Typewriter. The history of the creation of the Wabun taipuraita typewriter and hieroglyphs

After reading this headline, many will decide that the era of classic writing devices is long over. Computers, laptops, touchscreen gadgets have supplanted the inventions of the last century. However, the typewriter is still popular among creative people and in some government organizations, especially since the modern market for electronic goods offers convenient writing devices. Among the variety of devices, you can find one that will support the very atmosphere of creativity and meet the requirements of progress.

Typewriter device

Technical devices of the XIX-XX centuries are a device equipped with a set of keys, pressing which leads to the appearance of printed characters on the carrier - paper. The history of the creation of a typewriter begins its existence in 1714. In Russia, the first writing device was produced in 1928, it was called "Yanalif". Later, portable devices "Moskva", "Lyubava" and stationery "Yatran", "Ukraine" spread. Of the foreign brands, "Optima", "Erika", "Robotron" were popular. The principle of operation of printing devices is described below.

Mechanical

Letters are applied to paper with the help of special levers, which end with platforms with plastic or metal letters. When the key is pressed, the lever strikes the ink-soaked tape, so that a trace of the letter remains on the supplied paper. Sheet shifting is carried out automatically. The design of the typewriter is of 4 types:

With cylinder. The font is placed on an elongated cylinder that moves back and forth to pick up the letter, after which the hammer strikes from the back, imprinting the character on paper.
With levers. The imprint is obtained as a result of hitting the paper with a lever located in the slots of the segment.
With a ball. The letters are printed on a writing head that moves as you type. Such machines print in different fonts.
With chamomile. This invention is a specific carrier of matrices from which an imprint is taken. On each petal of a camomile one sign is placed.

Electronic

Modern devices are hybrids of classic printers and computers. An electronic typewriter is equipped with a small E-Ink display that displays text. Electronic ink is used for work, so your eyes will not get tired. The printing device has compact dimensions, a capacious battery that allows it to operate autonomously for up to 4 weeks. The typed material is stored in the device's memory and, when connected to a wireless network, is transferred to a virtual storage, from where you can download a file from any gadget.

Buy a typewriter

New devices can be found on sale, but the manufacturer has significantly reduced their release. The appearance of modern devices is far from the old models, and does not inspire that atmosphere. If you want to buy a typewriter that has already become a rarity, see private ads, for example, on Avito. Many vintage appliances are still in working condition and can serve not only as a decoration of the collection.

Yatran

This domestic printing mechanism was produced in Kirovograd from 1975 to 1995. There are several modifications of the machine that relate to the length of the carriage (short, medium, long), body material (aluminum, plastic). The manufacturer has created 12 models. Characteristics of the printing machine:

Title: Yatran.
Price: used models cost 1000-10000 rubles.
Works with 7 alphabets, font type "Peak", "Medium". The length of the printed line is 305 and 435 mm. Models have an electromechanical drive unit for printing and carriage return. The number of printing keys is 46, the number of characters is 92. There are 5 line spacing values (from 4.25 to 12.75 mm).
Pros: high quality printing, manual contains a detailed description of how to use the device.
Cons: heavy, models with plastic levers break quickly.

Underwood

One of the most popular typewriters from the USA. The first two models were produced between 1896 and 1900. The release of Underwood No. 5 was especially successful: in the early 1920s, more than a million devices were sold. Later, machines began to be equipped with mechanisms that perform addition and subtraction operations. Before World War II, the manufacturer created the world's largest typewriter. In 1959, the Olivetti company acquired a controlling stake in Underwood. Device characteristics:

Title: Underwood.
Price: you can buy a typewriter for 9000-16000 rubles.
The machine is compact and stylish, has horizontal letter levers. The keyboard has 42 keys and 90 characters. There are three types of devices with different carriage lengths, two font sizes: standard and large.
Pros: the device is light, easy to care for, the correct design of the device minimizes typos, even the photo shows an elegant design.
Cons: high cost, the buyer needs to look for goods from individuals who can put an inappropriate price.

The typewriter is a licensed copy of "Erika" produced by the GDR. It was relatively easy to buy a typewriter in the USSR, since the price of its two models was 180 and 190 rubles (after 1983). Characteristics:

Title: Love.
Price: 1000-3500 r.
The body of the device is plastic, the bottom is black, there is no under the keys. The number of keys is 44, the length of the printed line is 225 and 305 mm, three options for line spacing. The diameter of the scroll shaft is 32.3 mm. Through a carbon paper you can get 3 clear copies.
Pros: the models are light (5.2 and 5.7 kg), have small dimensions, making it possible to carry the machine anywhere.
Cons: the machine is completely mechanical, so careful maintenance is needed for its normal operation - regular cleaning and lubrication. The plastic case is resistant to damage.

How much does a high quality typewriter and an old year of manufacture cost? Valuation in monetary terms is set by collectors who know what kind of product they are dealing with. However, even the early Olivetti typewriters do not belong to the rare category, so knowledgeable people sell them at a low price. Modern models are also inexpensive. Profitable ads from private traders can be found not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but throughout Russia. Characteristics:

Title: Olivetti.
Price: 1200-1500 r.
The electric typewriter uses the chamomile type of printing. Equipped with a cartridge that needs to be changed or refilled periodically. Line length - 228 mm, 5 options for line spacing, correction of typos.
Pros: low price, light weight.
Cons: inconvenience when working with the cartridge.

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. True, the high cost of the product put a fat 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 the 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 this was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the creation 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.

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Remington and Mark Twain

In the summer of 1868, American inventor Christopher Latham Scholes received a patent for the typewriter device, which later became the first mechanical writing apparatus. The prototype appeared on March 1, 1873. And in June, Scholes and his partners agreed with Remington & Sons to produce 10,000 typewriters. And the first Remington No. 1 entered the market on July 1, 1874.

Writers immediately became interested in technical innovation. For example, Mark Twain bought a typewriter from Scholes without waiting for the device to go into mass production. The writer liked to brag about being the first person to use a typewriter in literature. Of course, during his life he changed writing devices more than once, but Twain printed the legendary "Tom Sawyer" on Remington No. 1.

Hansen Writing Ball and Friedrich Nietzsche

Not so long ago, scientists managed to accurately recreate the typewriter on which the great Friedrich Nietzsche. This device has a very original form and is not very similar to the usual typewriters.

"Writing ball"- this is how the technical innovation was called - it was originally intended for visually impaired and blind people. As the years passed, Nietzsche began to lose his sight, and such a machine became the only way for him to continue his literary work. On a "writing ball" with serial number 125, the philosopher created his "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and "Merry Science".

Underwood and Dovlatov

The name of this typewriter has long been associated exclusively with the name Sergei Dovlatov and his Underwood Solo. According to rumors, the writer was terribly fond of his literary instrument, inspired by touching its keys, and would not change it for any "remingtons".

It is quite understandable: a convenient frontal layout of the keys and a laconic but sophisticated appearance at that time made Underwood typewriters the most popular among such devices.

Corona 3 and Arthur Conan Doyle

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, someone came up with the idea of typing "blindly" (perhaps just falling asleep at work). It was most convenient to work “eyes closed” on Corona devices. Compact and reliable, they allowed for high print speeds and were easy to use.

Arthur Conan Doyle was a big fan of modern technology and "planted" many of his characters at the typewriter. Printed, for example, by Edward Mallone from The Lost World. The novel does not specify which device the reporter is using, but this omission was corrected in the 1925 film adaptation of the novel. "Cinema" Mallone works on Corona, model 3.

Royal Desktop for Jeeves and Wooster

Remember the TV series Jeeves and Wooster, where Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry played a British aristocrat and his valet? So, the author of stories about the adventures of Jeeves and Wooster, writer Palem Granville Woodhouse also turned out to be a big fan of typewriters. His favorite is Royal Desktop. In the preface to one of his works, the author even described the moment when he finally fell in love with his writing device: Woodhouse recorded several pages of text using a phonograph, but when he heard his voice in the recording, in his opinion, "very nasty", he realized that for him only keys work.

Olivetti and Cormac McCarthy

Do you know what the original "Blood Meridian" was printed on and "Old men don't belong here"? On a typewriter! Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and playwright Cormac McCarthy For the past couple of decades, he has created his works exclusively on Olivetti Lettera 32, 1963. The typewriter is fragile in appearance, but she "squeezed out" several million words and more than ten works by McCarthy. By the way, it was recently sold at auction for 254 thousand dollars. But McCarthy got a new copy after that for 11 "bucks".

Halda Portable and Hemingway

Few people know that hemingway honed his literary skills not only in notebooks (and bars), but also on the Halda Portable typewriter. The writer said that the clatter of the keys reminded him of the sound of machine-gun bursts. He said this with skill: until 1941, he organized several operations against Nazi spies in Cuba, then spent almost 12 months in Madrid besieged by the Nazis, and to top it off, he worked as a war correspondent in London.

OFFTOP. Below are just typewriters. We did not find reliable information about the stardom of their owners. But their originality, popularity or uselessness is absolutely impossible to deny.

Lambert and the housewives

Such devices were quite popular in the early twentieth century. And nothing that there was no keyboard on them - with one hand the “driver” selected the desired letter on the panel, and with the other he pressed the lever - and the letter was imprinted on paper.

The appliances were small and, most importantly, cheap, so the Lambert was very popular among housewives, travelers, and even children.

Wabun taipuraita and hieroglyphs

Do you think you've seen everything in this life? How about a hieroglyphic typewriter? This "monster of technology" was invented and patented by a resident of Japan, Kyota Sugimoto in 1929. There are 2,400 prints of hieroglyphs on the keyboard, and under them is an ink pad. After special manipulations, a mechanical "foot" captured a bar with the desired sign and printed it on a sheet of paper. At the same time, the hieroglyphs on the panel are arranged in order of increasing complexity of their writing - from the simplest to the most difficult to reproduce.

Now in Japan and China it is quite difficult to find a specialist who would be fluent in the art of typing, but a few decades ago, hieroglyphic printing was quite common.

Typewriter-calculator and arithmetic

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