TYPEWRITER TESSIE!

Lucy and the Typewriter

On July 23, 1829, American William Austin Burt patented a machine called the “Typographer” which is listed as the first typewriter. The London Science Museum describes it as “the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented”. Burt never found a buyer for the patent, so the invention was never commercially produced. 

By the mid-19th century, the increasing pace of business communication had created a need for mechanization of the writing process. From 1829 – 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production.

The first typewriter to be commercially successful was patented in 1868. It looked “like a cross between a piano and a kitchen table”.

Remington began production of its first typewriter on March 1, 1873. It had a QWERTY keyboard layout, which was slowly adopted by other typewriter manufacturers. 

An electric typewriter was first produced by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company in 1902.

In 1928, Delco, a division of General Motors, purchased Northeast Electric, and the typewriter business was spun off as Electromatic Typewriters, Inc. In 1933, Electromatic was acquired by IBM, launching the IBM Electric Typewriter Model 01 in 1935. By 1958, IBM was deriving 8% of its revenue from the sale of electric typewriters.

IBM and Remington Rand electric typewriters were the leading models until IBM introduced the IBM Selectric typewriter in 1961, which replaced the typebars with a spherical element (or typeball) slightly smaller than a golf ball, with reverse-image letters molded into its surface.

Lucille Ball and William Holden in ‘Miss Grant Takes Richmond’ (1949).

Towards the end of the commercial popularity of typewriters in the 1970s, a number of hybrid designs combining features of printers were introduced. These often incorporated keyboards from existing models of typewriters and dot-matrix printers.

The 1970s and early 1980s were a time of transition for typewriters and word processors. Due to falling sales, IBM sold its typewriter division in 1991 to the newly formed Lexmark, completely exiting from a market it once dominated.

The increasing dominance of personal computers, desktop publishing, the introduction of low-cost, high-quality laser and inkjet printers, and the pervasive use of web publishing, e-mail and other electronic communication techniques have largely replaced typewriters in the United States.

The Dark Corner (1946)

Lucy Ricardo used a typewriter when she wrote her operetta, her novel, and her play! 

Lucy Ricardo’s novel “Real Gone With the Wind” was typed by Lucy on a manual typewriter. 

When a last minute offer to buy her manuscript surfaces, Lucy is forced to retype her novel after it has been torn to shreds!

Lucy Carmichael takes a job as a legal secretary which requires her to type, answer the phone, and bring the boss a glass of water – all at the same time!  She is hopping around the office like a kangaroo! 

When Lucy Carmichael was a reporter for the Danfield Tribune, typing was part of the job. Upon closer examination, Lucille Ball is loading paper with writing already on it into the typewriter!  Probably her script!  

Lucy Carmichael typed a letter to her Congressman about the need for a Fire Department. The Congressman just happens to have the same name as Vivian Vance’s husband, John Dodds! 

Lucille Ball and Bob Hope in Critic’s Choice (1963). Typing opening night reviews was how critics did their job before computers! 

A heavily disguised Lucy Carmichael spies over the shoulder of a soap opera script writer who is deciding the outcome of her favorite show!  From the crumpled papers next to his typewriter, things aren’t going well. 

Lucy Carter typing up O.J. Simpson’s speech notes. On TV the brand name of the typewriter was sometimes covered with tape! 

Guyana issued a Lucy at the typewriter stamp! 400 Guyanese Dollars is equal to about two US Dollars! 

When “Here’s Lucy” needed an extra to play a secretarial candidate, Lucille Ball’s own private secretary, Wanda Clark, was given the job due to her amazing typing speed!  What Clark didn’t tell Ball was that she had been typing on an early electric typewriter for years – and the prop on the set was a standard model!  She was terrified! 

Typing was not just for girls anymore!  Craig Carter (Desi Arnaz Jr.) uses a typewriter on “Here’s Lucy” to do his homework.

Moving the Unique Employment Agency into Lucy’s home during her recuperation meant typing letters for Harry before the moving men had even left! 

When she is replaced by a computer, Lucy Carter goes to work in the typing pool of another company. 

A hilarious typewriter ballet was choreographed to “The Flight of the Bumble Bee”! 

Trying to do Lucy’s job – Mr. Mooney causes her electric typewriter to explode! 

When Lucy and Carol Burnett compete in the Secretary Beautiful Pageant, the first prize is a new electric typewriter – but what if the results are a tie?  The solution to the quandary is never mentioned!