In 2011, news began to circulate that the world's last typewriter factory had closed. That news was quickly denied, but at the same time conflicts arose over manual typewriters and their electric sisters. The point is that they are no longer seen in action as often, except in very official settings, or where bureaucracy refuses to modernize. However, that doesn't take away from their merit, quite the opposite. Typewriters are fascinating tools, demanding the best from us in terms of maintenance... and some are very beautiful.
It is also worth studying how they work. For example, the IBM Selectric is a very particular beast, with its ball-shaped head, and a preliminary version of digital-analog converters. Another very interesting case is Keaton's typewriter, a variant specially designed for writing music. And then we find ultra-modern versions like the Freewrite (ex Hemingwrite), with a price that is hard to justify today.
Today's proposal is to travel to an era that had typewriters as absolute queens in offices, factories, schools, and homes. Some of the models you will see below date back to the mid-19th century. Others were very common and popular during the '60s, and finally the occasional prototype appears...
Gallery: Typewriters Through the Years
