Each One Teach One

The History of the Typewriter

The typewriter was invented in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes. He was born in Danville, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1819. He invented the first practical typewriter and the keyboard design we use. At first, he had it in alphabetical order but soon realized that when he typed, the key levers on the typewriter would get jammed. After playing around with the design, he came up with the QWERTY keyboard design. As a quick little fun fact, Sholes added the shift key in 1878, ten years after it originally came out. So, the documents that came out before then are all typed with lowercase letters! As a teen, he was a printer's apprentice. He then moved to Wisconsin where he worked as a printer himself as well as an editor and journalist, which is why the typewriter was an idea sparked in his head. He also served two terms as a Wisconsin Senator, another term in the State Assembly, and helped bring the Republican Party to Wisconsin. Later on, Lincoln asked him to become the port of Milwaukee's customs collector.

The typewriter was made in the 19th century to improve business communications. The typewriter helped reduce the time and money it took to write out documents and provided multiple copies at one time. The typewriter lead to more jobs for women in offices which is an important turn of events for women, especially those working in factories or unable to find a job. Women were hired to sit at their desks and type important documents for the business to be able to communicate clearer. It really introduced women to the workforce and was the start to getting women out of the factories. Women learning to use typewriters also gave them the power to use their voices and write journals and magazines to be published for their peers. It helped, “relieve businessmen of the great amount of pen-work drudgery to be done in every business.” They saved time, money, and hands from some serious cramping. It made communication between businesses easier and helped the business get information out faster as they could make many copies of the same document by typing it out instead of writing it all down. Typing cut down the time and money normally used as one person could type three pages in the same time as it took another person to write one. Though the typewriter was invented to help businesses create documents faster and more efficiently, it was very frustrating to use. Instead of being able to delete or erase a mistake, people had to retype an entire page just to add in words, fix their spelling and grammar, or even add a space between two words.  Though Christopher invented the typewriter, he didn't exactly advertise for it right and he was unable to create a market for it. Eventually, he sold the rights to Remington Arms Company In 1873 for $12,000. Though he sold the rights, he continued to try to improve the design on his own and added the shift key in 1878. Many people after Sholes continued to work on the typewriter and even though his name was no longer on it, he is still considered "The Father of the Typewriter."