Antique 1940’s Underwood Standard Desk Top Typewriter
Underwood Typewriter Company was founded in 1895 by John T. Underwood. Prior to founding the company, the Underwood family produced carbon paper and typewriter ribbon and starting in 1874.
They manufactured these products for Remington, but after Remington decided to manufacture ribbons on their own, the Underwoods shifted to typewriters.
A German-American by the name of Franz Wagner invented the first Underwood typewriter. When he showed it to a young entrepreneur named John T. Underwood, Underwood like it so much that he bought the company.
The Underwood No.1 and Underwood No. 2 were manufactured from 1896 to 1900 and were labeled Wagner Typewriter Co.
The Underwood No. 5 came out in 1900 and by 1920, sales had reached two million. Sales of the Underwood No. 5 were equal to all of the other typewriter manufacturers combined. They were the world’s biggest and most prominent typewriter manufacturer, and their factory in Connecticut was making one typewriter every minute.
In 1910, Underwood began including adding and subtracting machines to their typewriters. By 1939, Underwood Typewriter Company had produced more than five million machines.
Underwood attempted to promote itself by building the largest typewriter in the world. It was on display in Atlantic City for several years. Each key was big enough for a grown person to sit on.
Unfortunately, typewriter production paused during World War II, and the huge typewriter was taken apart for metal when Underwood transitioned to making M1 carbines.
In 1959, Italian-owned Olivetti purchased a controlling stake in Underwood, and by 1963, the merger was complete. The U.S. Olivetti-Underwood company transitioned to making primarily electromechanical calculators, but the Underwood name was seen on typewriters in Spain all the way up until the 1980s.
Underwood manufactured the first hugely successful modern typewriter.
There were over a dozen different models, but the most popular by far were the No. 1 and the No. 5. Underwood typewriters were known for their nearly indestructible workmanship.
However, Underwood also had the forethought to include many other features in their typewriters that eventually won over the market. Today, these machines have huge historic significance and a beautiful classic design.
They used a typebar design, which was much faster than type wheels, type shuttles, or type cylinders. While the typebar didn’t align the letters on the page as well, they were more efficient.
The front stroke mechanism was revolutionary, because while it sounds obvious, a lot of other typewriters at that time used understrokes. This was called blind typing. You couldn’t see what you were typing as you were typing it. Underwood changed that.
The QWERTY keyboard was awkward at first, but it became a force of habit for most typists. Underwood was smart to keep this arrangement.
When designing the four-bank keyboard with a single shift key, Underwood was taking speed into consideration first. A lot of other typewriters had a full keyboard with separate keys for each character while index keyboards didn’t have keyboards at all.
Still other typewriters had three banks of keys and two shifts: one for capital letters and one for numbers and symbols. The four-bank keyboard with a single shift key proved to be most efficient for fast touch typing.
While some typewriters used ink pads or ink rollers, the Underwood used ribbon inking. It created clean, neat letters that weren’t blurry or smudged. Ribbons lasted longer and were easier to maintain.
The Underwood Typewriter Company was one of the most well-known names in typewriter manufacturing for over 70 years. They set the bar for keyboard functionality, typebar design, and front stroke visible typing.
Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, and Robert E. Howard all used Underwood typewriters to pen their famous works. References to the Underwood typewriter in popular culture are also plentiful.
In Stephen King’s The Shining, Jack Torrance uses an Underwood typewriter to work on his play The Little School.
The 1991 Coen brothers film Barton Fink portrays the Barton character using an Underwood typewriter after Jack Warner claims that screenwriters are schmucks with Underwoods.
Mr. Underwood in To Kill a Mockingbird types on a typewriter all day every day.
Frank Abagnale in the 2002 Catch Me If You Can film says he forges a check using a stencil machine and an Underwood typewriter.
The main character in Moulin Rouge! uses an Underwood typewriter.
In Season 3, Episode 5 of Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson uses an Underwood No. 5.
Pearl Jam released an album in 2009 called Backspacer, named after Underwood’s back spacer key.
Kevin Dolenz in the 1985 film St. Elmo’s Fire brings up a battered Underwood typewriter to Leslie Hunter.
In the Netflix series House of Cards, Frank Underwood uses an Underwood Universal Portable typewriter.
For antique enthusiasts, avid readers of classic literature, and professional writers, Underwood typewriters hold a special significance. However, these vintage machines should be important to anyone who uses a computer today.
The QWERTY keyboard revolutionized the way we type, and Underwood streamlined and perfected the design. Having an Underwood typewriter is more than having a retro artifact on display in your home. It’s about owning a part of history.
Getting a hold of an old Underwood typewriter of any model is as easy as could be. It only requires an investment of your time and a little cash and you could own a revolutionary item that changed modern typing forever. via Underwood Typewriter Models: Why Every Enthusiast Should Own a Vintage Machine