The+Role+of+the+Typewriter+in+the+Modern+Workplace

=The Role of the Typewriter in the Modern Workplace= > //Main Wiki -- hist285-001-group5.wikispaces.com//

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Thesis
The emergence of an effective and efficient writing machine in the 1880s helped propel evolutions in the typewriting industry. This progression also factored into the changing societal structure of the family and perceptions of women.

Technological Advancements in Mechanical Type
Technological shortcomings in reprography prevented commonplace duplication of written materials. Previous methodologies proved disorderly and required specialized equipment and skills not yet widely distributed. The adaptation of movable type to a desktop machine requiring a modicum of skill from one operator revolutionized the production of written words.

The First Writing Machines
The first writing machines were produced in prototype form prior to 1870, but prior to the 1890s did not resemble the typewriters of our memory. By 1900, the general public began to accept a typing machine that offered the speed of a hand-written document, and could reliably do so with comfort.

Typewriters were entirely mechanical devices, swinging cast character impressions onto the page by the force of the typist's fingers. Characters were embossed onto the page using a carbon ribbon, traditionally a fabric tape. The contraptions were often held in hand-made wooden chassis, but began to be manufactured from cast metals.

Typewriter Hardware
The primary components of a typewriter are:

Keyboard
The operator interfaces with keys laid-out in a variety of patterns, eventually settling on the current QWERTY system. Each key operated one type-bar, or character onto the page. Pressing a key typed the character and advanced the platen or carriage one unit of type (escapement).

Type Element(s)
The characters are typed onto the page by embossed letters, either mounted on typebars, rollers, spheres, or daisy-wheels.

Platen
The platen is the rubber roller that holds the paper page. In earlier systems, the platen and the page would move left/right to position the current character space in front of the type elements. Rotating the platen changes the horizontal line which text is typed on to.

Carrier
In later models (approaching 1960), the platen was fixed within the body of the typewriter. To type across the page, the type element(s) would move across the platen on a carrier.

Margins and Tabulation
Typewriters' characteristic dinging bell occurs when the platen or carrier approaches the right margin. The positions of the left and right margins could be set relative to the platen, and "tab stops" could be set to rapidly escape the platen or carrier to those positions.

Optimization of Classical Typewriters


During the period between 1900 and 1950, the technology involved in typewriter mechanics stayed relatively consistent, but was continually refined. During this time, manufacturers developed speed competitions which reached current-day computerized typing speed. Mechanical typewriters were ubiquitous and universally accepted as a fact of daily business, leading to numerous cultural changes.

Modern typewriters adapted the styles of the time, and used new materials to decrease weight, increase portability, and optimize mass production.

Electric Typewriters
Around 1950, electric typewriters began invading the marketplace over mechanical typewriters. At first, employers were weary of converting as these new devices were more complex and consequently more expensive. Despite the high initial cost, the electric typewriters proved faster causing an increase in productivity and saving customers money in the long run. Electric typewriters provided increases of anywhere from 10-30% in productivity and therefore quickly became the industry standard[14].

Electric typewriters improved efficiency for a variety of reasons. The most noticeable reason for the user was the electric-motor-assist in typing. On traditional mechanical typewriters, the keys required relatively high force with large travel and would tire the typists fingers out quickly. The keys on electric typewriters would travel much less and required negligible force -- just enough to complete the circuit below the key activating a complex system of pulleys, gears, shafts, motors, and other mechanical components[5]. Despite the increased complexity of the electrically powered typewriters, such as the IBM Selectrics, there was less down time to do repairs as the type bars were replaced with a more reliable type-ball system, reducing jams. All of these features ultimately led to a typewriter that was simple to use, reliable, and more comfortable for the operator.

Typewriters of this era began to incorporate automatic correction mechanisms, consisting of a white cover-up ribbon to overwrite mistakes without using erasers or manual intervention.

As a result of the increased complexity and cost of electric typewriters, new fields needed to be created in order to maintain them. Typewriter repair and service industries blossomed with the typewriter[4]. New models expressing new technology provided markets for diverse replacement supplies such as ribbon and correctable tape.

Single-Element Typewriters
Manual typewriters always faced the possibility of an operator pressing two keys simultaneously, jamming the typebars. Electric typewriters (electrically powered, essentially mechanical) prevent this, but the ideal situation is a single type-element that contains all of the characters needed. The first of these typewriters was the IBM Selectric, introduced in the late 1960s. The characters were positioned across the surface of a polycarbonate sphere.

The complexity needed to mechanically twist and tilt the sphere was unseemly, and repairmen were highly specialized in their training. This became the best-selling typewriter for two decades, and led to two variants[5].

After electronic circuitry and miniature actuators developed further, typewriters could be fully electronically controlled and operated. These final typewriters (which are still in production today) are electronic devices with few moving parts, and an electronic keyboard not unlike that of a computer[8].

Industrial Impact of Typewriters
As the typewriter became common use in the workplace, companies around the world realized that they could capitalize on complementing an invention already made. Not only for correctional and copy mechanics, but for font editing as well. Several additions of typewriter technology in a way sprouted to help make the machine more user friendly and customizable.

Methods of Copying
Prior to the typewriter, hand written text was generally copied by hand. Because writing in long-hand was often too slow to keep up with dictation, shorthand was created, which later had to be transcribed back to the full text. If the office boys who performed this stenography were to create an exact copy of a hand written page for record keeping purposes, he would have to wet the page with “evil-smelling felt cloths” soaked in solvents and quickly press it against the record book, effectively smearing the original beyond legibility.

Ditto Machine
The ditto machine was invented in 1923 and was far superior to simply using carbon paper. Creating a ditto required the use of a new machine, the spirit duplicator. Spirit duplicators used no ink; instead a solvent dissolved a pigmented wax from a drum within the machine. The greatest benefit of the ditto machine was that, unlike using carbon paper, once an original was created a countless number of copies could be made.

Xerographic Copiers
Text copying technology was further improved by the invention of the xerographic copy machine, however it’s use is outside of the scope of this research.

The Evolution of Paperwork
People hand wrote letters as the typical means of communication. However, handwritten letters were difficult to read. When the typewriter was invented, it made this communication process easier to understand. However, the typewriter was not always practical; it was too slow and cost too much ($100, whereas the pen costs ~$0.05). The Sholes & Glidden Typewriter was the first typewriter to be faster than writing by hand. Significant savings in time can be made; justifying the additional cost businesses would have to spend. In all, the typewriter became a worthy investment for businesses. With the innovation of a practical typewriter, required skilled professionals. In 1895, typewriters were implemented into business schools across America[3]. Typist schools also begin to emerge during this time as a separate training. Once the basis of the practical typewriter was established, other standards were also made to help the typist. Typists were unable to see the words as they were printed by up-strike typewriters. The Front-Strike Typewriters allow typists to see the words as they are printed. Another improvement was in the traditional copy method. It involved soaking a per-written page with a solvent and transferring it to another page, which was extremely illegible. The innovation of the carbon paper helped solve this problem of illegible copying. The carbon paper allows multiple copies of each document to be written simultaneously. With the invention of the carbon paper came the Ditto Machine, invented in 1923. The size and bulkiness of the typewriters was also another major problem. During World War II a briefcase-sized mechanical typewriter is invented and implemented, making the typewriter easier to transport. Typists became very fast and efficient. However, the mechanical typewriters jammed often. Electric typewriters are invented, which utilized “typeball.” These type-balls did not jam and allowed for quick font, language, and symbol changes.

Community Service Evolution
Community service strongly resembled the fountain pen repair industry. In the fountain pen industry, anyone who required service for their pens had to ability to call a serviceman who would come to their doorstep in a matter of minutes. There the worker would fix whatever problems that the user was having with the pen. Afterward, the worker would charge the person, check back to the repair headquarters and go to the next stop. This process was almost exactly the same as the typewriter repair service, but the typewriter serviceman required more tools and materials for the broken typewriters.

Ink Ribbons
Usually called "Typewriter ribbons", these tiny rolls of tape would contain a thin coating of ink which would spool in the typewriter. When a key on the typewriter is pressed, it would punch down the character onto the tape into the paper, which would imprint the character in ink on the paper. These rolls of ink had to be changed out regularly to be able to type. In the early years, these ribbons would come in metal tins which actually became collectibles. Eventually ink came in different colors, which lead to the different color ink ribbons used in the typewriting industry. Ribbons were also made from different materials to help with removing ink from the paper for corrections until the correctional tape was invented.

Correctional applications
The first typewriter wasn't able to correct errors with a backspace button, but when the typewriter evolved so did the ability to mend mistakes. Liquid paper is one of the more recognizable brands when it comes to correctional products. An early product was a correctional tape that would literally stamp a block of white over the mistake. This was interesting because sometimes the color of the tape wouldn't be the same as the paper, or the tape would be the same color as the ink ribbon which lead to some confusion. Another product was a bottle of white fluid that could be applied over the mistakes, and of course typed over. This is probably the most common Liquid Paper product today, and is commonly known as "White Out". There are also correctional pens that would dispense correction fluid in a way a pen would dispense ink. This would give more control to the user when fixing mistakes.

A more traditional way of erasing involved using a special eraser which was made of a large wheel of rubber on one end, and had brush bristles on the other end. Typists would rub the errors away with the rubber wheel, and then brush the remains off the paper with the brush. Sometimes if the eraser particles remained on the paper, it would cause the typewriter to jam or misplace characters.

Carbon paper
Typing the same page over and over used to be a tedious practice for common typists. Eventually a piece of paper was covered with wax, which would help make one or several copies of an original document. A sheet of carbonic paper, as it was originally called, was placed between the original document and another sheet over paper. As the original document was written, the carbon paper would press down on the paper behind it. Several copies simultaneously meant using several pieces of carbon paper as well. The wax sheeted paper could be reused until the layer of wax became too thin, in which a new sheet would be needed.

Font customization
As the typewriter evolved, so did its process of typing. Original designs of the typewriter would force typing to one style and font. However, as time went on different forms of customization would provide the ability to type in different fonts and styles. A type-ball was used in later typewriters which could be replaced with different fonts like Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, and other common fonts. Different styles would include but weren't limited to bold, underlined, and italicized fonts. Although these innovations lead to a wider array of options, these balls had to be swapped every time that these options wanted to be used.

Personal keyboards
The QWERTY system that was originally developed for the typewriter in 1874 was adapted to the keyboard for personal computers. Although the qwerty system wasn't the fastest system out there, it soon became one of the most popular. This was due to its placement of common letters in easy to reach locations.

Societal Impact of Typewriters
Although typewriters were one of the major advancements in communication that paved the way for greater technological innovations like the computer, it also had an important effect on societal aspects, like the family and women in the workplace. With the implementation of typewriters in the workplace, it paved the way for the entrance of women into new professions involving clerical work. Women entering the workplace created shifts in society and, especially, family life. New perceptions and roles of women would evolve over the 20th century due to these shifts.

Changes in Family Dynamics
This section explores men and women’s roles in family life leading up to the entrance of women into the workplace, and how this shift has altered family dynamics.

Pre-modern Gender Roles in Family
Cultural beliefs and practices regarding male and female natures existed in the United States even before the Civil War. The notion of separate spheres was in place, which highlighted the glorification of motherhood and the woman’s role in the home. Oppositely, the separate spheres approach emphasized the importance of men as the primary breadwinner. Some argue that even then, ideologies did not align with reality, as the necessity of women working outside of the home existed. This was especially true in lower or working class families, but was not explicitly addressed until later[10].

Modernity in Family Life
Family life has noticeably changed since women have forcefully entered the workplace. The shift can be described as the noticeable division between kinship and other aspects of life. Kinship has become separate from economic, political and social life. Each of these aspects of one’s lives can benefit from strong kinship ties, but no longer depend on them. The nuclear family remains the basic unit of domestic function, but home and work spaces are kept fairly separate. Additionally, individual geographic and social mobility has become based on merit instead of kin, tying into the emphasis placed on individualism over the family unit[11].

Another prominent development in family life is the emphasis placed on emotional fulfillment in family settings. An individualistic goal, this can be seen in the importance placed on the romantic relationship between husbands and wives and the focus on emotional and psychological childhood development.

Causes Changing Family Life
There are several possible explanations for the shift in family life surrounding the emergence of the typewriter. For example, the importance of an agrarian economy shifts to that of a commercial and industrial character during this time, further leading to the necessity of work outside the home. Additionally, political movements during this time argue the importance of the individual and, consequently, require rebellion against patriarchal authority[11].

Roles of Women Before WWII
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the stereotypical role of women was in the kitchen. They were expected to raise the children, clean, and cook. Single women took jobs as teachers and nurses until they found a husband. They did not even have the right to vote until 1920. Even with suffrage, however, they still seemed to not have a complete independent opinion. Many women, it seemed, chose to vote the ways of their fathers and husbands[12].

At the turn of the century, there was a high demand for secretaries as businesses developed more and more paperwork due to industrial expansion. More paperwork demanded a faster process for creating documents. The typewriter helped fill this demand. Although the typewriter was invented before this time, it had just recently become practical. Before, it took longer to write on a typewriter then by hand. With advances in technology, the typewriter became more efficient. These improvements in the typewriter, making it more practical, helped businesses process the paperwork faster. Typewriters quickly became the essential machine of any office. Since typewriters were recently new to the office, it had not yet established a “masculine” label, making it easier for women to enter typewriting professions without any preceding stereotypes. Although clerks and stenographers had been mainly a boy’s job, women soon started to take over the field. In 1870, the top five occupations for women were: (1) domestic servants, (2) agricultural laborers, (3) tailoresses and seamstresses, (4) milliners, dress, and mantua makers, and (5) teachers. In 1940, the top five occupations were: (1) housekeepers (private family), (2) trained nurses and student nurses, (3) stenographers, typists, and secretaries, (4) servants (private family), and (5) operatives, apparel and accessories[13].

In the beginning of the 1900s, the number of women working as office clerks began to rise, from 7.4% in 1900 to 35.4% in 1930. These rises of women at work have led some analysts to believe that the invention of the typewriter was responsible for opening jobs to women. A pamphlet by the Women’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor emphasizes that “not only… has the typewriter revolutionized modern business methods but it has created an occupation calling for more women than have been employed as a result of any other invention. However, this might be too bold of statement, especially since it was observed that women’s employment of rising at the turn of the century in other occupations as well. It is probably more practical to state that the typewriter helped ease women into the office. The typewriter was such a new machine that it had yet to be dubbed as masculine and therefore, women did not have to face sexist arguments that typing was a man’s job[12].

The years of the Great Depression hurt women’s advancements in the workplace. Women were the first to be laid off. Since they were not considered the traditional breadwinner of the family, their positions were given to men who needed them. The ones who suffered the most were the single women who did not have a husband to rely on[12].

Roles of Women During WWII
When men went off to war, women filled men’s roles in the workplace. However, they were exposed to more then just office jobs; they were introduced to other areas of work as well, such as factory work. They were an essential part of the war because they helped in the production and manufacturing of weapons as well as consumer goods. The government used propaganda to help recruit women into these positions. With women entering new and various fields, the typewriter, although still a valuable tool in the office and for the war, did not have much affect for women. The war itself helped women during this time period, not the typewriter. Women were not all concentrated in the clerical/stenographer profession; their opportunities were expanded to other roles that were not traditionally female.

Right before the United States entered the war, women made up 26% of the work force, 21% of those women had clerical duties. In 1945, around the time the war was ending, women made up 36% of the workforce with 25% having clerical duties[13].

Roles of Women After WWII
When the men came home from war, society tried to push women back into the home. Many women did retreat back into the kitchen, however many also felt a sense of remorse having to go back to the “housewife” role. Their experience outside the home gave them a sense of freedom and independence. With men taking back their positions, and thus kicking women out of jobs, clerical/stenographer work (which heavily relied on the typewriter) became in high demand for women again, especially since it had been, by this time, labeled a female profession.

In 1946, just after the war ended, clerical work was one of the highest paying, nonprofessional work for women. The median year’s earnings for women were $1,480. In 1947, women made up 28% of the workforce with 26% of those women having clerical duties. The change in number from 1940 to 1947 for clerical occupations was +63.25%. The change in number from 1940 to 1947 for domestic service occupations was -19.5%. In 1950, out of the 17 million women in the working force, 27.8% held clerical occupations, the highest percent[13]. In 1981, out of the 42 million women in the workforce, 34.7 % held clerical occupations, still the highest. Women held 80.5% of all clerical jobs available in 1981. These numbers describe the importance of clerical work in the office and how this profession has helped women enter the working field and gain a sense of independence from their husbands. This profession is heavily dependent on the typewriter. Because of its dependence, the typewriter had an indirect role in helping women enter the working field[4].

Typewriters helped ease women into office jobs. Throughout the beginning of the 20th century it created jobs for women. During World War II it had little affect for women, as they were exposed to other jobs, like factory work, that did not require the use of a typewriter. After the war, when society wanted to push them back into the house, the still high-demanded clerical jobs were available for women. Since the typewriter had a strong influence in these clerical jobs, the typewriter allowed for these jobs to be available. However, when new advanced technologies would come along, like the computer, the demise of the typewriter would force the women to fight for their rights without help.