Typewriters

[originally published on History Survey Links on 1/17/08]

My father had an electric typewriter, but the family typewriter was manual. So were the typewriters I learned on in high school. The electric typewriter that I got for my birthday in 1980 was a fantastic present. The school year was almost over, but I was heading to college the next year and needed one. I belonged to the last generation of students who used one on a regular basis, although I had to type grant application forms as late as 1997.

Do you remember using a typewriter? Or perhaps you are younger and have only heard of them? Either way, you can now follow the history of the typewriter and see many images at The Virtual Typewriter Museum. Another worthwhile site is The Classic Typewriter Page by collector and connoisseur Richard Polt. See also the history resources at IBM.

Know of any other gems? Leave a link in a comment here.

Source of image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Underwood-overview.jpg