Keys to the Past - Typewriters in the Records of the Federal Government
What was once an everyday necessity for several generations is now a fascinating subject for collectors and history enthusiasts. If you have a fondness for typewriters or a general interest in historical technology, you’ll enjoy this exploration of typewriter records in the National Archives Catalog.
In the federal government, the introduction of typewritten documents varies widely by agency and even by office, location, resources, and individual circumstances. By the late 1800s, following the introduction of commercially available typewriters, federal agencies began producing type written records.
Patents and trademarks
Early patents for the typewriter are barely recognizable by modern standards.
Drawing of a Typewriter, 6/26/1868, National Archives Identifier 595503
This is the 1868 utility patent drawing for a typewriter invented by Christopher L. Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and J. W. Soule.
1600252 - Typewriting Machine - James Smathers [page 11], 9/21/1926, National Archives Identifier 2524981
This 1926 patent was submitted as an improvement over previous typewriters. It purports to “require less effort on the part of the operator, and therefore be less fatiguing and one in which the speed of operation is materially greater than on fully hand-operated machines.”
22724 - Fold it Up-Take it with You-Typewrite Anywhere - Corona Typewriter Company, Inc., National Archives Identifier 98839004
The Fold it up and take it with you typewrite anywhere label was submitted for registration to the Patent and Trademark Office. This label will be used on the packaging of the “typewriting machines.”
War Effort
During wartime, paperwork was a battle unto itself, and typewriters were an important tool. From personnel forms to requisitions to orders, typewriters were employed in the war effort. Typewriters were celebrated as vital and precious equipment, meticulously repaired, and even starlets posed with them.
Office of War Information - War Production Board: Typewriters Slated for War Use. Guide Sheet No. 340, 9/28/1942, National Archives Identifier 271785873
This notice explains that 600,000 typewriters are needed to equip the military during World War II. The public is asked to sell their typewriters (but nothing older than from 1935) to support the war effort. No portable model needed!
Taking time off between the shooting of scenes at the RKO Studios in Hollywood, Miss [Maureen] O'Hara helped collect more than 70 typewriters for future use by the Army, Navy, and Marines, National Archives Identifier 196469
[Left] "Equipment is Precious!", ca. 1941 - 1945,National Archives Identifier514217; [Right] "Victory Waits On Your Fingers - Keep 'Em Flying Miss U.S.A.", ca. 1941 - 1945, National Archives Identifier 515979
Famous Typewriters
Antique Remington typewriter, National Archives Identifier 166706572
This typewriter was used by President Theodore Roosevelt at his home in Sagamore Hill, NY.
Informal Portrait of Margaret Truman Using a Typewriter, ca. 1947, National Archives Identifier 348546668
First Daughter Margaret Truman, and later author, is captured with a typewriter in 1947.
Guides
Record Group 300: Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training includes a history of the typewriter and a guide for the Modern Secretary. Giving us an historical glimpse into how the typewriter changed communication and office norms as typing speed became more important than legible handwriting.
A Brief History of the Typewriter, National Archives Identifier 7280709
The Modern Secretary, National Archives Identifier 7280719
This pamphlet for the modern secretary and her duties was produced by the Royal Typewriter Division of the Royal McBee Corporation. It includes a two page spread with instructions on how to care for your typewriter. Remember “DON'T tie your eraser to your typewriter. It can become caught in the working parts of the machine.”
Typewriters as Exhibits
Several times, typewriters were submitted as exhibits in federal court cases.
Photograph of Woodstock Typewriter with Witness Statement, 9/29/1949, National Archives Identifier 202288426from U.S. v. Alger Hiss.
“I have been shown 7 photographs of typewriters and I have picked out this one as looking like the one I saw in
the house of Claudie Catlett, 2728 P St NW, Washington DC. It is my understanding that this typewriter was given to her or her sons by Mr. or Mrs. Alger Hiss. I first remember seeing the typewriter 3 or 4 months after we moved into 2728 P St NW. These photographs were shown to me by Special Agents James P. Martin and John J Walsh of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the above date. I am making this statement of my own free will.”
This typewriter was an exhibit in U.S. v. Judith Coplon, where Coplon was charged with attempting to give "defense information" to Valentin A. Gubitchev, a Russian national employed by the United Nations.
Exhibits 70-72 Photographs of Tape Recorder and Typewriter, National Archives Identifier7582822
The photograph of this typewriter and tape recorder was an exhibit in the grand jury proceedings pertaining to two missing recorded conversations and an 18 1/2 minute gap in the nine Presidential tape recordings subpoenaed from Richard M. Nixon on August 29, 1973.
Thirteen months into our ambitious transcription and tagging mission, more than 4,000 Citizen Archivists have transcribed more than 80,000 pages! They have made thousands of pension files of America’s first veterans accessible and searchable. Citizen Archivists have transcribed fascinating stories of military service and American life. Here are a selection of some of the stories transcribed by volunteers:
Frederick Hain's father was "a true republican, and almost a fanatic in the cause of freedom" and insisted all five of his sons enlist.
Peter Sanborn was discharged 300 miles from his home and had to travel home on his own without means to sustain himself.
Burt Moore's widow lived until the Civil War and her papers declare she was always loyal to the Union.
Vincent Vaughn had no trouble remembering the names of his Captains, because they had a "fracas" and one chopped off the other's hand!
According to his widow Rachael, Deputy Apothecary General Henry Collins Flagg was the surgeon who treated General Casimir Pulaski.
Philip Carter helped capture four or five hundred Tories while marching through North Carolina mountains.
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