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 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. The first production model was the No. 5. 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 manufacturing plant was located in Stamford, Connecticut, and the typewriters were distributed worldwide.

Contents 1 Technology 2 Layouts 3 Literary References 4 References

[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 recent novel Distraction by Bruce Sterling, as a logical evolution of a QWERTY based tech culture.

[edit] References

• Milton, Richard (2004). Portable Typewriters - blickensderfer. Retrieved Aug. 19, 2006. Dead March 4 2008.

• Blickensderfer, Robert, and Robert, Paul. "The Five Pound Secretary". 2003

v • d • e Keyboard layouts QWERTY based QWERTY  · AZERTY  · QWERTZ Alternative layouts Dvorak  · Maltron  · Svorak  · Plum Non-Roman Hebrew  · Urdu For mobile devices FITALY Chorded keyboards Stenotype  · Velotype Historical Blickensderfer (DHIATENSOR)  · HCESAR

v • d • e Typewriters Manufacturers  · E. Remington and Sons  · IBM  · 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  · Samuel W. Soule Elements  · Platen  · QWERTY  · Typebar