The History of the Typewriter

While the history of the typewriter is unclear and numerous inventors have received credit for the typing machine, historians generally accept that Italian inventor Pellegrino Turri played a significant role in the early days of the typewriter. In 1808, he reportedly created a device to help his blind friend, Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano, in writing letters independently.

In the United States, William Austin Burt invented and patented a device known as the “typographer” in the 1820s. However, this precursor to the modern typewriter was not widely adopted on a commercial level. It wasn’t until Christopher Latham Sholes, who created the first practical and commercially successful typewriter in the 1860s, that the device made a splash in the American market.

Sholes, a newspaper editor and inventor, collaborated with Carlos Glidden, a fellow printer and editor, and Samuel W. Soule, a printer. Glidden provided financial support, and Soule invented the escapement mechanism, which regulated the movement of the typewriter’s carriage. As the 1868 patent details, “Its features are a better way of working the type-bars, of holding the paper on the carriage, of moving and regulating the movement of the carriage, of holding, applying and moving the inking-ribbon, a self-adjusting platen, and a rest or cushion for the type-bars to follow.”

They sold that patent to E. Remington & Sons, and by 1873, the manual typewriter became known as the Remington Typewriter. This first model only allowed the user to type in capital letters. The shift key would later allow people to write in both uppercase letters and lowercase ones.

By 1875, Sholes filed a patent for the qwerty keyboard, named after the first six letters in the top row of keys on the keyboard. While some accounts say that the layout design helped prevent the typewriters’ mechanical arms from jamming, some sources dispute these origins.

Kyoto University researches Koichi Yasuoka and Motoko Yasuoka offer an alternative theory in “On the Prehistory of Qwerty.” The authors argue that the telegraph and Morse code influenced a more efficient design for transcribing.

While the QWERTY keyboard remains ubiquitous — commonly used on both old typewriter machines and present-day smartphones — there is debate about whether it’s the most efficient system. Sholes himself continued to dedicate his time to improving the keyboard. An 1896 patent, for example, features a completely different keyboard layout that Sholes created. (The patent came years after his death.)

Others also tried their hand at improving the keyboard. Professor August Dvorak developed the Dvorak keyboard and patented it in 1932. Although early adopters favored the alternate keyboard mapping over the standard layout, it never matched the popularity of QWERTY. With touch-typing helping to establish QWERTY decades before, and Remington (which used the qwerty keyboard) being one of the most popular brands, it was difficult for other systems to break through.

The index typewriter was a specialized typewriter that featured a mechanism for selecting and printing frequently used words or phrases. It employed a rotating disc or cylinder with preprinted characters, words or phrases arranged in alphabetical order.

By aligning the desired term with a printing mechanism, the typist could print the selected word or phrase onto paper without individually typing each letter. Index typewriters did not gain as much recognition, especially as newer models — including portable ones — were introduced.

The main difference between manual and electric typewriters is the method of character input. Manual typewriters require physical force to press the keys and transfer ink onto the paper, while electric typewriters use an electric motor to power the key strikes and automate the typing process.

The first electric typewriter came soon after the manual typewriter. Thomas Edison created one of the first electric typewriters. However, his version was not available for commercial use.

In 1900, George C. Blickensderfer patented an electric typewriter. The patent reads: “A further object of the invention is to produce an improved type-writing machine in which the several parts shall be so arranged that the machine is capable of being operated either by power or by hand.” It took a few decades for electric typewriters to become popular.

Typewriters became commonplace in office settings but also in people’s homes. They transformed the way people composed and produced written content and facilitate the process of manuscript preparation, typing letters and drafting professional documents.

Decades after they first appeared on the market, typewriters also paved the way for word processors and computers. Without typewriters, we wouldn't have the concept of mechanized typing, the standard QWERTY keyboard and more.

This article was created in conjunction with AI technology, then fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.