Blickensderfer typewriter

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The Blickensderfer Typewriter was designed by George C Blickensderfer (1850-1917) in 1893. It was originally intended to compete with Remington desk typewriters, but ended up being known for its portability. Blickensderfer's typewriter contained only 250 parts compared to the 2,500 parts of a standard typewriter. Therefore, it was much smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the desk typewriters. It also featured a type wheel that was easily removed to change the typeface.

Another feature of the Blickensderfer Typewriter was its modified keyboard layout. The bottom row of keys contained the most commonly used letters, DHIATENSOR, to increase efficiency, a keyboard layout originally devised by James Bartlett Hammond to avoid the problems of typebars jamming that had caused Christopher Sholes to invent the QWERTY layout.^[1]

The first known aluminum typewriter (marketed as the Blickensderfer 6 or the "Featherweight Blick") was made by Blickensderfer as was the first electric typewriter. The company's manufacturing plant was located in Stamford, Connecticut, and the typewriters were distributed worldwide.

Contents 1 Models 1.1 Model 4 1.2 Model 5 1.3 Model 6 1.4 Model 7 1.5 Blickensderfer Electric 1.6 Model 8 1.7 Model 9 2 Technology 3 Layouts 4 Literary References 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Models

[edit] Model 4

The model 4 was a capitals-only brother of the model 5, probably intended for use by telegraphers. It used a two-row typewheel and a single shift (for figures). Today it is very rare.

[edit] Model 5

The first widely successful production model was the Blickensderfer 5, introduced at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Production of the 5 did not get seriously underway until 1895-96. The 5 was one of the first truly portable typewriters with a full keyboard; it came with the DHIATENSOR keyboard as standard, with a QWERTY keyboard available on request. A sample of the earliest Blick 5s were sold in France as the Dactyle.

[edit] Model 6

In 1906 Blickensderfer introduced the Blickensderfer 6, which was in fact a Blick 5 with an aluminum frame. The aluminum version also appeared as the Blick Featherweight and as a regular Blickensderfer 5.

[edit] Model 7

The Model 7, first offered in 1897, became the deluxe version of the basic design. Some were assembled in the United Kingdom for sale there.

[edit] Blickensderfer Electric

The Blick Electric was a revolutionary machine when it was first introduced in 1902. It had all the familiar characteristics of the manual models, plus a QWERTY keyboard as standard and all the advantages of later electric typewriters including a light key touch, even typing and automatic carriage return and line spacing. The machine was powered by an Emerson electric motor mounted on the rear and switched on by turning a Yale key on the side.

The machine was not a success. This may have been because at the time electricity had not been standardized and current differed from city to city. Alternatively, the public may not have been ready for electrical appliances at the time.

[edit] Model 8

The Blickensderfer 8 of 1908 was the first Blick to boast a tabulator system, even though tabulators had been around for some time. The tabulator used large nickel-plated levers placed on top of the machine, making it easy to operate. The typewheel head had also been altered, and was now made from two castings instead of one, which allowed easier access for repair and adjusting of the mechanism.

[edit] Model 9

The Model 9 was similar to the Model 8, but featured a folding ink roller arm.

[edit] Technology

The type cylinder, which was similar to the subsequent ball head of the IBM Selectric typewriter, was easily removed, allowing users to change the font. Striking a key turned the cylinder to the proper angle while inking the letter as it tilted downward to stamp the paper. Holding the Cap or Fig keys shifted the cylinder on its axis to use either the middle row for capital letters or the upper row for special characters.

[edit] Layouts

The DHIATENSOR layout is shown below (with alphanumeric characters only):

There were at least two layouts for the non-alphanumeric symbols[1][2]. There were also versions with the QWERTY layout[3] and other layouts [4][5].

[edit] Literary References

DHIATENSOR keyboards were mentioned briefly in the 1998 novel Distraction by Bruce Sterling, as a logical evolution of a QWERTY based tech culture.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Milton, Richard (2004). "Portable Typewriters - Blickensderfer". http://web.archive.org/web/20060329051251/http://www.portabletypewriters.com/portable_typewriters_blickensderfer.htm.  (via Internet Archive)
• Blickensderfer, Robert; Paul Robert (2003). The Five-Pound Secretary An illustrated history of the Blickensderfer Typewriter. The Virtual Typewriter Museum. ISBN 90-74999-05-0. 

v • d • e Keyboard layouts QWERTY based QWERTY  · AZERTY  · QWERTZ Alternative layouts Dvorak (Svorak) · Maltron  · PLUM Non-Roman Dzongkha (Tibetan)  · Hebrew  · Urdu  · Russian (pre-reform)  · Russian (post-reform) For mobile devices FITALY Chorded keyboards FrogPad  · Stenotype  · Velotype  · Microwriter Historical Blickensderfer (DHIATENSOR)  · HCESAR  · Printing Telegraph

v • d • e Typewriters Manufacturers E. Remington and Sons  · IBM  · Imperial Typewriter Company  · Oliver Typewriter Company  · Olivetti  · Royal Typewriter Company  · Smith Corona  · Underwood Typewriter Company Models  · Blickensderfer typewriter  · Hansen Writing Ball  · IBM Selectric typewriter Inventors James Densmore  · Carlos Glidden  · Rasmus Malling-Hansen  · Henry Mill  · Christopher Sholes  · James Fields Smathers  · Samuel W. Soule Elements Platen  · QWERTY  · Typebar  · Typewriter ribbon