Mechanical Typewriters: Their History, Value, and Legacy [Hardcover]

Thomas A. Russo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2002

A fascinating and scholarly look at the machines that revolutionized office communication from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nearly 700 color photographs display mechanical typewriters produced by Adler, American, Corona, Grundka, Hall, Monarch, Remington, Royal, Smith Corona, and many others. An overview of the historical development of the typewriter includes patents and brief histories of the manufacturers. Additionally, a detailed bibliography, index, and current market values in the captions are also provided. Set designers, historians, and typewriter collectors will learn how technical developments changed the designs through the decades.

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About the Author

Thomas A. Russo has been collecting mechanical typewriters for many years. This is his third book, a natural extension of his 45-year career in the business equipment and systems industry.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Pub Ltd (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764315455
• ISBN-13: 978-0764315459
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,202,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Resource, April 4, 2006

By 

J Keistler "[e-mail]" (Lake Jackson, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mechanical Typewriters: Their History, Value, and Legacy (Hardcover)

There is a relatively small community of typewriter collectors, of whom I am one. Within this community there are subdivisions: those who collect the very early machines, those who collect a particular brand, those who collect a particular type (e.g. portables, desk machines, electrics). Because the typewriter was such a common device in both homes and businesses for almost all of the twentieth century, and because they were produced in the millions, many have failed to appreciate the impact these machines made on our society. The typewriter is the story of American ingenuity come to life. While there were foreign contributions to its development, the overwhelming percentage of patents and improvements were American. The typewriter freed countless women from a living of domestic servitude and allowed them to support themselves in a newly-created occupation. It changed both the nature and tempo of American office work, where efficiency and productivity were measurable.

This book focuses on the earliest machines prior to World War I. As many know, the early typewriter took many forms: some had the familiar typebars, while others used a rotating type wheel where letters were pressed to paper one at a time, some allowed the paper to move past the type, and still others allowed the paper to remain stationary while the typewriter moved! There were typewriters available for a few Dollars for the occasional home use, while the most mechanical models were quite expensive.

For the 'outsider', this book is a detailed and beautifully illustrated (in color) survey, by brand, of the available machines and their types in these early years. Many of these machines can still be found and purchased rather inexpensively, while the rarer machines are steadily increasing in value. The machines covered here are not for those of us who like to actually type--most don't have the standard keyboard we use today. These are machines for display.

This book will remain a valuable resource on the subject long after it has gone out of print. I would like to see a followup on machines covering the period between the Wars, when the industry as a whole continued development. This field represents American ingenuity at its best, and is a lesson for all of us in this regard.