| Description
| Make 'Williams', 4 rows of keys on front, 2 semicircles of striking arms facing each other, arms stetch in to paper in middle.
Model Number 31510. 'No 6' is painted in gold on the front below the keys. This would date the typewriter to 1906.
Object of the Month April 2009 text:
"The typewriter was an indispensable tool for the 20th Century office. This typewriter was made by the Williams Typewriter Company around 1906.
Unusually, the paper is placed between the two beds of letters and the type-bars touch the paper from the front and back. The legs of the type-bars move using what is known as a ‘grasshopper movement’, due to the legs having an extra joint, like the legs of a grasshopper.
Unlike most typewriters, it does not use ribbon, as the letters on the type-bars rest on an ink pad.
The Williams Company produced typewriters in America from 1891 until 1909. All of its models were of a similar design to that seen here. Unfortunately, the unusual design did not become popular and the Williams Typewriter Company went bankrupt in 1909". |
