Desktop Publishing circa 1963

You are never going to believe this, but this typewriter works!  It's an original, IBM Selectric typewriter Model 70 from the early sixties, 1960's...  Yes, its that old, and still intriguing, captivating, and typing!

Why the fascination?  Many machines can type, but the Selectric typewriter can publish.   

And in publishing, its all about the typography.

Are you aware that the IBM Selectric introduced a font, that would become probably the most recognized typeface of the 20th century?   

Does this help jog your memory? It's the Courier font.

Courier was the name given to the monospaced serif font that designed by Howard Kettler in 1955 for IBM. It was new streamlined, rational, and efficient.  It was one of the many available on the Selectric typewriter.

Kettler said, the font was nearly released with the name "Messenger." After giving it some thought, Kettler said, "A letter can be just an ordinary messenger, or it can be the courier, which radiates dignity, prestige, and stability.

By the mid 60's the Courier had become the typeface of "Officialdom".  If it was official, it was typed in Courier.  Manuscripts for book, plays, or any production had to be type in Courier 12 to be accepted.  This is still true today.  

Although Courier was originally commissioned by IBM, no legal exclusivity to the typeface was secured and it soon became a standard font used throughout the typewriter industry.  It showed up everywhere .. Its the font you see on many computers.  It's the generic font family in MS Windows (since Windows 3.1) and is commonly used as the font for email messages.

Anyone remember Orator typeface?

The Orator typeface consisted of capital letters and and smaller capitol letters only!

The idea behind the orator font was that capitals and small capitals are clearer than upper and lowercase letters, thus making it useful for speech notes.

Orator Typeface

Before Powerpoint and LCD projectors, information at corporate meetings was primarily displayed using an overhead projector and set of clear transparencies.

Anyone remember making or presenting "Foils"
   
This was a great process.

Type up the information you want to get across in the highly readable Orator font. 

Make a copy of it and send it through with a clear transparency into a machine that seemed like a laminiator, but in fact heated the paper so that the black carbon from the paper would transfer to the clear transparency, a foil is born.  

Oh, and don't mess with the setting or you could get a unreadable mess out.  If everything went well, you were now ready to throw them on the overhead projector and begin explaining to the audience the importance of what they were looking at.  


Of course you can type in script on the Selectric typewriter...

The script type ball was used to produce the personal touch of a hand written note, with the mechanical precision of the IBM typewriter.  Here's a sample from my typewriter...

Charles E. Weller

The famous Weller phrase was typed using a Script-12 type ball.   

Here's another.

Famous Anagram

That's the sentence new typists learn.  I used it when tuning this typewriter up.  That sentence is an anagram containing all the letters of the alphabet.  So it checks all your fingers or in my case, that the typewriter can type all the letters.


The end of Courier in Government documents.

Courier was the official font of the US government until February 1, 2004.  It has since been retired and replaced with a more modern Time New Roman 14 font. Which ironically was developed many years earlier by the  British typographer Stanley Morison for the Times of London in 1932.


Final quiz.... Raise your hand if you know what is often cited as the longest English word that can be typed using only 1 row of keys of a QUERTY keyboard.  Typewriter.... of course. 

Happy typing!