Typewriters - Lost Gems

The typewriter invented in the early 19th century came to life by the end of this century. Today they are disappearing faster then ice cream on a summer day. Typewriters took on a life of their own with manufacturers refining designs and styles, trying to out do each other in size and beauty. The typewriter is one of those machines that transformed the world. The typewriter allowed people to communicate clearly, to quickly put down on paper works that have become classics, and organized life in the business world. No longer did you have to try and figure out what was written in someone's bad handwriting. The typewriter standardize communication for the masses.

The keyboard we are all using on our computers, the QWERTY keyboard, came out this great invention. It turns out the positions of the keys are designed so as not to have the typewriter arms jam up while you are typing. Christopher Latham Sholes invented this keyboard, got a patent in 1868 and sold the use of his keyboard to the Remington Arms Company that build the typewriters under the Soule and Glidden name. This became the standard and since people where use to it prior to the use of computers it has stayed with us. I am sure half of today's computer users never learned to type on anything but a computer (thinking back to typing class in high school).

To learn more and view the beautiful designs of these machines of the not so distant pass, I recommend a wonderful site, The Classic Typewriter Page. It is brimming with history and photos and sure to inspire you to keep an eye out for one of these beautiful machines. Another link that is worth checking out is The Virtual Antique Typewriter Museum. This site has also has wonderful images of typewriter plus images of advertising used my companies.