Production On The Sholes And Glidden Type-Writer Began

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Production on the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer Began

This Month in Business History

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Authors: Ellen Terrell, Business Librarian, Science & Business Reading Room

Note: This was originally published as a blog post on Inside Adams blog but has been modified for this entry.

Created: March 19, 2015

Last Updated: March 2026

Production on the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer Began

half length photo of a woman seated while a typewriter sits on the table — Marceau. Woman seated with Underwood typewriter. 1918. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Modern computers allow a single individual to do amazing things. But before the computer, there was the typewriter.

There are a lot of people around now who may have never seen or used a typewriter. They don’t know what it was like to fix typographical errors or remember to leave space for footnotes and page numbers. They haven’t experienced the agony of having to retype an entire document or page just to insert a single word, sentence, or paragraph. They may not understand that designing, much less creating booklets and brochures, meant time spent with a printer – the business, not the machine! There were no fancy spreadsheet functions that tallied up numbers, much less turning those numbers into pie charts or graphs with a few clicks – there was just the tab key to keep the numbers in line and a calculator to add them all up.

In its day, the introduction of the typewriter into American businesses may have been just as transformative in its day as the introduction of the computer was just a few decades ago. This quote from the September 14, 1884 Salt Lake Herald shows how early typewriters proved their value:

Perhaps no invention of modern times has done so much to relieve business men of the great amount of pen-work drudgery to be done in every business, as the standard Remington type-writer. Thousands of these excellent machines are in daily use throughout the country, giving the utmost satisfaction claimed for them. An office boy, for instance, with but two month practice on one of these machines can accomplish more work than two rapid penmen; besides do it in a neater, and more attractive and legible manner. With but little more practice he can perform more than three men’s work. Half a dozen copies may also be written at once as easily as one.

Business men are fully aware of the many advantages in these writers, and are very generally adopting them as veritable savers of time, money, and labor. 1

While the history of typewriter development can be traced as far back as the 16th century and Francesco Rampazzetto, it wasn’t until the mid 19th century that the modern version took shape. There were many inventors who were looking at machines that could type, among them William Austin Burt (Patent 5,581X External) and Alfred Ely Beach (Patent US15,164 External), Agostino Fantoni, Pellegrino Turri, Charles Thurber, Giuseppe Ravizza, and Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen. In the U.S., one of the first commercially made typewriters was patented in 1868 (US 79,265 External) by Christopher Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel W. Soule (Sholes also had a separate patent in 1878 US 207,559 External). The 1868 patent was sold to E. Remington & Sons (then known for manufacturing sewing machines) who began production on March 1, 1873 under the name Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. This model eventually became the Remington Typewriter and it is this machine that popularized the QWERTY layout we are still using on our computer keyboards.

The early success of the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer led to competitor models, and by 1901 typewriters were being used in many places. A quote from a 1901 New York Tribune article called it “that almost sentient mechanism” and made it clear that the typewriter had already become an essential tool for many businesses. One of the most popular models was the Underwood No. 5 introduced at the turn of the century by the Underwood Typewriter Company. Millions of the No. 5 were manufactured and it spawned its own imitations from Royal and Oliver.

The importance and popularity of the No. 5 can be seen in its advertisements. Some of my favorites were those that included the results of typewriting competitions and those that included the names of companies that bought their product. Another favorite was an advertisement from 1915 that indicated the No. 5 had won First Grand Prize at the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915. During WWI their advertisements touted the typewriter’s contribution to the war effort – one encouraged people to get involved using their typing skills, while another included the number of their typewriters used by the Allies. Production on the No. 5 ceased in 1932 with the advent of newer models featuring more sophisticated features. The company was sold in 1963 and eventually the Underwood name, along with the typewriter itself, slowly faded away, replaced by computers and software programs.

Today there are a many books on how to use particular software programs and the Internet has many videos offering users tips and tricks. While there were no videos, there were many how-to books on stenography and typing. There were manuals on different typing methods like Gregg, manuals for beginners and more advanced users, and manuals on increasing speeds and doing tabular typing. There was also guidance for the first year typing teacher as well as teaching typing at the elementary and college levels. Then there was a title like R. E. Tulloss’ The New Way in Typewriting; A Course of Instruction in Typewriting Efficiency for the Development of Accuracy, High Speed, and Ease of Operation which illustrated special finger exercises. A number of the manuals also included some historical background, but were also used to promote individual products. In 1892 Remington wrote a lesson-style book followed by another in 1911. Underwood published Typewriter Bookkeeping, useful for those producing invoices and office financial records, while Royal published a title that was both a history and catalog.

The typewriter had become so important that people were already writing histories as early as 1908 when George Carl Mares wrote The History of the Typewriter: Being an Illustrated Account of the Origin, Rise and Development of the Writing Machine. On the 50th anniversary, the commemorative title The Story of the Typewriter 1873-1923 was published by the Herkimer County History Society in New York, expressing pride in a local citizen Christopher Sholes and the Sholes-Glidden company. Even the American branch of the Newcomen Society, which celebrated American business achievement, wrote a brief history in 1948. Later titles like Wonderful Writing Machine and Century of the Typewriter each added more to the history. While it is possible another history of the typewriter may be written, The Iron Whim, which declared typewriting dead in the first line of the introduction, may be one of the last.

Print Resources

The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.

Century of the Typewriter by Wilfred A. Beeching Call Number: Z49.A1 B43 1974 ISBN: 0434901202 Published/Created: 1974 I general history of the typewriter.
Evolution of the Typewriter by Charles V. Oden Call Number: Z49.A1 O2 Published/Created: 1917 Available online from the Internet Archive External Available online from the Hathi Trust External This is an early history of typewriters.
Fifty Machines That Changed the Course of History by Eric Chaline Call Number: TJ15 .C48 2012 ISBN: 9781770850903 Published/Created: 2012-10-11 The most significant machines of the 19th and 20th centuries. These are specific branded machines whose names in many cases have become synonymous with the machine or its purpose. The entries fall into eight categories relating to their sphere of influence: Industry, Agriculture, Media, Transport, Science, Computing, Energy and Home.
Henry W. Roby's Story of the Invention of the Type-writer by Milo M. Quaife Call Number: Z49.A1 R6 Published/Created: 1925 Available online from Hathi Trust External An interesting early history of the typewriter.
The History of the Typewriter: Being an Illustrated Account of the Origin, Rise and Development of the Writing Machine by Geo. Carl Mares Call Number: Z49 .M274 1909 Published/Created: 1909 Available online from the Hathi Trust External This is an early work looking at the history and development of the typewriter written while new models were being introduced and it includes an index by manufacturer/model. The author indicates in the preface "Development may therefore be looked for along the line of new uses and adaptations of the writing machine to purposes at this time not thought of, particularly in connection with invoicing, bookkeeping, etc." Chapters cover the general history, different types depending on where the carriage is located, European typewriters, index machines, use of typewriters in telegraphy.
The Iron Whim : A Fragmented History of Typewriting by Darren Wershler-Henry Call Number: Z49.A1 W47 2007 ISBN: 9780801445866 Published/Created: 2007-04-15 Table of contents This title is a history of writing culture and technology. It covers the early history and evolution of the typewriter as well as the various attempts over the years to change the keyboard configuration and includes rumors and anecdotes.
Shift Happens by Marcin Wichary (Designed by) Call Number: Z49.A1 W53 2023 ISBN: 9798985873900 Published/Created: 2023-12-20 This is a book about keyboards. It looks at the typists competing during the Shift Wars of the 1880s, Arthur Schawlow, August Dvorak, Margaret Longley and Lenore Fenton, women pouring into offices, etc.
The Typewriter : An Illustrated History by Dover Staff; Victor M. Linoff (Introduction by); Typewriter Topics Staff Call Number: HD9802.A2 ISBN: 0486412377 Published/Created: 2000-09-18 This volume covers the time period from the 1829 Burt Machine, the first to be issued a patent, to 20th century models. Over 280 different varieties include the Dollar, Ford, Hammond, Oliver, Remington, L. C. Smith, and Underwood, etc.
The Wonderful Writing Machine by Bruce Bliven Call Number: Z49.A1 B6 Published/Created: 1954 I general history of the typewriter.

Library of Congress Digital Resources

The following resources created or digitized by the Library of Congress can be used to find out more about the people and events of the day.

Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers Historic newspapers are a good way to find many advertisements for companies including typewriters. They are also good sources for finding information on the manufacturers. Search on the company names for advertisement or search on the word typewriter.
Digital Image Collections Find photographs and prints In the Library of Congress collection by searching on the word typewriter but images of typewriters may also be in images of offices.
History of the Office and Office Equipment: A Resource Guide This guide offers resources for researching the history of office furniture and equipment like typewriters, computers, telephones, copiers, and other inventions that contributed to the development of the modern office and how we work.

Internet Resources

These freely available online resources provide additional information on the topic.

Almanac: The first commercially-successful typewriter External This is a short history of the creation of the typewriter that features a few interesting videos.
Early Office Museum External This site includes written histories and images for the history of Offices & Clerical Labor, Vintage Photos of Office Interiors & Business College Classes, Typewriters, NCR Bookkeeping Machines, Adding & Calculating Machines, Tabulating Machines, Copying Machines, Filing Equipment, Desks, Communications Equipment, Dictating Machines, Staplers, Paper Fasteners, Paper Date, Time, Number & Name Stamps, Pens & Accessories, Pencils, etc.
Electronic Resources Online Catalog (Library of Congress) The subscription resources marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library. A search for articles in the following business and historical newspaper databases will produce relevant results. Some recommended databases are: - America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922 - America: History & Life - Annals of American History - Early American Imprints, Series I Evans 1639-1800 - History Commons - ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Digitized newspapers (from Veridian) External This source has links to digital repositories of newspapers (formerly Elephind).
Etcetera: Magazine of the Early Typewriter Collectors Association External This magazine has been published since 1987. Some more current issues on the website.
Evolution of the Typewriter External This is a much older book telling the typewriters story written in 1917.
History of the typewriter External This is a history of the typewriter from the National Library of Scotland that incudes a few interesting videos that show the operating of a few machines.
Peter Mitterhofer (typewriter museum) External This is a good source of digitized materials including these two records for a title like "Reminston Notes" Vol. II, No. 11 (1912) External Vol. IV, No. 7 (1918) External
"The Typewriter; Its Growth and Uses" External Written by P.G. Hubert, Jr. for the "North American Review" (Vol. 146, No. 379 (June 1888), and published by the University of Northern Iowa. This article provides a chronology of the typewriter’s invention process, public’s opinion and expectations, a description of the manufacturing process that workers’ compensation. It also includes a pen and ink illustration of Philo Remington, a schematic drawing and an illustration of the first typewriter produced, and three illustrations of typewriter production.

LC Catalog Searches

Additional works on this topic in the Library of Congress may be identified by searching the Library of Congress Online Catalog under appropriate Library of Congress subject headings. Choose the topics you wish to explore from the following list of headings and type or copy and paste the term into the search box on the Subject Browse page. Select Library of Congress Subject Headings from the Source drop down menu. You will be able to view a list subject headings with links to item records and related terms to expand your research. Not all of the relevant subject headings have been included, but the ones below should be a good start. For additional assistance, please Ask a Librarian.

Office equipment and supplies
Office equipment and supplies industry
Typewriters
Typewriting

Notes

Salt Lake Herald, "The Remington Type-Writer," (September 14, 1884) 12. Back to text

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