The Selectric turns 50!

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Cleaned up image from Ebay

Designcollect on EtsyThe IBM Selectric turns fifty today.

Press Release:

The IBM Selectric became an instant sensation upon its debut on July 31, 1961, and remained the typewriter found on most office desks until the brand was retired 25 years later, in 1986. With 2,800 parts, many designed from scratch, it was a major undertaking even for IBM, which had been in the typewriter business since the 1930s and was already a market leader.  The Selectric marked a radical change from previous typewriter designs, and it took IBM seven years to work out the manufacturing and design challenges before it went on sale.

The Selectric typewriter was a game-changer in many ways:  

  • Its unique "golf ball" head allowed typists' fingers to fly across the keyboard at unprecedented speed. An expert typist could clock 90 words per minute versus 50 with a traditional electric typewriter.  
  • The golf ball moved across the page, making it the first typewriter to eliminate carriage return and reducing its footprint on office desks.  
  • Interchangeable golf balls equipped with different fonts, italics, scientific notations and other languages could easily be swapped in.
  • With magnetic tape for storing characters added in 1964, the Selectric became the first (albeit analog) word-processor device.

The Selectric also formed the basis for early computer terminals and paved the way for keyboards to emerge as the primary way for people to interact with computers, as opposed to pressing buttons or levers.  A modified Selectric could be plugged into IBM's System/360 computer, enabling engineers and researchers to interact with their computers in new ways.

"The Selectric typewriter, from its design to its functionality, was an innovation leader for its time and revolutionized the way people recorded information," said Linda Sanford, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Transformation, IBM, who was a development engineer on the Selectric. "Nearly two decades before computers were introduced, the Selectric laid the foundation for word-processing applications that boosted efficiency and productivity, and it inspired many user-friendly features in computers that we take for granted today."

 

Here's a silly commercial from the 80s. I'm pretty sure it was considered silly even back then!

Here are other posts about the Selectric on Mad Men and in Fringe.

Renegade SF: 16 Sparrows (and a happy typewriter)

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16 Sparrows is a delight for those infatuated with mail art, letter-writing, stationery and the lost art of typewriting. (Annie, I think that's you!)

From their website: "Who are you and how did this all start? 16 Sparrows sprouted from an observation that there were no greeting cards for sarcastic, quirky folks. So Kathy began making her own and after my paper goods out numbered friends and family, she knew something had to be done. With the encouragement of two close friends; Milly & Ilya, Kathy opened up shop. (This is the clean up version of what happened. If you ask Milly or Ilya, the birth of 16 Sparrows occurred in a bar over a table covered in empty beer bottles.) In 2006 Miss Donovan joined Kathy and 16 Sparrows became a partnership. Thanks to her, 16 Sparrows has expanded its product base and has gone on to have great success at craft fairs & retail stores. Donovan and Kathy both share an interest in smart-ass pretty things, which is a commonality that has made their partnership a success."

Donovan, Kathy and Annie are friends with the co-author of the amazing book Good Mail Day, so I had the chance to meet Carolee Gilligan Wheeler, whose mail art we included in a previous issue. There was a VERY happy moment when Carolee gave Annie a typewriter! Check it out on Annie's blog, Curbside Treasures.


Typewriter, deconstructed

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Todd McLellan takes things apart in order to photograph them.

"In my series disassembly, I have used old items that are no longer used by the masses and often found on the street curbs heading for disposal. All of the items in the photographs were in working order. The interesting part was the fact that they were all so well built, and the parts were most likely put together by hand. I envisioned all the enjoyment these pieces had given many people for many years, all to be replaced by new technology that will be rapidly replaced with half the use." Read more here.

Typewriters advertising books

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I'm not sure that people looking to purchase a laptop are really the target market for Penguin books, but it could be a welcome diversion to all the tech.

"To disseminate the Penguin classics - Companhia das Letras in POV, we created an action to draw the attention of hipsters and also the new generation. We ended up pleasing everyone." (Google translation from Portuguese)

Hermes poster

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This gorgeous poster, I'm happy to say, is mine! After admiring it on ebay and letting it go without bidding on it, the poster came back for auction and this time I couldn't say no. Lucky me, no one else noticed it and I got it without competition.

Illustrated by Herbert Leupin and dated 1947, it is stunning and in excellent condition. And quite a deal at less than $200, when I compare the prices to the ones listed on this site.

Christopher Stott

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Christopher Stott's realist paintings are very compelling. The first reaction is disbelief that these aren't photographs, the secondary effect is awe of all the ways these are so much better than photographs. And in my case, the third reaction is realizing that each relates to UPPERCASE content in some way. Typewriters? Of course! Scissors? Book stacks? Vintage fans?


yes, yes and yes! We've covered these subjects in various past issues. Vintage suitcases?


Coming up in the next issue! Mr. Stott is a kindred spirit indeed.

Clock collection? Inevitable.

{blog / site / flickr}

Children's books & typewriters

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Click Clack Moo is a book I'll have to add to Finley's library. On the blog Collecting Children's Books, there's an excellent post about children's books, their authors, and typewriters.

"Norma Fox Mazer's first novel, I, TRISSY, concerns a girl adjusting to life after her parents' separation. In the opening scene, Trissy's father gives her a typewriter ("Tris, now you can put down on paper all the things you're always making the mistake of saying out loud, and nobody has to know about them except you.") The book is printed in a font that mimics typewriter print, contains typed "pictures," and even includes strike-overs and other typing errors." I remember reading this book!

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