in running text, for emphasis. When a typewriter had this facility, it could still be fitted with a solid black ribbon; the lever was then used to switch to fresh ribbon when the first stripe ran out of ink. Some typewriters also had a third position which stopped the ribbon being struck at all. This enabled the keys to hit the paper unobstructed, and was used for cutting stencils for [[Mimeograph|stencil duplicators]] (aka mimeograph machines).<ref name="MimeoTypewriter">{{Cite web |title=How to prepare a mimeograph stencil by using a typewriter |url=http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/implementaliteracyprogram/howtoprepareamimeographstencil2.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121016144524/http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/implementaliteracyprogram/howtoprepareamimeographstencil2.htm |archive-date=2012-10-16 |access-date=2011-05-10 |website=LinguaLinks Library |publisher=SIL International}}</ref>

==== "Noiseless" designs ====
[[File:Rapid typewriter, 1890 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|thumb|Rapid typewriter, 1890]]

The first typewriter to have the sliding type bars (laid out horizontally like a fan) that enable a typewriter to be "noiseless" was the American made Rapid which appeared briefly on the market in 1890. The Rapid also had the remarkable ability for the typist to have entire control of the carriage by manipulation of the keyboard alone. The two keys that achieve this are positioned at the top of the keyboard (seen in the detail image below). They are a "Lift" key that advances the paper, on the platen, to the next line and a "Return" key that causes the carriage to automatically swing back to the right, ready for one to type the new line. So an entire page could be typed without one's hands leaving the keyboard.

In the early part of the 20th century, a typewriter was marketed under the name Noiseless and advertised as "silent". It was developed by Wellington Parker Kidder and the first model was marketed by the Noiseless Typewriter Company in 1917.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Noiseless Portable |url=https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/noiselessportable.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The Classic Typewriter Page}}</ref> Noiseless portables sold well in the 1930s and 1940s, and noiseless standards continued to be manufactured until the 1960s.<ref name="ja" />

In a conventional typewriter the type bar reaches the end of its travel simply by striking the ribbon and paper. The Noiseless, developed by Kidder, has a complex lever mechanism that decelerates the type bar mechanically before pressing it against the ribbon and paper in an attempt to dampen the noise.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gould |first=R. T. |title=The Modern Typewriter and ITS Probable Future Development |date=1928 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41357995 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Arts |volume=76 |issue=3940 |pages=717–738 |jstor=41357995 |issn=0035-9114}}</ref>

=== Electric designs ===
Although electric typewriters would not achieve widespread popularity until nearly a century later, the basic groundwork for the electric typewriter was laid by the [[Universal Stock Ticker]], invented by [[Thomas 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.

==== Early electric models ====
Some electric typewriters were patented in the 19th century, but the first machine known to be produced in series is the Cahill of 1900.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bert Kerschbaumer, "The Cahill Electrical Typewriters," ETCetera No. 100 (December 2012) |url=http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC100.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730133043/http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC100.pdf |archive-date=2016-07-30}}</ref>

Another electric typewriter was produced by the [[Blickensderfer typewriter|Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company]], of [[Stamford, Connecticut]], in 1902. Like the manual Blickensderfer typewriters, it used a cylindrical typewheel rather than individual typebars. The machine was produced in several variants but apparently not a commercial success,<ref>{{Cite web |title=P. Robert Aubert, "The Last Service Call," ETCetera No. 33(December 1995) |url=http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC033.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730133642/http://etconline.org/backissues/ETC033.pdf |archive-date=2016-07-30}}</ref> having come to market ahead of its time, before ubiquitous [[electrification]].

The next step in the development of the electric typewriter came in 1910, when Charles and Howard Krum filed a patent for the first practical [[teleprinter|teletypewriter]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Patent 1,286,351 filed in May, 1910, and issued in December, 1918 |url=http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=01286351&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D1286351.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F1286351%2526RS%3DPN%2F1286351&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225235913/http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=01286351&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D1286351.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F1286351%2526RS%3DPN%2F1286351&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page |archive-date=2016-12-25 |access-date=2011-09-16}}</ref> The Krums' machine, named the Morkrum Printing Telegraph, used a typewheel rather than individual typebars.  This machine was used for the first commercial teletypewriter system on Postal Telegraph Company lines between [[Boston]] and New York City in 1910.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Colin Hempstead, William E. Worthington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wkIlnNjDWcC&pg=PA605 |title=Encyclopedia of 20th Century Technology |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57958-464-1 |page=605}}</ref>

[[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 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 so that it could be marketed to typewriter manufacturers, and from 1925 Remington Electric typewriters were produced powered by Northeast's motors.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=The history of IBM electric typewriters |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120182250/https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_history.html |archive-date=2023-11-20 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |language=en-US}}</ref>

After some 2,500 electric typewriters had been produced, Northeast asked Remington for a firm contract for the next batch. However, Remington was engaged in merger talks, which would eventually result in the creation of [[Remington Rand]] and no executives were willing to commit to a firm order. Northeast instead decided to enter the typewriter business for itself, and in 1929 produced the first Electromatic Typewriter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IBM Electromatic Typewriter |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1155510 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=National Museum of American History |language=en}}</ref>

In 1928, [[Delco Electronics|Delco]], a division of [[General Motors]], purchased Northeast Electric, and the typewriter business was spun off as Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. In 1933, Electromatic was acquired by [[IBM]], which then spent [[United States dollar|$]]1&nbsp;million on a redesign of the Electromatic Typewriter, launching the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 January 2003 |title=IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV2240.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526135454/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV2240.html |archive-date=2013-05-26 |access-date=2013-09-12 |publisher=03.ibm.com}}</ref>

In 1931, an electric typewriter was introduced by Varityper Corporation. It was called the [[Varityper]], because a narrow cylinder-like wheel could be replaced to change the [[typeface]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=July 1931 |title=Changing the Type of Typewriter Made Easy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4OIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=-PA83 |url-status=live |journal=[[Popular Mechanics]] |page=83 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626060339/https://books.google.com/books?id=4OIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=-PA83 |archive-date=2018-06-26}}</ref>

In 1941, IBM announced the Electromatic Model 04 electric typewriter, featuring the revolutionary concept of proportional spacing. By assigning varied rather than uniform spacing to different sized characters, the Type 4 recreated the appearance of a typeset page, an effect that was further enhanced by including the 1937 innovation of carbon-film ribbons that produced clearer, sharper words on the page.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 January 2003 |title=IBM Typewriter Milestones |url=https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_milestone.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627172904/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_milestone.html |archive-date=2017-06-27 |publisher=IBM Archives}}</ref>

==== IBM Selectric ====
{{Main|IBM Selectric}}
[[File:Selectric II.jpg|thumb|IBM Selectric II (dual Latin/Hebrew typeball and keyboard)]]
IBM introduced the [[IBM Selectric]] typewriter in 1961, which replaced the typebars with a spherical element (or '''typeball''') slightly smaller than a [[golf ball]], with reverse-image letters molded into its surface. The Selectric used a system of latches, metal tapes, and pulleys driven by an electric motor to rotate the ball into the correct position and then strike it against the ribbon and platen. The typeball moved laterally in front of the paper, instead of the previous designs using a platen-carrying carriage moving the paper across a stationary print position.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-20 |title=A different type of dance move |url=https://www.ibm.com/blogs/industries/selectric-typewriter-dancers/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Industrious |language=en-US}}</ref>

Due to the physical similarity, the typeball was sometimes referred to as a "golfball".<ref name="ibm100">{{Cite web |last=IBM |date=7 March 2012 |title=The Selectric Typewriter |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/ |access-date=20 January 2020 |website=Icons of Progress}}</ref> The typeball design had many advantages, especially the elimination of "jams" (when more than one key was struck at once and the typebars became entangled) and in the ability to change the typeball, allowing multiple typefaces to be used in a single document.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-03-07 |title=The Selectric Typewriter |url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403015050/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/selectric/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 April 2012 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM100}}</ref>

The IBM Selectric became a commercial success, dominating the office typewriter market for at least two decades.<ref name="ibm100" /> IBM also gained an advantage by marketing more heavily to schools than did Remington, with the idea that students who learned to type on a Selectric would later choose IBM typewriters over the competition in the workplace as businesses replaced their old manual models.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Nicholas |date=2011-07-27 |title=IBM Reinvented the Typewriter With the Selectric 50 Years Ago |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/07/ibm-reinvented-the-typewriter-with-the-selectric-50-years-ago/242624/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The Atlantic |language=en-US}}</ref>

Later models of IBM Executives and Selectrics replaced inked fabric ribbons with "carbon film" ribbons that had a dry black or colored powder on a clear plastic tape. These could be used only once, but later models used a cartridge that was simple to replace. A side effect of this technology was that the text typed on the machine could be easily read from the used ribbon, raising issues where the machines were used for preparing classified documents (ribbons had to be accounted for to ensure that typists did not carry them from the facility).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellen |first=David |title=Scientific Examination of Documents |publisher=CRC Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8493-3925-7 |pages=106–107}}</ref>

{{anchor|Correcting typewriters}}
A variation known as "Correcting Selectrics" introduced a correction feature, later imitated by competing machines, where a sticky tape in front of the carbon film ribbon could remove the black-powdered image of a typed character, eliminating the need for little bottles of white dab-on correction fluid and for hard erasers that could tear the paper. These machines also introduced selectable "pitch" so that the typewriter could be switched between [[Pica (typography)|pica]] type (10 characters per inch) and elite type (12 per inch), even within one document. Even so, all Selectrics were [[Proportional fonts|monospaced]]—each character and letterspace was allotted the same width on the page, from a capital "W" to a period. IBM did produce a successful typebar-based machine with five levels of proportional spacing, called the [[IBM Executive series typewriter|IBM Executive]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wershler-Henry |first=Darren |url=https://archive.org/details/ironwhim00wers/page/254 |title=The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8014-4586-6 |location=Ithaca and London |page=[https://archive.org/details/ironwhim00wers/page/254 254] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The only fully electromechanical Selectric Typewriter with fully proportional spacing and which used a Selectric type element was the expensive [[IBM Selectric Composer|Selectric Composer]], which was capable of right-margin justification (typing each line twice was required, once to calculate and again to print) and was considered a [[Typesetter|typesetting machine]] rather than a typewriter. Composer typeballs physically resembled those of the Selectric typewriter but were not interchangeable.<ref name="IBM Archives-2003">{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=IBM Office Products Division highlights |page= 2 |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_office2.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |language=en-US}}</ref> 
[[File:Sample of IBM Magnetic Card Composer Output.png|thumb|upright=2|Composer output showing [[Roman type|Roman]], [[Emphasis (typography)|Bold]], and [[Italic type]]faces were available by changing the type ball.]]
In addition to its electronic successors, the [[IBM Selectric typewriter#Selectric-based machines with data storage|Magnetic Tape Selectric Composer]] (MT/SC), the Mag Card Selectric Composer, and the Electronic Selectric Composer, IBM also made electronic typewriters with proportional spacing using the Selectric element that were considered typewriters or [[word processor]]s instead of typesetting machines.<ref name="IBM Archives-2003" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-19 |title=IBM MT/ST (1964 – late 1970s) |url=https://obsoletemedia.org/ibm-mtst/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Museum of Obsolete Media}}</ref>

The first of these was the relatively obscure Mag Card Executive, which used 88-character elements. Later, some of the same typestyles used for it were used on the 96-character elements used on the IBM Electronic Typewriter 50 and the later models 65 and 85.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-01-23 |title=IBM typewriter milestones |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_milestone2.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=IBM Archives |page=2}}</ref>

By 1970, as [[offset printing]] began to replace [[letterpress printing]], the Composer would be adapted as the output unit for a [[phototypesetting]] system. The system included a computer-driven input station to capture the key strokes on magnetic tape and insert the operator's format commands, and a Composer unit to read the tape and produce the formatted text for photo reproduction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-01-18 |title=Quickprint closes after 72 years, presses roll elsewhere |url=https://www.superiortelegram.com/news/quickprint-closes-after-72-years-presses-roll-elsewhere |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Superior Telegram}}</ref>

The [[IBM 2741]] terminal was a popular example of a Selectric-based computer terminal, and similar mechanisms were employed as the console devices for many [[IBM System/360]] computers. These mechanisms used "ruggedized" designs compared to those in standard office typewriters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IBM Selectric Typewriter Resource Page |url=http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/selectric/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=www.covingtoninnovations.com}}</ref>

==== Later electric models ====
{{Listen
| filename = Smith-Corona Prestige Auto 12 typing.ogg
| title = Smith-Corona Prestige Auto 12 being tapped
| description = A recording of the sound of typing on a Smith-Corona electric typewriter.}}
Some of IBM's advances were later adopted in less expensive machines from competitors. For example, [[Smith Corona|Smith-Corona]] electric typewriters introduced in 1973 switched to interchangeable Coronamatic (SCM-patented) ribbon cartridges.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Smith Corona &#124; Since 1877 to Present |url=http://www.smithcorona.com/history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322134218/http://www.smithcorona.com/history.html |archive-date=2017-03-22 |access-date=2017-03-12}}</ref>

==== Electronic typewriters ====
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 molded on the outside edge of the "petals"), or a thermal print head. The daisy wheel concept first emerged in printers developed by [[Diablo Systems]] in the 1970s. The first electronic daisywheel typewriter marketed in the world (in 1976) is the Olivetti Tes 501, and subsequently in 1978, the Olivetti ET101 (with function display) and Olivetti TES 401 (with text display and floppy disk for memory storage). This has allowed Olivetti to maintain the world record in the design of electronic typewriters, proposing increasingly advanced and performing models in the following years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Giuseppe Silmo |title=M.P.S. Macchine per scrivere Olivetti e non solo |publisher=Fondazione Natale Capellaro |year=2007 |page=74}}</ref>

Unlike the Selectrics and earlier models, these really were "electronic" and relied on integrated circuits and electromechanical components. These typewriters were sometimes called ''display typewriters'',<ref>{{US patent reference|number = 4620808| y = 1986| m = 11| d = 04| title = Display typewriter}}</ref> ''dedicated word processors'' or ''word-processing typewriters'', although the latter term was also frequently applied to less sophisticated machines that featured only a tiny, sometimes just single-row display. Sophisticated models were also called ''word processors'', although today that term almost always denotes a type of software program. Manufacturers of such machines included Olivetti (TES501, first totally electronic Olivetti word processor with daisywheel and floppy disk in 1976; TES621 in 1979, etc.), [[Brother Industries|Brother]] (Brother WP1 and WP500, etc., where WP stood for word processor), [[Canon Inc.|Canon]] ([[Canon Cat]]), [[Smith-Corona]] (PWP, i.e. Personal Word Processor line)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Smith-Corona |url=http://mindmachine.co.uk/products/04_Manuf_Smith-Corona_01.html#PWP-series |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528120612/http://mindmachine.co.uk/products/04_Manuf_Smith-Corona_01.html#PWP-series |archive-date=2013-05-28 |access-date=2013-09-12 |publisher=Mindmachine.co.uk}}</ref> and [[Philips]]/[[Magnavox]] ([[VideoWriter]]).
<gallery class="center">
File:Type.jpg|Electronic typewriter – the final stage in typewriter development. A 1989 [[Canon Inc.|Canon]] Typestar 110.
File:Brother WP1-IMG 6991.jpg|The Brother WP1, an electronic typewriter complete with a small screen and a [[floppy disk]] reader
</gallery>

=== Decline ===
The pace of change was so rapid that it was common for clerical staff to have to learn several new systems, one after the other, in just a few years.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203221938-5/women-clerical-workers-typewriter-writing-machine-margery-davies|chapter=Women Clerical Workers and the Typwriter: The Writing Machine|date=2004-01-14|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-203-22193-8|language=en|doi=10.4324/9780203221938|title= Technology and Women's Voices|editor-first=Cheris|editor-last=Kramarae|first=Margery W.|last=Davies}}</ref> While such rapid change is commonplace today, and is taken for granted, this was not always so; in fact, typewriting technology changed very little in its first 80 or 90 years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=AO|date=2020-01-29|title=The Society-Changing Invention of Typewriters|url=https://historythings.com/life-changing-invention-typewriters/|access-date=2021-05-18|website=History Things|language=en-US}}</ref>

Due to falling sales, IBM sold its typewriter division in 1991 to the newly formed [[Lexmark]], completely exiting from a market it once dominated.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1991-01-12 |title=Company News; I.B.M. to Complete Unit Sale in March |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/12/business/company-news-ibm-to-complete-unit-sale-in-march.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The increasing dominance of personal computers, [[desktop publishing]], the introduction of low-cost, truly high-quality [[laser printer|laser]] and [[inkjet printer]] technologies, and the pervasive use of [[web publishing]], [[email]], [[text messaging]], and other electronic communication techniques have largely replaced typewriters in the United States. Still, {{as of|2009|lc=y}}, typewriters continued to be used by a number of government agencies and other institutions in the US, where they are primarily used to fill preprinted forms. According to a Boston typewriter repairman quoted by ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', "Every maternity ward has a typewriter, as well as funeral homes."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keene |first=Cindy Atoji |date=2009-02-01 |title=Typewriters ring on in the fringes |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2009/02/01/typewriters_ring_on_in_the_fringes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826014156/http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2009/02/01/typewriters_ring_on_in_the_fringes/ |archive-date=2013-08-26}}</ref>

A rather specialized market for typewriters exists due to the regulations of many correctional systems in the US, where prisoners are prohibited from having computers or telecommunication equipment, but are allowed to own typewriters. The Swintec corporation (headquartered in [[Moonachie, New Jersey]]), which, as of 2011, still produced typewriters at its overseas factories (in Japan, [[Indonesia]], and/or [[Malaysia]]), manufactures a variety of typewriters for use in prisons, made of clear plastic (to make it harder for prisoners to hide prohibited items inside it). As of 2011, the company had contracts with prisons in 43 US states.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-04-27 |title=The death of the typewriter? Don't write it off yet |url=http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/death-typewriter-dont-write-it-yet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503045910/http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/death-typewriter-dont-write-it-yet |archive-date=2011-05-03 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Radio Netherlands Worldwide}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-06-15 |title=Texas inmates have clear choice in typewriters |url=http://fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com/news/2011/06/15/5574540.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011651/http://fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com/news/2011/06/15/5574540.htm |archive-date=2012-04-26 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Fixed-mobile-convergence.tmcnet.com}}</ref>

In April 2011, Godrej and Boyce, a [[Mumbai]]-based manufacturer of mechanical typewriters, closed its doors, leading to a flurry of  news reports that the "world's last typewriter factory" had shut down.<ref>{{Cite news |last=CBC News |date=April 26, 2011 |title=World's last typewriter plant stops production |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/world-s-last-typewriter-plant-stops-production-1.1090626 |url-status=live |access-date=April 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429015137/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/26/typewriter-factory-closing.html |archive-date=April 29, 2011 |quote=A previous version of this story did not clearly state that Godrej & Boyce appears to be the world's last maker of mechanical typewriters, which operate solely on human power. Numerous other manufacturers continue to make several types of electric typewriters.}}</ref> The reports were quickly contested, with opinions settling to agree that it was indeed the world's last producer of standard manual typewriters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-04-26 |title=Wite Out? World's 'last typewriter factory' apparently isn't |url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/04/worlds-last-typewriter-factory-offers-it-final-500-machines-for-sale/1 |first=Douglas |last=Stanglin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707111148/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/04/worlds-last-typewriter-factory-offers-it-final-500-machines-for-sale/1 |archive-date=2012-07-07 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=USA Today }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Romenesko |first=Jim |date=2011-04-26 |title=Reports of typewriter's death are premature |url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/129512/reports-of-typewriters-death-are-premature/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904024830/http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/129512/reports-of-typewriters-death-are-premature/ |archive-date=2011-09-04 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Poynter. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Memmott |first=Mark |date=2011-04-26 |title=Has The Last Typewriter Factory Closed? Not Really |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/26/135740246/has-the-last-typewriter-factory-closed-not-really |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313204452/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/26/135740246/has-the-last-typewriter-factory-closed-not-really |archive-date=2012-03-13 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=NPR }}</ref><ref name="rohrlich">{{Cite web |last=Rohrlich |first=Justin |date=2011-04-25 |title=Contrary to Reports, Typewriter Industry "Far From Dead" |url=http://www.minyanville.com/mvpremium/2011/04/25/contrary-to-reports-typewriter-industry |url-status=dead  |website=Minyanville |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224204135/http://www.minyanville.com/mvpremium/2011/04/25/contrary-to-reports-typewriter-industry/ |archive-date=2016-02-24}}</ref>

In November 2012, Brother's UK factory manufactured what it claimed to be the last typewriter ever made in the UK; the typewriter was donated to the [[London Science Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-11-20 |title=UK's 'last typewriter' produced |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20391538 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219184806/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20391538 |archive-date=2013-12-19 |access-date=2013-09-12 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Russian typewriters use [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]], which has made the ongoing [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] [[Azerbaijani alphabet|reconversion]] from [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]] to [[Latin alphabet]] more difficult. In 1997, the government of [[Turkey]] offered to donate western typewriters to the [[Republic of Azerbaijan]] in exchange for more zealous and exclusive promotion of the Latin alphabet for the Azerbaijani language; this offer, however, was declined.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cornell |first=Svante |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_qQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA283 |title=Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1135796693 |page=283}}</ref>

In Latin America and Africa, mechanical typewriters are still common because they can be used without electrical power. In Latin America, the typewriters used are most often Brazilian models; in 2012, Brazil was continuing to produce mechanical (Facit) and electronic (Olivetti) typewriters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ainda se fabricam máquinas de escrever? (''Are typewriters still manufactured?'') |url=http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/ainda-se-fabricam-maquinas-de-escrever |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425025818/http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/ainda-se-fabricam-maquinas-de-escrever |archive-date=2012-04-25 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Mundoestranho.abril.com.br}}</ref>

As of 2025, manual portable typewriters are still being produced by Shanghai Weilv Mechanism Company in China.<ref>{{cite web |title=Company Overview - Shanghai Weilv Mechanism Company |url=https://chinatypewriter.en.alibaba.com |website=Alibaba |access-date=24 August 2025}}</ref>

The early 21st century saw revival of interest in typewriters among certain subcultures, including [[maker culture|makers]], [[steampunk]]s, [[hipster (contemporary subculture)|hipsters]], and street poets.<ref name="PoltBook"/> They also remained in use for filling out forms, and retained interest for some novelists who preferred writing without the distractions of a personal computer.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baraniuk |first=Chris |date=22 March 2025 |title='We use them every day': In some parts of the US, the clack of typewriter keys can still be heard |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250321-the-people-who-still-use-typewriters |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403013523/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250321-the-people-who-still-use-typewriters |archive-date=3 April 2025 |access-date=21 July 2025 |website=BBC}}</ref>

== Correction technologies ==
According to the standards taught in secretarial schools in the mid-20th century, a [[business letter]] was supposed to have no mistakes and no visible corrections.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Lynn |last=Peril |title=Swimming in the steno pool : a retro guide to making it in the office |date=2011 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co |pages=232 |oclc=1036875148}}</ref>

=== Typewriter erasers ===
[[File:Triumph_-_Typewriter_Eraser_1960.jpg|thumb|Triumph typewriter eraser (1960)]]
The traditional correction method involved the use of a special typewriter [[eraser]] made of [[hard rubber]] that contained an [[abrasive]] material. Some were thin, flat disks, pink or gray, approximately {{convert|2|in|mm}} in diameter by {{convert|1/8|in|mm}} thick, with a brush attached from the center, while others looked like pink pencils, with a sharpenable eraser at the "lead" end and a stiff nylon brush at the other end. Either way, these tools made possible erasure of individual typed letters. Business letters were typed on heavyweight, high-rag-content bond paper, not merely to provide a luxurious appearance, but also to stand up to erasure.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 1947 |title=Rotating Typewriter Eraser |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PeADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA128 |magazine=Popular Mechanics |page=128 |access-date=2022-04-27}}</ref>

Typewriter eraser brushes were necessary for clearing eraser crumbs and paper dust, and using the brush properly was an important element of typewriting skill; if erasure detritus fell into the typewriter, a small buildup could cause the typebars to jam in their narrow supporting grooves.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Erasing History |url=https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/may-2009/erasing-history |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Perspectives on History {{!}} AHA}}</ref>

=== Erasing shield ===
[[File:Erasing Shield Stainless Steel.jpg|thumb|Erasing Shield (1992)]]
Erasing a set of [[carbon copies]] was particularly difficult, and called for the use of a device called an [[erasing shield]] or eraser shield, a thin stainless-steel rectangle about {{convert|2|by|3|in}} with several tiny holes in it. This would prevent the pressure of erasing on the upper copies from producing carbon smudges on the lower copies. To correct copies, typists had to go from one carbon copy layer to the next carbon copy layer, trying not to get their fingers dirty as they leafed through the carbon papers, and moving and repositioning the eraser shield and eraser for each copy.

=== Erasable bond ===
Paper companies produced a special form of typewriter paper called erasable bond (for example, [[Eaton's Corrasable Bond]]). This incorporated a thin layer of material that prevented ink from penetrating and was relatively soft and easy to remove from the page. An ordinary soft pencil eraser could quickly produce perfect erasures on this type of paper. However, the same characteristics that made the paper erasable made the characters subject to smudging due to ordinary friction and deliberate alteration after the fact, making it unacceptable for business correspondence, contracts, or any archival use.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-02-19 |title=Escaping the Bonds of Erasable Bond |url=https://orwhatyouwill.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/escaping-the-bonds-of-erasable-bond/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Or What You Will |language=en}}</ref>

=== Correction fluid ===
{{Main|Correction fluid}}
In the 1950s and 1960s, [[correction fluid]] made its appearance, under brand names such as [[Liquid Paper]], [[Wite-Out]] and [[Tipp-Ex]]; it was invented by [[Bette Nesmith Graham]]. Correction fluid was a type of opaque, white, fast-drying paint that produced a fresh white surface onto which, when dry, a correction could be retyped. However, when held to the light, the covered-up characters were visible, as was the patch of dry correction fluid (which was never perfectly flat, and frequently not a perfect match for the color, texture, and luster of the surrounding paper). The standard trick for solving this problem was [[photocopying]] the corrected page, but this was possible only with high quality photocopiers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mejia |first=Zameena |date=2018-07-23 |title=How inventing Liquid Paper got a secretary fired and then turned her into an exec worth $25 million |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/19/inventing-liquid-paper-got-a-secretary-fired-and-then-made-her-rich.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref>

A different fluid was available for correcting stencils. It sealed up the stencil ready for retyping but did not attempt to color match.<ref name="MimeoCorrect">{{Cite web |title=How to correct a mimeograph stencil |url=http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/implementaliteracyprogram/howtocorrectamimeographstencil.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121016144730/http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/literacy/implementaliteracyprogram/howtocorrectamimeographstencil.htm |archive-date=2012-10-16 |access-date=2011-05-10 |website=LinguaLinks Library |publisher=SIL International}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
=== Keyboard layouts ===
[[File:UnderwoodKeyboard.jpg|thumb|The "[[QWERTY]]" layout of typewriter keys became a [[de facto standard|''de facto'' standard]] in several countries and continues to be used long after the mechanical reasons for its adoption ceased to apply.]]

==== QWERTY ====
{{main|QWERTY}}
The 1874 Sholes & Glidden typewriters established the "QWERTY" layout for the letter keys. During the period in which Sholes and his colleagues were experimenting with this invention, other keyboard arrangements were apparently tried, but these are poorly documented.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liebowitz |first1=S. J. |last2=Stephen E. Margolis |year=1990 |title=The Fable of the Keys |url=http://wwwpub.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/keys1.html |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Law & Economics |publisher=The University of Chicago |volume=XXXIII |issue=April 1990 |pages=1 |doi=10.1086/467198 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703204106/http://wwwpub.utdallas.edu/%7Eliebowit/keys1.html |archive-date=2008-07-03 |access-date=2008-06-18 |quote=This article examines the history, economics, and ergonomics of the typewriter keyboard. We show that David's version of the history of the market's rejection of Dvorak does not report the true history, and we present evidence that the continued use of Qwerty is efficient given the current understanding of keyboard design. |s2cid=14262869|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The QWERTY layout of keys has become the de facto standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards. Other languages written in the [[Latin alphabet]] sometimes use variants of the QWERTY layouts, such as the French [[AZERTY]], the Italian [[QZERTY]] and the German [[QWERTZ]] layouts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Francis |first=Darryl |date=2015-11-01 |title=AZERTY & QWERTZ keyboards |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&issn=00437980&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA435533172&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |journal=Word Ways |language=English |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=292–295}}</ref>

The QWERTY layout is not the most efficient layout possible for the English language. [[Touch typing|Touch-typists]] are required to move their fingers between rows to type the most common letters. Although the QWERTY keyboard was the most commonly used layout in typewriters, a better, less strenuous keyboard was being searched for throughout the late 1900s.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kroemer |first=Karl H.E |title=Keyboards and keying an annotated bibliography of the literature from 1878 to 1999 |journal=Universal Access in the Information Society |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=99–160 |year=2014 |doi=10.1007/s102090100012 |s2cid=207064170}}</ref>

One popular but incorrect<ref name="Smithsonian">{{Cite web |last=Stamp |first=Jimmy |title=Fact of Fiction? The Legend of the QWERTY Keyboard |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-the-legend-of-the-qwerty-keyboard-49863249/ |website=Smithsonian}}</ref> explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine.<ref name="David, P.A. 1986">David, P. A. (1986). "Understanding the Economics of QWERTY: the Necessity of History". In Parker, William N., ''Economic History and the Modern Economist''. Basil Blackwell, New York and Oxford.</ref>

==== Other layouts for English ====
A number of radically different layouts such as [[Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak]] have been proposed to reduce the perceived inefficiencies of QWERTY, but none have been able to displace the QWERTY layout; their proponents claim considerable advantages, but so far none has been widely used. The [[Blickensderfer typewriter]] with its [[DHIATENSOR]] layout may have possibly been the first attempt at optimizing the keyboard layout for efficiency advantages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instructions for Using the Blickensderfer Typewriter |url=http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0562/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221053745/http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0562/ |archive-date=2014-02-21 |access-date=2014-01-03}}</ref>

On modern keyboards, the exclamation point is the shifted character on the 1 key, because these were the last characters to become "standard" on keyboards. Holding the spacebar down usually suspended the carriage advance mechanism (a so-called "[[dead key]]" feature), allowing one to superimpose multiple keystrikes on a single location. The ¢ symbol (meaning cents) was located above the number 6 on American electric typewriters, whereas [[ANSI]]-[[INCITS]]-standard [[computer keyboard]]s have ^ instead.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130131061059/http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ANSI%20INCITS%20154-1988%20%28R1999%29 ANSI INCITS 154-1988 (R1999) Office Machines and Supplies – Alphanumeric Machines – Keyboard Arrangement (formerly ANSI X3.154-1988 (R1999))] (retrieved 2012-07-04)</ref>

==== Keyboards for other languages ====
[[File:Lettera 22 2.JPG|thumb|Italian typewriter [[Olivetti Lettera 22]]]]
[[File:آلة كاتبة قديمة 01.jpg|thumb|Arabic typewriter [[Imperial Typewriter Company]]]]

The keyboards for other Latin languages are broadly similar to QWERTY but are optimised for the relevant orthography. In addition to some changes in the order of letters, perhaps the most obvious is the presence of [[precomposed character]]s and [[diacritic]]s.

Many non-Latin alphabets have keyboard layouts that have nothing to do with QWERTY. The Russian layout, for instance, puts the common trigrams ыва, про, and ить on adjacent keys so that they can be typed by rolling the fingers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Purcell |first=Edward T. |date=1974 |title=Computer-Controlled Drills for First-Year Russian |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/306437 |journal=The Slavic and East European Journal |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=56–68 |doi=10.2307/306437 |jstor=306437 |issn=0037-6752|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Text in the [[Arabic alphabet]] is written from right to left (rather than from left to right): consequently, the carriage on an Arabic typewriter moves to the right after each keystroke.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arabic Selectric |url=https://www.phillytypewriter.com/arabic-selectric.html#/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=PHILLY TYPEWRITER |language=en}}</ref> In Arabic script, letters take different shapes depending upon their position in the word and whether they are connected to a preceding letter. A special key is used to allow switching between independent and connected letters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=مؤلف |date=2017-02-13 |title=The Arabic Alphabet: A Guide to the Phonology and Orthography of MSA and Lebanese Arabic |url=https://www.lebanesearabicinstitute.com/arabic-alphabet/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=Lebanese Arabic Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

Typewriters were also made for [[East Asian languages]] with thousands of characters, such as [[Chinese typewriter|Chinese]] or [[Japanese typewriter|Japanese]]. They were not easy to operate, but professional typists used them for a long time until the development of electronic word processors and [[laser printer]]s in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Makinen |first=Julie |date=2016-09-03 |title=Before the computer, there was something almost as complex: the Chinese typewriter |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-chinese-typewriter-snap-story.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Typewriter conventions ===
[[File:Typerwriter conventions text example.gif|thumb|This typed page uses a number of typographic conventions stemming from the mechanical limitations of the typewriter: two hyphens in place of an [[em dash]], double [[sentence spacing]], straight [[quotation mark]]s, [[Tab key|tab]] indents for paragraphs, and double [[carriage return]]s between paragraphs.]]
A number of typographical conventions stem from the typewriter's characteristics and limitations. For example, the QWERTY keyboard typewriter did not include keys for the [[en dash]] and the [[em dash]]. To overcome this limitation, users typically typed more than one adjacent hyphen to approximate these symbols.<ref>{{cite book |title = The elements of typographic style |edition = third |first = Robert |last = Bringhurst |publisher = Hartley & Marks, Publishers |year = 2004 |isbn = 978-0-88179-206-5 |page = 80  |access-date = 10 November 2020  |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780881791327/page/80/mode/2up |quote=In typescript, a double hyphen (--) is often used for a long dash. Double hyphens in a typeset document are a sure sign that the type was set by a typist, not a typographer. A typographer will use an em dash, three-quarter em, or en dash, depending on context or personal style. The em dash is the nineteenth-century standard, still prescribed in many editorial style books, but the em dash is too long for use with the best text faces. Like the oversized space between sentences, it belongs to the padded and corseted aesthetic of Victorian typography.}}</ref> This typewriter convention is still sometimes used today, although modern computer word processing applications can input the correct en and em dashes for each font type.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Upper and Lower Case Magazine |title=U&lc Online Issue 41.1.1: Top Ten Type Crimes |url=http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm |access-date=23 March 2010}}</ref>

Other examples of typewriter practices that are sometimes still used in desktop publishing systems include inserting a [[sentence spacing|double space]] between sentences,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Robin |title=The Mac is not a typewriter: A style manual for creating professional-level type on your Macintosh |publisher=Peachpit Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-201-78263-9 |edition=2nd |location=Berkeley, California |ref=Wil03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Felici |first=James |title=The Complete Manual of Typography: A Guide to Setting Perfect Type |publisher=Peachpit Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-321-12730-3 |location=Berkeley, California |pages=80}}</ref> and the use of the [[typewriter apostrophe]], {{char|'}}, and [[Quotation mark#Typewriters and early computers|straight quotes]], {{char|"}}, as quotation marks and [[prime mark]]s.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Typographic Desk Reference|url= https://archive.org/details/typographicdeskr0000rose|url-access= registration|edition= 1st|last= Rosendorf|first= Theodore|year= 2009|location= New Castle, Delaware|isbn= 978-1-58456-231-3|ref=Ros09}};
{{Cite web |last=Upper and Lower Case Magazine |title=U&lc Online Issue 41.1.1: Top Ten Type Crimes |url=http://www.itcfonts.com/Ulc/4111/TopTenTypeCrimes.htm |access-date=23 March 2010}}; {{cite book |title= Type Rules: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography|edition= 3rd|last= Strizver|first= Ilene|year= 2010|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|location= New Jersey|isbn= 978-0-470-54251-4|page=199|ref=Str11 }}. Strizver states that "When available, true primes should be used for measurements, but typewriter quotes (not smart quotes) have become the accepted practice in digital typography."</ref> The [[List of proofreader's marks|practice of underlining text in place of italics]] and the use of all capitals to provide emphasis are additional examples of typographical conventions that derived from the limitations of the typewriter keyboard that still carry on today.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Regents of the University of Minnesota |date=18 July 2007 |title=University of Minnesota Style Manual |url=http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/copyprep.html#Anchor-Copy-47857 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117122230/http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/style/copyprep.html |archive-date=January 17, 2009 |access-date=12 May 2010 |website=University of Minnesota |publisher=Regents of the University of Minnesota}} This topic is discussed under "Creating Professional-looking Text."; Williams 2003. pps. 31, 33. Another example of the limitation of the typewriter in regard to underlining, was the necessity to underline the titles of books and stand-alone works in Bibliographies—works that would otherwise have been italicized, if that capability existed on the typewriter.</ref>

Many older typewriters did not include a separate key for the numeral {{char|1}} or the exclamation point {{char|!}}, and some even older ones also lacked the numeral zero, {{char|0}}.  Typists who trained on these machines learned the habit of using the lowercase letter {{char|l}} ("ell") for the digit {{char|1}}, and the uppercase {{char|O}} ("oh") for the zero. A cents symbol, {{char|¢}} was created by combining ([[Overstrike|over-striking]]) a lower case {{char|c}} with a slash character (typing {{char|c}}, then backspace, then {{char|/}}). Similarly, the exclamation point was created by combining an apostrophe and a period ({{keypress|'|.}} ≈{{char|!}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Truss |first=Lynn |title=Eats, Shoot & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation |publisher=Gotham Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59240-087-4 |location=New York |page=135}}</ref>

=== Terminology repurposed for the computer age <span class="anchor" id="Terminology"></span>===
Some terminology from the typewriter age has survived into the computer era.

* [[backspace]] (BS) – a keystroke that moved the cursor backwards one position (on a typewriter, this moved the physical platen backwards), to enable a character to be overtyped. Originally this was used to combine characters (for example, the sequence {{char|'}}, backspace, {{char|.}} to make {{char|!}}). Subsequently, it facilitated "erase and retype" corrections (using [[correction tape]] or [[Correction fluid|fluid]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelechava |first=Brad |date=2016-05-17 |title=Invention of the Backspace Key |url=https://blog.ansi.org/2016/05/invention-of-backspace-key/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=The ANSI Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>). Only the latter concept has survived into the computer age.
* [[carriage return]] (CR) – return to the first column of text. (Most typewriters switched automatically to the next line. In computer systems, "line feed" (see below) is a function that is controlled independently.)<ref name="Daniel Miessler">{{Cite web |title=The Carriage Return and Line Feed Characters |url=https://danielmiessler.com/study/crlf/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Daniel Miessler |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Cursor (computers)|cursor]] – a marker used to indicate where the next character will be printed. The cursor was originally a term to describe the clear slider on a [[slide rule]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stoll |first=Cliff |date=April 2020 |title=When Slide Rules Ruled |url=https://www.physics.wisc.edu/ingersollmuseum/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/04/scientificamerican0506-80-WhenSlideRulesRuled.pdf |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Ingersoll Museum}}</ref> on typewriters, it was the paper that moved and the insertion point was fixed.
* [[Cut, copy, and paste|cut and paste]] – taking text, a numerical table, or an image and pasting it into a document. The term originated when such compound documents were created using manual [[paste up]] techniques for typographic [[page layout]].  Actual brushes and paste were later replaced by hot-wax machines equipped with cylinders that applied melted adhesive wax to developed prints of "typeset" copy. This copy was then cut out with knives and rulers, and slid into position on layout sheets on slanting layout tables. After the "copy" had been correctly positioned and squared up using a T-square and set square, it was pressed down with a brayer, or roller. The whole point of the exercise was to create so-called "camera-ready copy" which existed only to be photographed and then printed, usually by [[offset lithography]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-05-23 |title=John Naughton: Log on to an old-time typewriter; now try to cut and paste |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/may/24/typewriter-versus-wordprocessor-technological-innovation |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>
* [[dead key]] – a key that, when typed, does not advance the typing position, thus allowing another character to be overstruck on top of the original character. This was typically used to combine [[diacritical mark]]s with letters they modified (e.g., ''è'' can be generated by first pressing {{key|`}} and then {{key|e}}). In Europe, where most languages have diacritics, a typical mechanical arrangement meant that hitting the accent key typed the symbol but did not advance the carriage; consequently, the next character to be typed 'landed' on the same position. It was this method that carried across to the computer age whereas an alternative method (press the space bar simultaneously) did not.
* [[line feed]] (LF), also called "newline" – whereas most typewriters rolled the paper forward automatically on a carriage return, this is an explicit [[control character]] on computer systems that moves the [[Cursor (computers)|cursor]] to the next on-screen line of text<ref name="Daniel Miessler" /> (but not to the beginning of that line—a CR is also needed if that effect is desired).
* [[Shift key|shift]] – a [[modifier key]] used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper case" characters; when pressed and held down, would shift a typewriter's mechanism to allow a different typebar impression (such as 'D' instead of 'd') to press into the ribbon and print on a page. The concept of a shift key or modifier key was later extended to [[Control key|Ctrl]], [[Alt key|Alt]], [[AltGr]] and Super ("Windows" or "Apple") keys on modern computer keyboards. The generalized concept of a shift key reached its apex in the [[MIT]] [[space-cadet keyboard]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keyboard Design for the LISP Machine |url=http://xahlee.info/kbd/space-cadet_design.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Xah Keyboard Guide}}</ref>
* [[Tabulator key|tab]] (HT), shortened from "horizontal tab" or "tabulator stop" – caused the print position to advance horizontally to the next pre-set "tab stop". This was used for typing lists and tables with vertical columns of numbers or words.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tabs and tab stops |url=https://typographyforlawyers.com/tabs-and-tab-stops.html |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Typography for Lawyers}}</ref>  
** The [[vertical tab]] (VT) control character, named by analogy with HT, was designed for use with early computer [[line printer]]s, and would cause the [[fan-fold paper]] to be fed until the next line's position.
* [[Tty (Unix)|tty]], short for [[teletypewriter]] – used in [[Unix-like]] operating systems to designate a given "terminal".<ref>{{Cite news |title=What is TTY? |url=https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/t/tty.htm |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Computer Hope |language=en}}</ref>

== Social effects ==
[[File:CantYouSeeImBusyCardCropped.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Putatively humorous "Get out! Can't you see I'm busy" postcard (1900s)]]

Typewriter manufacturers at first found selling the device difficult. Potential customers compared the $125 Remington product to a pen costing one penny. Recipients of typewritten letters sometimes felt insulted, believing that the sender was implying that the recipient was unable to read handwriting. Manufacturers had to train customers to use their products, and offered free services referring typists and stenographers to employers. [[Business college]]s began teaching typing.{{r|herkimer1923}}

When Remington started marketing typewriters, the company assumed the machine would not be used for composing but for transcribing dictation, and that the person typing would be a woman. The 1800s [[Sholes and Glidden typewriter]] had floral ornamentation on the case.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1876 Sholes, Gidden, Soule invention |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00451/typewriter.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214222817/http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00451/typewriter.htm |archive-date=14 December 2012 |access-date=29 December 2012}}</ref>

During World Wars I and II, increasing numbers of [[Women's roles in the World Wars|women]] were entering the workforce. In the United States, women often started in the professional workplace as [[copy typist]]s. Being a typist was considered the right choice for a "good girl", meaning women who presented themselves as being chaste and having good conduct.<ref>Boyer, Kate, and Kim England. "Gender, Work and Technology in the Information Workplace: From Typewriters to ATMs." Social & Cultural Geography 9.3 (2008): 241–256. Web.</ref> According to the 1900 census, 94.9% of stenographers and typists were unmarried women.<ref>Waller, Robert A. "Women and the Typewriter During the First Fifty Years, 1873–1923". Studies in Popular Culture 9.1 (1986): 39–50. Web.</ref>

Questions about morals made a salacious businessman making sexual advances to a female typist into a cliché of office life, appearing in [[vaudeville]] and movies. The "[[Tijuana bible]]s"—adult comic books produced in Mexico for the American market, starting in the 1930s—often featured women typists. In one panel, a businessman in a three-piece suit, ogling his secretary's thigh, says, "Miss Higby, are you ready for—ahem!—er—dictation?"<ref name="ja">[https://newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage=all Newyorker.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929165400/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/04/09/070409crbo_books_acocella?currentPage=all |date=2007-09-29 }} Acocella, Joan, "The Typing Life: How writers used to write", ''[[The New Yorker]]'', April 9, 2007, a review of ''The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting'' (Cornell) 2007, by Darren Wershler-Henry</ref>

The typewriter was a useful machine during the censorship era of the Soviet government, starting during the [[Russian Civil War]] (1917–1922). [[Samizdat]] was a form of surreptitious self-publication used when the government was censoring what literature the public could see. The Soviet government signed a [[Soviet Decree|Decree on Press]] which prohibited the publishing of any written work that had not been previously officially reviewed and approved.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-25 |title=Decree on the Press |url=http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1917-2/organs-of-the-press/organs-of-the-press-texts/decree-on-the-press/ |access-date=2019-12-09 |website=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History |language=en-US}}</ref> Unapproved work was copied manually, most often on typewriters.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://kula.uvic.ca/ |title=KULA: knowledge creation, dissemination, and preservation studies. |date=2017 |language=en |oclc=1126556820}}</ref> In 1983, a new law required anyone who needed a typewriter to get police permission to buy or keep one. In addition, the owner would have to register a typed sample of all its letters and numbers, to ensure that any illegal literature typed with it could be traced back to its source.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bolintineanu |first1=Alexandra |last2=Thirugnanasampanthan |first2=Jaya |date=2018-11-29 |title=The Typewriter Under the Bed: Introducing Digital Humanities through Banned Books and Endangered Knowledge |journal=KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=22 |doi=10.5334/kula.30 |issn=2398-4112 |doi-access=free|s2cid=158322355 }}</ref> The typewriter became increasingly popular as the interest in prohibited books grew.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aleeva |first=Ekaterina |date=2017-07-10 |title=Samizdat: How did people in the Soviet Union circumvent state censorship |url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/literature/2017/07/10/samizdat_797635 |access-date=2019-12-09 |website=www.rbth.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Writers with notable associations with typewriters ==
=== Early adopters ===
* [[Henry James]] dictated to a typist.<ref name=ja/>
* [[Mark Twain]] wrote in [[Mark Twain's Autobiography|his autobiography]] that he and [[Petroleum V. Nasby]] saw a Remington typewriter in a store window in Boston in autumn 1874. Twain bought it out of curiosity, and Nasby invested in a company selling the product. By December 1874 Twain was using it in personal correspondence. Remington cited his use of the product in its first product catalog.<ref name="herkimer1923">{{Cite web |year=1923 |title=The Story of the Typewriter |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/60794/pg60794-images.html |access-date=2025-10-05 |publisher=Andrew H. Kellogg Company |pages=71–82 |language=en |publication-place=New York |via=Project Gutenberg}}</ref> Twain claimed that he was the first important writer to present a publisher with a typewritten [[manuscript]], for ''[[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer]]'' (1876). Research showed that Twain's memory was incorrect and that the first book submitted in typed form was ''[[Life on the Mississippi]]'' (1883, also by Twain).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The First Typewriter |url=http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/firsttw.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201140007/http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/firsttw.html |archive-date=2009-02-01 |access-date=2009-02-16 |publisher=Rehr, Darryl}}</ref>
* The [[horror fiction]] novelist [[R. L. Stine]] first started writing stories when he found a typewriter in his attic.  Stine wrote many of his early works with a typewriter.<ref name="typewriter">{{cite web|last= MacPherson|first= Karen|title= Venture into R.L. Stine's 'HorrorLand' – if you dare!|work= [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date= April 8, 2008|url= http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08099/871281-42.stm|access-date= May 24, 2025}}</ref>

=== Others ===
[[File:TheFaulknerPortable.jpg|thumb|[[William Faulkner]]'s [[Underwood Typewriter Company|Underwood]] Universal Portable in his office at [[Rowan Oak]], which is now maintained by the [[University of Mississippi]] in [[Oxford, Mississippi|Oxford]] as a museum]]
* [[William S. Burroughs]] wrote in some of his novels—and possibly believed—that "a machine he called the 'Soft Typewriter' was writing our lives, and our books, into existence", according to a book review in ''The New Yorker''. In the [[Naked Lunch (film)|1991 film adaptation]] of his 1959 novel ''[[Naked Lunch]]'', his typewriter is a living, insect-like entity (voiced by North American actor [[Peter Boretski]]) and actually dictates the book to him.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wershler-Henry|first=Darren Sean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38cd7wS1-RsC&q=burroughs|title=The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting|date=2007|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-4586-6|language=en}}</ref>
* [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] was accustomed to typing from awkward positions: "balancing his typewriter on his attic bed, because there was no room on his desk".<ref>Carpenter, Humphrey (1978). ''[[J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography]]'', Unwin Paperbacks p.207. {{ISBN|0 04 928039 2}}</ref> 
* [[Jack Kerouac]], a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed his 1957 novel ''[[On the Road]]'' on a roll of paper so he would not be interrupted by having to change the paper. Within two weeks of starting to write ''On the Road'', Kerouac had one single-spaced paragraph, {{convert|120|ft}} long. Some scholars say the scroll was shelf paper; others contend it was a Thermal-fax roll; another theory is that the roll consisted of sheets of architect's paper taped together.<ref name=ja/> Kerouac himself stated that he used {{convert|100|ft|adj=on}} rolls of [[teletype]] paper.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LLpNKo09Xk|title = JACK KEROUAC on THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW with Steve Allen 1959|website = YouTube| date=12 January 2015 }}</ref>
* [[Don Marquis]] purposely used the limitations of a typewriter (or more precisely, a particular typist) in his ''[[archy and mehitabel]]'' series of newspaper columns, which were later compiled into a series of books. According to his literary conceit, a [[cockroach]] named "Archy" was a [[Reincarnation|reincarnated]] [[free verse|free-verse]] poet, who would type articles overnight by jumping onto the keys of a manual typewriter. The writings were typed completely in lower case, because of the cockroach's inability to generate the heavy force needed to operate the shift key. The lone exception is the poem "CAPITALS AT LAST" from ''archys life of mehitabel'', written in 1933.

=== Late users ===
<!-- Editors: Please try to keep this section sorted in roughly chronological order -->
* [[Richard Polt]], a philosophy professor at [[Xavier University]] in Cincinnati who collects typewriters, has edited ''ETCetera'', a quarterly magazine about historic writing machines, and is the author of the book ''The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century''.<ref name="PoltBook">{{cite book |last1=Polt |first1=Richard |title=The typewriter revolution : a typist's companion for the 21st century |date=2015 |publisher=Countryman Press |location=Woodstock, VT |isbn=978-1581573114}}</ref><ref name="PoltWeb"/>
* [[William Gibson]] used a Hermes 2000 model manual typewriter to write his 1984 novel ''[[Neuromancer]]'' and half of ''[[Count Zero]]'' (1983) before a mechanical failure and lack of replacement parts forced him to upgrade to an [[Apple IIc]] computer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blog archive |url=http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2006_10_01_archive.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021032407/http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2006_10_01_archive.asp |archive-date=2007-10-21 |access-date=2008-10-23}}</ref>
* [[Harlan Ellison]] used typewriters for his entire career, and when he was no longer able to have them repaired, learned to do it himself; he repeatedly stated his belief that computers are bad for writing, maintaining that "Art is not supposed to be easier!"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harlan Ellison Webderland: Interview |url=http://harlanellison.com/interview.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308110553/http://www.harlanellison.com/interview.htm |archive-date=2012-03-08 |access-date=2012-03-30 |publisher=Harlanellison.com}}</ref>
* [[Cormac McCarthy]] wrote his novels on an [[Olivetti Lettera 32]] typewriter until his death. In 2009, the Lettera he obtained from a pawn shop in 1963, on which nearly all his novels and screenplays were written, was auctioned for charity at [[Christie's]] for US$254,500;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Randy |date=2009-12-04 |title=Cormac McCarthy's Typewriter Brings $254,500 at Auction – ArtsBeat Blog – NYTimes.com |publisher=Artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/cormac-mccarthys-typewriter-brings-254500-at-auction/ |url-status=live |access-date=2010-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528153549/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/cormac-mccarthys-typewriter-brings-254500-at-auction/ |archive-date=2011-05-28}}</ref> McCarthy obtained an identical replacement for $20 to continue writing on.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Patricia Cohen |date=November 30, 2009 |title=No Country for Old Typewriters: A Well-Used One Heads to Auction |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/books/01typewriter.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904124940/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/books/01typewriter.html |archive-date=September 4, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Joiner">{{cite web |last1=Joiner |first1=James |title=The Hidden World of the Typewriter |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/09/the-hidden-world-of-the-typewriter/279523/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=2022-01-23 |language=en |date=11 September 2013}}</ref>
* [[Will Self]] explains why he uses a manual typewriter: "I think the computer user does their thinking on the screen, and the non-computer user is compelled, because he or she has to retype a whole text, to do a lot more thinking in the head."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-05-30 |title=Why typewriters beat computers |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7427237.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804050059/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7427237.stm |archive-date=2017-08-04}}</ref>
* [[Ted Kaczynski]] (the "Unabomber") infamously used two old manual typewriters to write his polemic essays and messages.<ref name="Joiner"/>
* Actor [[Tom Hanks]] uses and collects manual typewriters.<ref name="NY Times typewriter">{{Cite news |last=Hanks |first=Tom |title=I Am TOM. I Like to TYPE. Hear That? |work=The New York Times |date=3 August 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/i-am-tom-i-like-to-type-hear-that.html |access-date=March 9, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Joiner"/> To control the size of his collection, he gifts autographed machines to appreciative fans and repair shops around the world.<ref name="Patkin">{{cite web |last1=Patkin |first1=Abby |title=Tom Hanks just sent a typewriter to an Arlington shop. Here's why. |url=https://www.boston.com/news/off-beat/2023/04/05/tom-hanks-sent-typewriter-arlington-shop/ |website=www.boston.com |publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners LLC |access-date=2023-04-05 |date=April 5, 2023}}</ref>
* Historian [[David McCullough]] used a Royal typewriter to compose his books.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1999 |title=The Art of Biography No. 2 |language=en |volume=Fall 1999 |issue=152 |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/894/the-art-of-biography-no-2-david-mccullough |access-date=2023-12-14 |issn=0031-2037}}</ref>
* Biographer [[Robert Caro]] has used various models of the Smith Corona Electra 210 to write his biographies of [[Robert Moses]] and [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon Johnson]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Helfand |first=Zach |date=2021-10-22 |title=Why Robert Caro Now Has Only Ten Typewriters |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/01/why-robert-caro-now-has-only-ten-typewriters |access-date=2023-12-14 |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>
<!-- Editors: Please try to keep this section sorted in roughly chronological order. NB that it is about notable authors who assert that they use typewriters routinely (rather than computers). It is not a place for popular culture references. -->

== Typewriters in popular culture ==
=== In music ===
<!-- Editors: Please try to keep this section sorted in roughly chronological order -->
* [[Erik Satie]]'s 1917 score for the ballet [[Parade (ballet)|''Parade'']] includes a "''Mach. à écrire"'' as a percussion instrument, along with (elsewhere) a [[roulette wheel]] and a pistol.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IMSLP16532-Satie_-_Parade_(orch._score).pdf |url=http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/d/db/IMSLP16532-Satie_-_Parade_(orch._score).pdf |website=International Music Score Library Project}}</ref>
* The composer [[Leroy Anderson]] wrote ''[[The Typewriter]]'' (1950) for orchestra and typewriter, and it has since been used as the theme for numerous radio programs. The solo instrument is a real typewriter played by a percussionist. The piece was later made famous by comedian [[Jerry Lewis]] as part of his regular routine both on screen and stage, most notably in the 1963 film ''[[Who's Minding the Store?]]''.
* A typewriter plays an integral part (and is used on stage as a [[prop]]) in the song 'Opening Doors', from [[Stephen Sondheim]]'s musical ''[[Merrily We Roll Along (musical)|Merrily We Roll Along]]'' (1981).
* ''[[Wordy Rappinghood]]'', a 1981 single by [[Tom Tom Club]], opens with the sound of a typewriter.
* Typewriter samples are woven into the texture of 'Dissidents', the opening track of [[Thomas Dolby]]'s 1984 album ''[[The Flat Earth]]''.
* The [[Boston Typewriter Orchestra]] (BTO), a comedic musical percussion group, has performed at numerous art festivals, clubs, and parties since 2004.<ref name="NPR-BTO">{{Cite news |last=Hurley |first=Sean |title=Boston Orchestra Makes Typewriters Sing |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95578403 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308223426/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95578403 |archive-date=2012-03-08 |access-date=2012-03-16 |newspaper=NPR.org |publisher=National Public Radio}}</ref><ref name="BTO">{{Cite web |title=The Boston Typewriter Orchestra |url=http://www.bostontypewriterorchestra.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404062611/http://www.bostontypewriterorchestra.com/ |archive-date=2012-04-04 |access-date=2012-03-16 |publisher=Wordpress}}</ref> 
* [[Max Richter]]'s ''[[The Blue Notebooks]]'' (2004) features the sound of the typewriter underneath the narration of [[Tilda Swinton]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/v4bd/ Max Richter, ''The Blue Notebooks'' review, BBC] BC</ref>
* South Korean improviser Ryu Hankil frequently performs on typewriters, most prominently in his 2009 album ''Becoming Typewriter''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-03-10 |title=Becoming Typewriter : Ryu Hankil : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/BecomingTypewriter |access-date=2013-09-12}}</ref>
<!-- Editors: Please try to keep this section sorted in roughly chronological order -->

=== Other ===
<!-- Editors: Please try to keep this section sorted in roughly chronological order -->
[[File:Nationale kampioenschap typen in Den Haag, Bestanddeelnr 906-7443.jpg|thumb|Typewriting speed competition <br>(The Hague, 1954)]]
* The 2012 French comedy movie ''[[Populaire (film)|Populaire]]'', starring Romain Duris and Déborah François, centers on a young secretary in the 1950s striving to win typewriting speed competitions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dehn |first=Georgia |date=27 May 2013 |title=Déborah François interview for Populaire: 'Acting felt like a fantasy' |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/10076969/Deborah-Francois-interview-for-Populaire-Acting-felt-like-a-fantasy.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/10076969/Deborah-Francois-interview-for-Populaire-Acting-felt-like-a-fantasy.html |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |accessdate=1 June 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* The manga (2015–2020) and anime (2018) ''[[Violet Evergarden]]'' series follows a disabled war veteran who learns to type because her handwriting has been impaired, and soon she becomes a popular typist.
* ''[[California Typewriter]]'', a 2016 documentary film, investigates the culture of typewriter enthusiasts, including an [[eponymous]] repair store in Berkeley, California.
<!-- Editors: Please try to keep this section sorted in roughly chronological order -->

== Forensic examination ==
Typewritten documents may be examined by [[questioned document examination|forensic document examiners]]. This is done primarily to determine the make and/or model of the typewriter used to produce a document, or whether or not a particular suspect typewriter might have been used to produce a document.<ref name=Kelly>{{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Mary W. |title=Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents, Second Edition (Forensic and Police Science Series) |publisher=CRC Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8493-2044-6 |edition=2nd |location=Boca Raton, FL |pages=177–189 |chapter=Typewriters}}</ref>

The determination of a make and/or model of typewriter is a "classification" problem and several systems have been developed for this purpose.<ref name=Kelly /> These include the original Haas Typewriter Atlases (Pica version)<ref>Haas, Josef. (1972), "ATLAS der Schreibmaschinenschrift, PICA".</ref> and (Non-Pica version)<ref>Haas, Josef and Bernhard Haas. (1985), "ATLAS der Schreibmaschinenschrift, Non-PICA".</ref> and the TYPE system developed by Philip Bouffard,<ref>Bouffard, P.D. (1992), A PC-Based Typewriter Typestyle Classification System Standard, presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting, New Orleans, LA.</ref> the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]'s Termatrex Typewriter classification system,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hodgins |first=Cpl. J.H. |date=January 1963 |title=A Punchcard System for Identification of Typescript |journal=Journal of Forensic Sciences |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=68–81}}</ref> and [[Interpol]]'s typewriter classification system,<ref>Interpol (1969) "System for Identification of Typewriter Makes Using the Card Index", ICPO-Interpol</ref> among others.<ref name=Kelly />

The earliest reference in fictional literature to the potential identification of a typewriter as having produced a document was by Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], who wrote the [[Sherlock Holmes]] short story "[[A Case of Identity]]" in 1891.<ref name="crown">{{Cite journal |last=Crown |first=David A. |date=March 1967 |title=Landmarks in Typewriting Identification |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5434&context=jclc |journal=Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=105–111 |doi=10.2307/1141378 |jstor=1141378 |quote=The earliest known reference to the identification potential of typewriting, curiously enough, appears in 'A Case of Identity', a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In non-fiction, the first [[forensic document examination|document examiner]]<ref name=crown /> to describe how a typewriter might be identified was William E. Hagan who wrote, in 1894, "All typewriter machines, even when using the same kind of type, become more or less peculiar by use as to the work done by them."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hagan |first=William E. |url=https://archive.org/details/disputedhandwrit00haga |title=Disputed Handwriting |publisher=Banks & Brothers |year=1894 |location=Albany, NY |page=[https://archive.org/details/disputedhandwrit00haga/page/203 203] |chapter=Chapter VIII}}</ref> Other early discussions of the topic were provided by [[Albert S. Osborn|A. S. Osborn]] in his 1908 treatise, ''Typewriting as Evidence'',<ref>{{Citation |last=Osborn |first=Albert S. |year=1908 |title=Typewriting as Evidence |publisher=The Genesee Press |page=23 |place=Rochester, NY}}</ref> and again in his 1929 textbook, ''Questioned Documents''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Osborn |first=Albert S. |title=Questioned Documents |publisher=Patterson Smith |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-87585-207-2 |edition=2nd |location=Montclair, NJ |page=1042 |chapter=Questioned Typewriting |orig-year=1929}}</ref>

A modern description of the examination procedure is laid out in ASTM Standard E2494-08 (Standard Guide for Examination of Typewritten Items).<ref name="astm_TW">[http://www.astm.org/ ASTM International] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060331053643/http://www.astm.org/ |date=2006-03-31 }}, These guides are under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E30 on Forensic Sciences and the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E30.02 on Questioned Documents. Copies of ASTM Standards can be obtained directly from [[ASTM International]].</ref>

Typewriter examination was used in the [[Leopold and Loeb]] and [[Alger Hiss]] cases.

In [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]], according to State Council Decree No. 98 of 28 March 1983, owning a typewriter, both by businesses or by private persons, was subject to an approval given by the local police authorities. People previously convicted of any crime or those who, because of their behaviour, were considered to be "a danger to public order or to the security of the state" were refused approval. In addition, once a year, typewriter owners had to take the typewriter to the local police station, where they would be asked to type a sample of all the typewriter's characters. It was also forbidden to borrow, lend, or repair typewriters other than at the places that had been authorized by the police.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Betea |first=Lavinia |date=February 13, 2009 |title=La Miliţie cu maşina de scris |url=http://jurnalul.ro/scinteia/special/la-militie-cu-masina-de-scris-319045.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904043133/http://jurnalul.ro/scinteia/special/la-militie-cu-masina-de-scris-319045.html |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |access-date=August 24, 2014 |publisher=jurnalul.ro |language=ro}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=1986 |title=News & Notes: The Great Rumanian Typewriter Decree |journal=[[Index on Censorship]] |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=2–3 |doi=10.1080/03064228608534006|s2cid=220951010 }}</ref>

==Collections==
Public and private collections of typewriters exist around the world, including:<ref name="Ways">{{cite web |last1=Ways |first1=Mark |title=10 Typewriter Museums You Should Visit |url=https://www.typinglounge.com/typewriter-museums |website=Typing Lounge |access-date=2022-01-23 |date=October 28, 2021}}</ref>
* Schreibmaschinenmuseum Peter Mitterhofer (Parcines, Italy)<ref>{{cite web |title=Schreib Maschinen Museum |url=https://www.schreibmaschinenmuseum.com/en/ |website=Typewritermuseum |access-date=2022-01-23}}</ref>
* Museo della Macchina da Scrivere (Milan, Italy)<ref>{{cite web |title=Museo della Macchina da Scrivere |url=https://www.museodellamacchinadascrivere.org |website=Museo della macchina da scrivere |access-date=2022-01-23 |language=it}}</ref>
* Liverpool Typewriter Museum (Liverpool, England)
*[[Museum of Printing#Collection|Museum of Printing]] – MoP (Haverhill, Massachusetts, US)
* Chestnut Ridge Typewriter Museum (Fairmont, West Virginia, US)
* Technical Museum of the Empordà (Figueres, Girona, Spain)
* Musée de la machine à écrire (Lausanne, Switzerland)<ref>{{cite web |title=Musée de la Machine à Ecrire |url=https://www.perrier-sa.ch/musee/ |website=Musée de la machine à écrire |publisher=Perrier Machines de Bureau, Lausanne |access-date=2022-01-23 |language=fr}}</ref>
* Lu Hanbin Typewriter Museum Shanghai (Shanghai, China)
* Wattens Typewriter Museum (Wattens, Austria)
* German Typewriter Museum (Bayreuth, Germany)
* [[Tayfun Talipoğlu Typewriter Museum]] (Odunpazarı, Eskişehir, Turkey)
* Museums Victoria Collections (Victoria, Australia)

Several online-only virtual museums collect and display information about typewriters and their history:
* Virtual Typewriter Museum<ref>{{cite web |last=Robert |first=Paul |title=The Virtual Typewriter Museum |url=http://www.typewritermuseum.org/index.html |access-date=2022-01-23}}</ref>
* Chuck & Rich's Antique Typewriter Website
* Mr. Martin's Typewriter Museum<ref>{{cite web |title=Typewriter Museum |url=http://www.mrmartinweb.com/type.htm |website=www.mrmartinweb.com |access-date=2022-01-23}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center">
1864 Schreibmaschine Peter Mitterhofer.jpg|Peter Mitterhofer 1864 typewriter
Skrivekugle 1870.jpg|[[Hansen Writing Ball]], invented in 1865 (1870 model)
TypewriterPatent1868.jpg|1868 [[patent drawing]] for the Sholes, Glidden, and Soule typewriter
Hammond 1 typewriter (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|Hammond 1 typewriter, 1885
Hammond 1B typewriter.png|Hammond 1B typewriter, invented 1870s, manufactured 1881
1910s typewriter.jpg|Hammond 1B, as used by a newspaper office in [[Saskatoon]] around 1910
Remington 2 typewriter (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|Remington 2 typewriter, 1878
Columbia 2 typewriter, 1886 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|Columbia 2, 1886 – early index typewriter with proportional spacing
Victor typewriter, 1889 (Martin Howard Collection).jpg|Victor index typewriter, 1889 – first successful model to use a daisy wheel
Quartermaster Corps soldiers in typewriter repair shop at Tours, France, 1919 (29992301794).jpg|US Army Quartermaster soldiers in typewriter repair shop, Tours, France, 1919
Typewriters.jpg|Typebars in a 1920s typewriter
Chinese typewriter.jpg|[[Chinese typewriter]] (index-type) produced by [[Shuangge]], with 2,450 characters
Japanese typewriter SH-280.jpg|[[Japanese typewriter]] SH-280, an index-type machine with 2,268 characters
Typemachine binnenkant.JPG|[[:commons:Category:Hermes typewriters|Hermes 3000 typewriter]] (with ribbon cover removed)
1920s Underwood SE layout.JPG|1920s Underwood typewriter with Swedish layout
Chinese typewriter at Deutsche Technikmuseum.jpg|Chinese typewriter at ''[[German Museum of Technology|Deutsches Technikmuseum]]''
ماشین تحریر مظفر الدین شاه قاجار.jpg|Personal typewriter of [[Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar]], the fifth Qajar king of Persia (Iran), made in late 19th century
Olivetti Studio 45 Green Typewriter.jpg|An Olivetti Studio 45 Typewriter
A Very Early Typewritten Letter as Part of a Court Case in the Utah Territory, dated 1886.tif|A very early typewritten letter as part of a court case in the Utah Territory, from Appeal #6544, dated 1886
Olivetti-Valentine.jpg|The 1969 [[Olivetti Valentine]] portable typewriter{{efn|featured in the permanent collections of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[Museum of Modern Art]], and [[Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum]] in New York;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ettore Sottsass, Perry King. Valentine Portable Typewriter. 1968 |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/4576 |access-date=27 January 2024 |website=The Museum of Modern Art}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Valentine, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |url=https://www.si.edu/es/object/valentine%3Achndm_1986-99-40-a_b |access-date=18 February 2024 |website=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref> London's [[Design Museum]] and [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]<ref>{{cite web |title= ETTORE SOTTSASS |date= 19 May 2016 |url=https://designmuseum.org/designers/ettore-sottsass  |publisher=[[Design Museum]], London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Valentine |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O146042/valentine-typewriter-sottsass-ettore/ |publisher=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]] |date=February 25, 2008}}</ref><ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Room_76,_modern_design_exhibts,_V%26A_London.jpg Design 1900 – Now, Room 76, Victoria and Albert Museum, London]</ref>}}
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{div col}}
* {{annotated link|Chorded keyboard}}
* {{annotated link|Computer keyboard}}
* {{annotated link|Duplicating machines}}
* {{annotated link|Friden Flexowriter}}
* [[Letter (alphabet)]]
* {{annotated link|Projection keyboard}}
* {{annotated link|Teletype Model 33}}
* {{annotated link|Typeface}}
* {{annotated link|Typescript (manuscript)|Typescript}}
* {{annotated link|Typewriter desk}}
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Patents ===
* {{US patent|79265|US79265}} – Improvement in Type-Writing Machines (the patent that laid the basis for the Sholes & Glidden Type Writer)
* {{US patent|349026|US349026}} – typewriter ribbon, by George K. Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee.

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Adler |first=M. H. |year=1973 |title=The Writing Machine: A History of the Typewriter |location=London |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |lccn= |oclc=791210}}
** {{Cite book |last=Adler |first=M. H. |year=2023 |orig-year=1973 |title=The Writing Machine: A History of the Typewriter |edition=Reprint |series=Routledge Revivals |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781032481135 |oclc=1381545570}}
* {{Cite book |last=Beeching |first=Wilfred A. |year=1974 |title=Century of the Typewriter |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn= |oclc=1176993}}{{ISBN missing|date=April 2024}} Beeching was the Director of the British Typewriter Museum.
** {{Cite book |last=Beeching |first=Wilfred A. |year=1990 |title=Century of the Typewriter |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryoftypewri00beec |url-access=registration |edition=2nd |location=Bournemouth, UK |publisher=British Typewriter Museum Publishing |isbn=9780951679005 |oclc=24700251}}
* {{Cite book |last=Casillo |first=Anthony |year=2017 |title=Typewriters: Iconic Machines from the Golden Age of Mechanical Writing |others=Photographers: Anthony Casillo and Bruce Curtis; foreword: Tom Hanks |location=San Francisco |publisher=Chronical Books |page=208 |isbn=9781452154886 |oclc=959698333}}
* {{Cite book |last=Polt |first=Richard |date=2015 |title=The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century |location=Woodstock, VT |publisher=The Countryman Press |isbn=9781581573114 |oclc=907103984}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wichary |first=Marcin |year=2023 |title=Shift Happens |url=https://shifthappens.site/ |location=Lewiston, Maine |publisher=Penmor |isbn=9798985873900 |oclc=1420907615}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.eclectisaurus.com/tmtypewritermuseum.html The Eclectisaurus online Museum of Typewriters by manufacturers from Adler to Voss.]
* {{YouTube|id=2y3HK9yTqYo|title=Most Definitely My Type}} Video showcasing historical typewriters, with soundtrack by [[Boston Typewriter Orchestra]]
* [http://www.maquinasantigasdeescrever.com.br/historia.html Oliveira Typewriter (em português)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090126014136/http://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/etc.html Early Typewriter Collectors' Association]
* [http://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/ The Classic Typewriter Page]

=== Revival ===
* [http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/bill-wundram/article_03dd1536-4423-11de-a7be-001cc4c002e0.html Ding, click clack – typewriter is back] – ''[[Quad-City Times]]'', May 18, 2009
* [http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/12/19/Typewriters-experience-a-comeback/UPI-30661324327372/ Typewriters experience a comeback] – [[United Press International]], Dec. 19, 2011
* [https://www.amazon.com/Typewriter-21st-Century-Robert-Caro/dp/B00GOD4PY4/ref=sr_1_5?crid=SC0GBRM3ORFT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hBnUm1auirDmOSwGORaIXWVcP8D1hnTI_z-X-oA-7B0u64erAJgODxY_Hxb58Y0jlP6v2ftK3VjJSQe7tG0dHeOiSJJCCVE2pRSR4WzYW0KuRJHQK2ULHiGef47NszSAQqX0rIfW5wkaSnLGzP9OwifbvfK_gSm3FyBKa-rddKXtKNK-ufIrNsnAylub3z2M6EJpvJmxanMjLukpRzXGnZnk4McQvTB5ob7g87zVoxM.kxhxaxjwfSYzKJ79mJO1yFLoZcgB4hlX6yG1sP-Y7IA&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+typewriter&qid=1749624390&sprefix=the+type%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-5 Documentary Film – The Typewriter (In the 21st Century)] – 2012 
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10173645/Kremlin-returns-to-typewriters-to-avoid-computer-leaks.html Kremlin returns to typewriters to avoid computer leaks] – ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', July 11, 2013
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/15/germany-typewriters-espionage-nsa-spying-surveillance Germany 'may revert to typewriters' to counter hi-tech espionage] – ''[[The Guardian]]'', July 15, 2014 
* [https://www.amazon.com/California-Typewriter-Tom-Hanks/dp/B074L8MBY2/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.BP_jsFS764Utih4jsSzQV5zaWnI_tMGRSaXj0R5OwOSFKpfN3Hetel39YxT37mGSTZFt3SaR4oCUEq0cW2KG5ibFsI7LKgGZekemt9tqv4dVSWCTANeYQ_qlM6f-HFf6MjL6wTxBMTcia3Ljljgx5w.G6Gc6ehyAJqbV8xuZCpF-aNj2J8mY3ZU2n6qjmqyXVE&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+typewriter&qid=1749624847&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1 Documentary Film – California Typewriter] - 2016

{{Typewriter}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Typewriters|*]]
[[Category:Text]]
[[Category:1873 introductions]]
[[Category:Italian inventions]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:19th-century inventions]]