Tag: Sholes

Did you realise that QWERTY and typewriters were from that long ago?  I certainly didn’t.  I did grow up in the late era of the typewriter (70s/80s), and I first learnt how to type on a mechanical typewriter.  It was a model with a dual-coloured ribbon (black/red) which I used to good effect for a variety of things.

I still own a “capture the flag” type card game called the Oasis game which I manufactured myself: I typed up the text for each of the cards (in the two different colours, as appropriate), cut them, and put contact on (no laminator). The game is still in pretty good shape, as it is stored in an also home-made card case.  I’ve got proof, I just took a picture of it (below).

Now, back to history… in the 1860s, a politician, printer, newspaper man, and amateur inventor in Milwaukee by the name of Christopher Latham Sholes spent his free time developing various machines to make his businesses more efficient.

One such invention was an early typewriter, which he developed with Samuel W. Soulé, James Densmore, and Carlos Glidden, and first patented in 1868.  The grant date of US patent US79265A is 23 June 1868, thus today is exactly the 150 year mark.  So, happy birthday QWERTY!