By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
The typewriter invented by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1867 changed how documents were created making written communication faster and more efficient than ever before. Over the years, advances in technology refined the machine. It’s amazing to think that the QWERTY keyboard I use every day traces its roots back to a typewriter
This link to National Typewriter Day—June 23 is a treasure house of memorabilia, facts, and a few tidbits you might not know about typewriters.
From the above article, I discovered the use of typewriters from such notable figures as Ray Bradbury, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Richard Brautigan, and Tom Hanks. It’s fun reading that will bring a smile to your face. More interesting information on this special day can be found on Days of the Year.
I took high school typing, and I learned from one of these: 
Note the finger pressure needed for each key and the carriage return. Back then, there wasn’t a delete key but only a backspace. The typist used correction tape or White Out to manage mistakes. Did I mention the clumsy technique for fixing typos ranged from messy corrections to starting all over? Timed tests for speed and accuracy were . . . challenging.
Some of the students in high school were fortunate to grab a newer typewriter, which made the timed tests unfair—in my opinion.
Today I’m a computer gal, and I have no desire to return to the manual machines of my youth. Yet, I’m fascinated with the history of typewriters and have collected a few over the years.
What has been your experience with typewriters? Are you a collector?
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS HAVE A GREAT 4TH OF JULY AND HEN IS THENEXT BOOK COMING OUT/
I remember typing al my papers in college with a manual typewriter and how many times I had to start a page over. I was glad when I got into writing procedures for the hospital labs over the years
, we had computers.
I taught myself to type when I was chosen to attend Yearbook Camp as the next year’s copy editor. I learned how to type the numbers with great speed when I took a part-time job in high school for an insurance agency after school. I remember practicing at all times for a week or so- even on the edge of the bathtub. Nowadays, I can fly on either an adding machine or a computer number pad. I took typewriting in highschool the following year, but by the second week, I was advised to sign up for something else. I was too fast for the class. Ha!
I also took a typewriting claws in middle and high school. I took the timed test. Hated every bit of it. I know where the keys are but still have to look at keys when typing.
I prefer to write with a pencil. I teach four year olds and I show them how to form the letters correctly with expo markers and chalk on little green old fashioned chalkboards.
DiAnn, I like your “Click, Clack, Ding” music. In high school, typewriting was one of the most useful classes, giving students practical everyday skills. I loved it! I also enjoyed the timed tests because everyone in the class had the same typewriters, creating a level playing field.
Hunt and peck- then and now
Never mastered the skill, although I took it in HS back in the day… God Bless my mom for helping me with those wonderful term papers.
I’ve survived.
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Joyce, I’m a challenge gal, so I jumped into it with both feet. I have yet to master math!
I learned to type in high school many years ago. I remember the various companies that made these machines. I really enjoyed typing class.
Author
Thanks, Linda, I enjoyed it too!
I took typing in high school. My parents bought me a Smith Corona portable when I graduated from high school, which I used for college courses and beyond. My first submitted manuscripts were typed, and I appreciate that I can easily correct my mistakes on my computer without the mess. The typewriter had its place, but I prefer using a computer now.
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Beth, can you imagine attempting to write a manuscript with whiteout?
Ditto for typing class! Only during the second semester there were two “electric” typewriters given to those with the fastest 90-second timed typing sessions. Pianist had an advantage and I finished the year cruising on an electric!
Author
Ginny, we had to rotate. You were so lucky to cruise through on an electric. 🙂
I have an old Remington portable. It still has the ribbon in it. My sister has one of those black squarish metal ones as in the top photo. It is quite heavy.
I remember those typing lessons: asdfg asdfg asdfg ….. 😁
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Denise, oh my goodness, I’d forgotten those typing lessons. 🙂 Thanks for the great reminder.
I have one very old antique typewriter that my grandfather got from the University of Alabama Police force when they upgraded. It’s very old but I don’t know what year it was manufactured. It’s a treasure to me just because it belonged to my grandfather.
Author
Gail, I’d hold on to it too – just because it belonged to your grandfather.
🤩 This brings back fond memories! I am 84 and did not type on that black typewriter but I did type my principal’s thesis on the other pictured Royal typewriter when I was a typing teacher at his school. Then came the Selectric…then computers & iPhones with voice typing. What next? LOL
God bless inventors.
Author
Hi Judith, you remember the stages of written communication on various machines and devices. I don’t know what’s next, but it will be grand!
Speech-to-text was next; my sister in Maine uses it because of carpal tunnel syndrome. The last “next” is AI where we speak a prompt to it and it writes the whole novel.
P.S. DiAnn, have you seen my Tall Tale, the stack of author proofs as tall as I am? It’s on the About page of my website.
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Hi Lewis, thanks! Yes, I’ve seen your page. 🙂
🤩 This brings back fond memories! I am 84 and did not type on that black typewriter but I did type my principal’s thesis on the other pictured Royal typewriter when I was a typing teacher at his school. Then came the Selectric…then computers & iPhones with voice typing. What next? LOL
God bless inventors.
Sorry for the double posting but I don’t know how to delete it.
Judith
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You’re fine
I love old typewriters and wish I had one…just to play on. I took a typing class in high school…shorthand too. That’s how old I am. 🤣
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Elizabeth – let’s not compare ages, but I took 2 years of typing and 2 years of shorthand. 🙂
Hi DiAnn,
I remember salvaging the carbon paper that my father used for typing memos. He had a Royal 440 that seemed to weigh a ton but smelled wonderful–a mixture of oil and the desk drawer where his pencils and other supplies were kept. I used the carbon paper for drawing. It smeared my hands, but made me feel like a fantastic receptionist. I wonder what became of that typewriter. It made the click-clack sound and has been replaced by quiet PCs. Wonder what they’ll think of next.
Author
Dawn, I remember using carbon paper on my first job. Oh the memories!
Some typewriter memories:
– typewriting class in high school
– watching Dad type his sermons using first two fingers on each hand
– the graduation gift of an electric typewriter from the church I was pianist for during high school. It was the premier machine back then. Still have it.
– watching mom switch from short hand to typing. She loved her machine too.
– getting to the last line on the page of a college paper and hitting the wrong key. No white out allowed for that class. Yikes!
– carbon paper, messy but, oh, such a timesaver.
Author
Karen, such sweet memories. No whiteout on a college paper? How frustrating. But look at the fun we have today on our devices.