Kensington Office Machines unveils it’s new online “Service Center”
May 5th, 2008
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“Is this the begining of the end of typewriters?
February 8th, 2008
The Classic Typewriters presents
“A brief history of Typewriters”
The concept of a typewriter dates back at least to 1714, when Englishman Henry Mill filed a vaguely-worded patent for “an artificial machine or method for the impressing or transcribing of letters singly or progressively one after another.” But the first typewriter proven to have worked was built by the Italian Pellegrino Turri in 1808 for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono (as established by Michael Adler in his excellent 1973 book The Writing Machine); unfortunately, we do not know what the machine looked like, but we do have specimens of letters written by the Countess on it.
Numerous inventors in
Much more influential, in the long run, was the Sholes & Glidden Type Writer, which began production in late 1873 and appeared on the American market in 1874.
The Sholes & Glidden had limited success, but its successor, the Remington, soon became a dominant presence in the industry.The Sholes & Glidden, like many early typewriters, is an understroke or “blind” writer: the typebars are arranged in a circular basket under the platen (the printing surface) and type on the bottom of the platen. This means that the typist (confusingly called a “typewriter” herself in the early days) has to lift up the carriage to see her work. Another example of an understroke typebar machine is the Caligraph of 1880, the second typewriter to appear on the American market.
This Caligraph has a “full” keyboard — separate keys for lower- and upper-case letters. Click here to read more about the Caligraph.
The Smith Premier (1890) is another example of a full-keyboard understroke typewriter which was very popular in its day. Click here to read more and see the machine.
The QWERTY keyboard came to be called the “Universal” keyboard, as the alternative keyboards fought a losing battle against the QWERTY momentum. (For more on QWERTY and to learn why “QWERTY is cool,” visit Darryl Rehr’s site The QWERTY Connection.) But not all early typewriters used the QWERTY system, and many did not even type with typebars. Case in point: the ingenious
The
Other machines typing from a single type element rather than typebars included the gorgeous Crandall (1881) …
… and the practical Blickensderfer.
Let’s return for a moment to the 19th century. The standard price for a typewriter was $100 — comparable to the price of a good personal computer today. There were many efforts to produce cheaper typewriters. Most of these were index machines: the typist first points at a letter on some sort of index, then performs another motion to print the letter. Obviously, these were not heavy-duty office machines; they were meant for people of limited means who needed to do some occasional typing. An example is the “American” index typewriter, which sold for $5. Index typewriters survived into the 20th century as children’s toys; one commonly found example is the “Dial” typewriter made by Marx Toys in the 1920s and 30s.
Much more could be said about the hundreds of makes of early typewriters — but I’ll restrain myself. To get some different perspectives, try looking through my collection list or my wish list. To bone up on the topic yourself, check out the typewriter-collecting resources.
Technology no Match for the Classics
December 26th, 2007Technology no match for the classics
Kensington business dedicated to devotees of the typewriter
Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006
 Click here to enlarge this photo Laurie DeWitt⁄The Gazette Typewriter repairman Frank Cherian, 53, poses with the very first typewriter model from the L.C. Smith & Bros. Company, which later became Smith Corona. Cherian, who works at Kensington Office Machines and has been repairing typewriters for more than 30 years, said the machines would not likely become obsolete since they are so easy to use and there is still a demand for them. |
For a brand that once helped dominate the word processing landscape, the Smith Corona Web site is pretty modest.There’s no mention of the typewriter company’s 115-year old legacy — a feat for any technology-based company — on its home page. And a picture with the words, ‘‘It’s an American Icon” in the ‘‘About Smith Corona” section of the Web site seems like an afterthought given the words — in small, simple type — are shown inside an animated thought balloon.
But the fact is companies like Smith Corona, IBM, Swintec and Brother were once the typewriting titans of their day.
And though that day might have come and gone for most, Kensington businessman Jimmy Fasusi wants people to know typewriters still have a following.
‘‘We have customers who ask us not to go out of business because they don’t want to use computers,” said Fasusi, owner of Kensington Office Machines — an office supply and repair store on Plyers Mill Road that sells typewriters, computers, fax machines and other communication gadgets. ‘‘There are customers 60 and upwards and the thing is, they love their machines and they don’t want to give it up.”
Fasusi estimates about 70 percent of his profits come from selling or repairing typewriters.
Most of his clients, Fasusi acknowledged, are older and appreciate the typewriter’s simplicity, and have no desire to learn about computers.
People like 82-year-old Chevy Chase resident Joan Gidding.
‘‘I used the [computer] and I spent hours looking at the beastly thing — the mouse and everything,” said Gidding, who is originally from England. ‘‘And I thought, I can’t deal with that rubbish. When the printer was installed, there was no room for my makeup.”
Gidding even typed her 75-page Master’s degree thesis on an Underwood typewriter. That was in 1984, but Gidding’s loyalty to the machines in the face of newer technology is undiminished.
‘‘Everybody’s trying to get me into the 20th century, never mind the 21st century,” Gidding said. ‘‘My niece — she sent me a word processor. I have no idea what to do with the [darn] thing. Finally my husband said, ‘This is not going to work. You are not electronically minded.’”
For people like Gidding, Fasusi’s store is a typewriting refuge, a place they can go to get their nearly antiquated machines repaired.
The store is not, however, a haven for the younger set.
In the mid-1980s, Montgomery County Public Schools phased out typing classes, about the time computers were coming into classrooms, according to Shelly Johnson, MCPS director of career and technology.
So younger generations that might have previously taken typing classes in schools are probably not even familiar with typewriters.
‘‘The way most of the school systems work…is the students take keyboarding,” Shelly said. ‘‘It’s embedded in our computer classes. It’s something they have to learn as part of the course.”
The MCPS computer classes — offered to middle and high school students — are optional unless students are on the technology track, Shelly said.
Fasusi knows he’s not likely to get an influx of younger customers any time soon. But, he said, he doesn’t need to.
‘‘We have a contract with [National Institutes of Health]. The Washington, D.C., superior court, we’ve been with them for five years. They still use typewriters to type up [documents].
‘‘We sell to inmates because inmates are not allowed to use computers. We even got a celebrity that came over from Frederick,” said Fasusi, refusing to reveal the celebrity’s name. ‘‘They were shooting a movie reenactment and needed some typewriters.”
Which is just fine with 30-year typewriter repairman, Frank Cherian, because a demand for the machines means he still gets to do the work he loves.
‘‘The way I got interested is I took a typing class many years ago in high school,” said Cherian, who has worked at Kensington Office Machines for about 10 years. ‘‘It was so interesting to see the guys, how they put the machines together. All those screws, they had a place. It was a miracle the thing worked.”
Demand to buy the machines or have them repaired also means typewriters still have a place in today’s technological society, Cherian said.
‘‘I don’t think the typewriter will ever be obsolete,” he said. ‘‘I think they’ll always be around. You don’t have to put anything to memory. It’s a very simple process.”
Kensington Office Machines has moved to a new location.
December 11th, 2007Hello,
This is to announce that we have moved to a much better location. Please call us for directions.
We are devoted to our customers and will continue to provide first class services as we work towards expanding our infrastruture.
Our customers loyalty and steadfastness is second to none. Your business is appreciated.
Management
Hello world!
December 10th, 2007Welcome to Kensington Office Machines. This is test post.