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First typewriter. Typewriter. Typewriter device

A typewriter or a typewriter - once this thing was the property of those who are commonly called people of intellectual professions: scientists, writers, journalists. A brisk knock on the keys was also heard in the reception rooms of high officials, where a charming typist-secretary sat at a table next to a typewriter ...

Now another time and typewriters are almost a thing of the past, they were replaced by personal computers, which retained only the keyboard from the typewriter. But maybe if there weren't a typewriter, there wouldn't be a computer? By the way, the typewriter also has its own holiday - Typewriter Day, and it is celebrated on March 1st.

A real, working machine was first introduced to the world by an Italian named Terry Pellegrino in 1808. His writing apparatus was made for his blind friend, Countess Caroline Fantoni de Fivisono, who was so able to communicate with the world by typewriting with her friends and loved ones.

The idea of creating an ideal and convenient typewriter captured the minds of inventors, and over time, various modifications of this writing device began to appear in the world.

In 1863, the ancestor of all modern printing presses finally appeared: the Americans Christopher Sholes and Samuel Soule - former printers - first came up with a device for numbering pages in account books, and then, therefore, they created a workable typewriter, printing words.

A patent for the invention was obtained in 1868. The first version of their typewriter had two rows of keys with numbers and an alphabetical arrangement of letters from A to Z (there were no lowercase letters, only capital ones; there were also no numbers 1 and 0 - the letters I and O were used instead), but this option turned out to be inconvenient . Why?

There is a legend according to which, with a quick successive press on the letters located nearby, the hammers with the letters got stuck, forcing them to stop work and clear the jam with their hands. Then Scholes came up with the QWERTY keyboard - a keyboard that made typists work more slowly. According to another legend, Sholes' brother analyzed the compatibility of letters in English and proposed a variant in which the most frequently occurring letters were spaced as far as possible, which made it possible to avoid sticking when printing.

In 1870, the Russian inventor Mikhail Ivanovich Alisov invented a typesetting machine, known as a "quick printer" or "cursor", in order to replace the calligraphic copying of papers and manuscripts, a typewriter for transferring to a lithographic stone. The speed printer was suitable for its purpose, received medals and high reviews at three world exhibitions in Vienna (1873), Philadelphia (1876) and Paris (1878), the Russian Imperial Technical Society awarded the medal. In terms of the printing device and appearance, it differed significantly from most machines familiar to us; wax paper made its way through it, which was then subjected to reproduction on a rotator.

Various types of machines over a period, gradually became more practical for daily use. There were machines with a different arrangement of keyboards, but ... The classic Underwood (Underwood Typewriter), which appeared in 1895, was able to dominate at the beginning of the 20th century, and most manufacturers began to make their typewriters in the same style.

What only is not present and there were no typewriters. Printing machines special purpose: stenographic, accounting, for writing formulas, for the blind and others.

There was even an alternative - typewriters without ... keyboards. These are the so-called index typewriters: one hand works with the pointer, which selects the desired letter in the index, and the other hand presses the lever to type the letter on paper.

Such typewriters were very cheap compared to conventional ones and were in demand among housewives, travelers, graphomaniacs and even children.

Old typewriter, early 20th century

Old typewriters with "unusual" keyboard layouts

The idea of creating an ideal and convenient typewriter captured the minds of inventors, and over time, various modifications of this writing device began to appear in the world.

According to another legend, Sholes' brother analyzed the compatibility of letters in English and proposed a variant in which the most frequently occurring letters were spaced as far as possible, which made it possible to avoid sticking when printing.

Typewriters with a familiar keyboard layout

Various types of machines over a period, gradually became more practical for daily use. There were also typewriters with a different arrangement of keyboards, but ... The classic Underwood Typewriter, which appeared in 1895, was able to dominate at the beginning of the 20th century, and most manufacturers began to make their typewriters in the same style.

The principle of operation of one of the modifications of typewriters Williams Typewriter demonstration

Old postcard - girl with a typewriter

What only is not present and there were no typewriters. Printing machines for special purposes: stenographic, accounting, for writing formulas, for the blind and others.

Typewriters for various fields of activity

Such typewriters were very cheap compared to conventional ones and were in demand among housewives, travelers, graphomaniacs and even children.

Index typewriters

The principle of operation of the index typewriter The Mignon Index Typewriter - 1905

This is not a typo - the familiar YTSUKEN appeared only after the reform of the Russian language, as a result of which "yat" and "I" disappeared from the alphabet. So now we have on the computer everything that has been invented for centuries before us ... The typewriters themselves have become an antique value and can be quite perceived as works of art.

In their more than 100-year history, typewriters have "seen" a lot of talented works, they have been direct participants in the creation of thousands of masterpieces and bestsellers around the world. For many decades, the typewriter was considered the main working tool of writers, philosophers and journalists.

And the history of the creation of a typewriter began in 1714, when a patent was issued for a certain typewriter. It was invented by plumber Henry Mill (Henry Mill) from England, but, unfortunately, there is no exact data on the mechanism and photos of the unit itself.

It took almost a century to create the first, and most importantly, working typewriter in 1808. The creator and developer was Pellegrino Turi, who invented it for the familiar Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono. Carolina was blind, and with the help of such an apparatus she could correspond with her relatives. The letters of Carolina Fantoni da Fivisono have survived to this day, but the typewriter has not. It is known that paper stained with soot was used for printing (it looks like carbon paper). By the way, the idea of "copying" several documents was not developed by Turi. In 1806, the Englishman Ralph Wedgwood patented "charcoal paper". For another two centuries, it was actively used in office work to quickly obtain copies.

But back to printing presses.

The next attempt to create a unit suitable for "quick printing" was in Russia, when M.I. Alisov developed a typesetting machine. Mikhail Ivanovich wanted to simplify and facilitate the procedure for copying manuscripts and originals, and he succeeded. The machine performed great. Truth, high price products, put a bold "cross" on the history of the development of this product.

September 1867 was a milestone date for all writing machines in the world.

They say that a talented person is talented in everything. Christopher Latham Scholes was a writer, journalist and, of course, an inventor. In 1867, he applied for a patent for the production of his "brainchild" - a printing apparatus. The "bureaucratic machine" took months to make a decision, but nevertheless in 1868 Christopher received the coveted confirmation. Glidden and Soule were listed as co-authors of the development.

Six years later, the first batch of writing units under the Sholes & Glidden Type Writer brand entered the American market. It should be noted that the appearance was very different from what we are used to seeing: the keyboard consisted of two rows of letters arranged according to the alphabetical hierarchy. By the way, there were no numbers 1 and 0, their role was played by "I" and "O". The downsides of the first unit were plenty. This is an inconvenient arrangement of letters, and the inability to work quickly, because the hammers on which the stamps with the letters are fixed did not have time to take their original position and got confused with each other.

By the way, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain, which was published in 1876, was printed on just such a typewriter with "tangled hammers". You can envy the patience of the author.

There were several ways to solve the problem of hammer entanglement: work more slowly (this did not suit the writers) or change the design of the typewriter. But Christopher Sholes used a third method: he changed the order of the letters. The fact is that the hammers were installed on an arc, and most often the letters placed in the “neighborhood” jammed. And then, the developer decided to fix them so that the letters that are involved in the formation of stable combinations are farther from each other. By placing the letters in the correct order, the updated keyboard began with letters Q,W, E, R, T, Y.

QWERTY layout or universal keyboard has become popular all over the world.

Did you know that Leo Tolstoy's favorite writing assistant, without whom it was impossible to imagine the interior of his office, was the reliable Remington, and his colleague in the writing workshop V.V. Mayakovsky was a bright admirer of Underwood.

In 1877, Scholes sold the rights to make a typewriter to Remington, a gun manufacturer. And that was the start new chapter in the history of the typewriter. Remington engineers added the ability to print uppercase and lowercase letters to the "source" (in the original version, only capital letters were written). To do this, added the key "shift" (Shift).

Scholes' success inspired other inventors as well. In 1895, Franz Wagner took out a patent for a typewriter with horizontal arms that strike the paper roller from the front. The main difference, and at the same time advantage, from the invention of 1867 was that the printed text was visible in the process of work. Wagner then sold the rights to manufacture his typewriter to John Underwood. The design was very easy to use, and very soon the new owner made a fortune on it.

In addition to Remingtons and Underwoods, dozens of other companies produced their own versions of other typewriters. From 1890-1920, these devices were constantly modernized and improved. Among the machines of this period, two main types can be distinguished: with a single letter carrier and with a lever device. The convenience of the former was that the printed text could be seen immediately, but at the same time they were very slow in operation and had poor penetrating power. The advantage of the second was speed.

The last typewriter factory in India closed in April 2011. This means that the era of this writing tool is officially over.

For a significant part of the 20th century, almost all official documents emanating from state authorities(and their internal workflow) were typewritten. At the same time, in the USSR, statements, receipts and autobiographies of citizens were often written by hand; protocols were often drawn up by hand. However, if a citizen wanted something, the state was required to bring manuscripts, characteristics and questionnaires in typewritten form, so that it was not necessary to parse the often incomprehensible handwriting of the authors. This was done by typists, either in the mashburo, or secretaries-typists in the divisions. The roar was unimaginable, despite the special pads for devices and sound-absorbing lining.

Each typewriter in the USSR came under control in the First Department and a copy of all the letters was taken from it. There were times when they were forced to rent for holidays and weekends. Somehow I was asked to take a print from the fonts of my first matrix "Robotron". I brought. The roll was thick. They didn't ask for more.

A typewriter or a typewriter - once this thing was the property of those who are commonly called people of intellectual professions: scientists, writers, journalists. A brisk tap on the keys was also heard in the reception rooms of high officials, where a charming typist-secretary sat at a table next to a typewriter. Now another time and typewriters are almost a thing of the past, they were replaced by personal computers, which retained only the keyboard from the typewriter. But maybe if there weren't a typewriter, there wouldn't be a computer? By the way, the typewriter also has its own holiday - Typewriter Day, and it is celebrated on March 1st.

Old typewriter, early 20th century

Legends and historical sources tell us that the first typewriter was developed as early as three hundred years ago in 1714 by Henry Mill, and he even received a patent for the invention from the Queen of England herself. But only the images of this machine have not been preserved. A real, working machine was first introduced to the world by an Italian named Terry Pellegrino in 1808. His writing apparatus was made for his blind friend, Countess Caroline Fantoni de Fivisono, who was so able to communicate with the world by typewriting with her friends and loved ones.

Old typewriters with "unusual" keyboard layouts

The idea of creating an ideal and convenient typewriter captured the minds of inventors, and over time, various modifications of this writing device began to appear in the world. In 1863, the ancestor of all modern printing presses finally appeared: the Americans Christopher Sholes and Samuel Soule - former printers - first came up with a device for numbering pages in account books, and then, therefore, they created a workable typewriter, printing words. A patent for the invention was obtained in 1868. The first version of their typewriter had two rows of keys with numbers and an alphabetical arrangement of letters from A to Z (there were no lowercase letters, only capital letters; there were also no numbers 1 and 0 - the letters I and O were used instead), but this option turned out to be inconvenient . Why?

With a quick successive pressing on the letters located nearby, the hammers with the letters got stuck, forcing them to stop work and clear the jam with their hands. Then Scholes analyzed the compatibility of letters in English and proposed an option in which the most common letters were spaced as far as possible, which made it possible to avoid sticking when typing, that is, he came up with a QWERTY keyboard - a keyboard that, on the one hand, made typists work more slowly, and on the other, eliminated downtime.

Typewriters with a familiar keyboard layout

What only is not present and there were no typewriters. Printing machines for special purposes: stenographic, accounting, for writing formulas, for the blind and others.

Typewriters for various fields of activity

There was even an alternative - typewriters without ... keyboards. These are the so-called index squeakers: one hand works with the pointer, which selects the desired letter in the index, and the other hand presses the lever to print the letter on paper. Such typewriters were very cheap compared to conventional ones and were in demand among housewives, travelers, graphomaniacs and even children.

Index typewriters

And a little about the Russian keyboard layout - YTSUKEN ... the story of its appearance is as follows: alas, it was invented in America at the end of the 19th century. Then all the companies produced a typewriter with only one layout option - YIUKEN. This is not a typo - the familiar YTSUKEN appeared only after the reform of the Russian language, as a result of which "yat" and "I" disappeared from the alphabet. So now we have on the computer everything that has been invented for centuries before us ... The typewriters themselves have become an antique value and can be quite perceived as works of art.

Madam secretary

Retyping handwritten texts on a typewriter was a matter of special workers- typists (since the profession was predominantly female, the male version of the term did not take root); earlier they were also called remingtonists or remingtonists (after the brand of Remington typewriters). The work of printing documents on typewriters was called typewriting and was carried out in special organizations or departments ("typing bureaus").

The typewriter not only revolutionized office work, but also changed the composition of office workers. By providing women with acceptable social relations an occupation other than housework, the typewriter became a powerful tool for their emancipation, opening doors to where previously only men worked. The typewriter, Christopher Sholes remarked shortly before his death in 1890, “apparently has been a blessing to all mankind, especially to the female half of it. My invention turned out to be much wiser than I could have imagined.”

However, women soon began to realize that they had freed themselves from the kitchen stove only to become slaves to the typewriter. This device did not forgive mistakes: it was enough to accidentally press the wrong key and the entire page had to be retyped. The advent of the electric typewriter in the 1920s did not solve the problem. It worked faster and was more comfortable for the fingers, but still one accidental hit on the wrong key inevitably caused errors.

Beginning in the last third of the 20th century, computer technology began to replace typewriters. Today, computers (with appropriate peripherals) have completely taken over the functions of typewriters, which are thus hopelessly outdated. Despite the fact that they have become electric, and some have even learned how to correct typos with a special tape.

When the first computers appeared after the Second World War, modified typewriters naturally began to be used to print the output of the central processing unit. Approximately ten years later they were already used for data preparation. However, the problem of errors and the tedious retyping associated with them remained, which looked even more annoying against the background of the high speed of the computer's central processor.

But along with the typewriter, the typist also died, this wonderful girlish world where they went to drink tea, and not only tea, and not only .... Yes, and the profession of a typist ordered a long life. But back in the 80s they were so appreciated, they gave chocolates ..

And on April 26, 2011, we learned that the last manufacturer of this wonderful printing device on Earth - the Indian company Godrej and Boyce - is closing the only remaining factory in Mumbai.

23-06-2014, 17:27

The machine revolution in the 70s of the 19th century affected even such a seemingly far from technology area as writing. From time immemorial, people have used only their own hand to draw written characters. With the invention of the typewriter, he could entrust this operation to a mechanism. Instead of writing out letters, now it was enough to hit the right key.

The appearance of the typewriter has led to significant shifts in many areas of human activity and has raised the culture of office work to a higher level. The speed and quality of clerical work has increased several times.

Indeed, everyone can learn to write, but not everyone can write quickly and at the same time clearly, legibly and beautifully.

Meanwhile, the spread of written communications between people, the increase in the number of business papers and commercial correspondence that require special legibility of the manuscript, as well as many other reasons (for example, the desire to speed up the work of typesetters, who, typing text from a blind manuscript, often worked slowly and made mistakes) caused the desire to invent a type-printing machine that would be accessible to everyone and would allow one or more copies of a neat and quickly read manuscript to be obtained immediately and quickly.

Several models of typewriters appeared as early as the 18th century, but they worked so slowly that they could not be of practical importance. One of the first known typewriters was assembled in 1833 by the Frenchman Progrin. His typograph consisted of 88 levers connected to letter and number stamps. The levers were arranged in a circle and moved along and across the sheet of paper on a special sled. It is clear that working on such a machine was difficult and inconvenient.

In 1843, Charles Thurbert took out a patent for a typewriter he invented for the blind. It was to him that the very fruitful idea of the lever transmission of the movement of letters belonged, which was later applied to all typewriters. There were other designs of printing devices. However, the typewriter in the modern sense of the word appeared only thirty years later, and not in Europe, but in America.

In 1867, two American printers, Lettam Scholes and Samuel Sullet, invented a number printing machine that could be used for page numbering, as well as for printing numbers and series of bank notes. One of Scholes' acquaintances, interested in the new device, suggested that, using the principle of this simple typewriter, they create a typewriter that could print letters and words instead of characters and numbers. This thought captivated Scholes. At first, he continued to work with Starinnaya-pechatnaya-mashinkaSulle.
In the summer, the first single-letter typewriter was ready. It consisted of an old key-shaped telegraph key, a glass plate and some other parts. Scholes placed charcoal tape and a thin sheet of white paper on a glass plate, then, moving the paper with one hand, he pressed the telegraph key with the other, on which was the letter "B" carved from brass. As a result, a print was obtained on paper.

In the autumn of the same year, the first sample of a multi-letter typewriter was created. She worked so well that she wrote quickly and clearly, but was still very inconvenient for practical use, since she had a flat keyboard (like a piano) and typed only in large letters. In 1868, a patent was obtained for this typewriter, after which Sulle lost interest in it.

But Scholes decided at all costs to create such a model of the machine that could be put into production. One of his acquaintances, Deximore, gave him financial support. Scholes threw himself into his work. Over the next five years, he made about 30 models of cars, each one better than the last, but still far from perfect.

Only in 1873 was a sufficiently reliable and convenient model of a typewriter created, which Scholes offered to the famous Remington factory, which produced weapons, sewing and agricultural machines. In 1874, the first hundred machines were already put on the market. The famous American writer Mark Twain was one of its first customers. It was on it that he printed his "Tom Sawyer". It may have been the first classical composition written on a typewriter.

On the whole, however, the situation remained unsatisfactory. Another eight years had to accustom the public to this amazing technical innovation. Many cars from the first series were returned to stores, some with damaged parts. For a long time, typewriters were viewed as a luxury item. But gradually the situation changed. Business offices, firms and banks were the first to appreciate the new invention.

Already in 1876, mass production of cars was launched. The first "Remingtons", although they had the same principle of operation as modern typewriters, still differed in some specific features. For example, the text in them was printed under the roller and was not visible. To look at the work, it was necessary to raise the trolley, for this purpose located on hinges. It is clear that this was not very convenient.

Meanwhile, Sholes' example inspired other inventors. In 1890, Franz Wagner received a patent for a typewriter with horizontally lying letter levers Pechatnaya-mashinka-Daro-202 and with a font visible when typing. He sold the rights to its production to the manufacturer John Underwood. This machine was so convenient that it soon became a mass demand, and Underwood made a huge fortune on it. The inventor himself was not, however, so lucky and died in poverty.

Since 1908, Remington also began to produce typewriters with visible type. After "Underwood" typewriters of other firms appeared, including several European designs. But in the first decades of its existence, this invention was more in line with the American way of life. At least until the beginning of the 20th century, the lion's share of all manufactured and purchased cars fell on the United States. The principle of operation of all these machines in in general terms was one and the same.

There is probably no person who has not seen the work of a typewriter. Therefore, there is no need to describe in detail its operation and device. The main parts of the typewriter were: a keyboard with a lever system, a carriage with paper rollers and a cast-iron frame of the mechanism mounted on a wooden board. The carriage (a movable cart carrying paper) carried a solid rubber cylinder and a wooden roller parallel to it, between which the paper passed.

During the operation of the machine, the carriage automatically moved from right to left after each letter was printed. When a certain key was pressed, the lever associated with it rose, which had a carved steel letter on it. This letter struck a rubber roller along which the paper moved. All letters hit at one point, as they were located along the generatrix of the cylinder.

A special tape impregnated with black or colored paint automatically passed between the paper and the letter. The steel letter, striking the tape, imprinted its imprint on the paper. Two letters were placed on each lever. In order to print the second one, it was necessary to move the rubber cylinder by pressing a special key (move it to uppercase).

When a key was struck, not only did the lever connected to it set in motion, but by means of a gear-conical gearing, a coil with a tape turned through a certain angle, which was wound from one of them and wound onto another, so that the next letter hit another place on the tape. When the entire tape passed under the type, the direction of its movement was changed by a special lever, and the coils began to rotate in reverse side. Simultaneously with the movement of the tape towards it, under the action of a spring, an elastic rubber roller moved, carried by the carriage and supporting the paper. The reverse movement of the carriage was made by hand.

Thus, each keystroke caused three actions of the typewriter at once: 1) the letter left an imprint on paper; 2) the carriage moved one step to the left; 3) the tape moved. All this was achieved through the interaction of various parts of the typewriter, the main of which were the printing mechanism, the stepping mechanism and the tape mechanism.

AT pre-revolutionary Russia typewriters were not produced but used. However, due to the peculiarities of pre-revolutionary spelling, the placement of the keys was somewhat different from the current one. The first typewriter in our country was produced in 1928 in Kazan, it was called "Yanalif".

At a later time, the most common domestic brands typewriters in the USSR were "Ukraine" (stationery) and "Moscow" (portable). Of the foreign ones, Optima (GDR, stationery) and Consul (Czechoslovakia, portable) were quite widespread. However, in terms of prevalence, typewriters were significantly inferior to computers.
who invented the typewriter

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