Remington | 1948
It is hard to explain to younger generations something as common, practical and innovative as the typewriter once was. This ad shows one of the most famous pioneers, Remington, which began making typewriters in 1873.
As computers spread, the typewriter gradually disappeared. Yet even if it is a museum piece today and we all type on touch screens, look closely: the letters on this machine are probably in the same places as on your keyboard.
That is because in 1868 Christopher Sholes, after hundreds of attempts, developed a layout that let typists use both hands to type as many words as possible without jamming the mechanism, so they could write faster.
That arrangement gives its name to the keyboard used by millions today: QWERTY, simply the first letters on the top row.
This ad ran in the United States in 1948 to launch the new Remington Rand Foremost.
Strictly speaking, the machine in this ad is not a typewriter but an electric bookkeeping machine, advertised in The Journal of Accountancy in the year Remington celebrated 75 years since its first typewriter.
Text in the ad
It’s new – the new Remington Rand Foremost bookkeeping machine
New from core to keyboard, the completely electrified “Foremost” bookkeeping machine establishes a new basis for efficiency in accounting record production.
New mechanical features speed every machine operation. New functional design simplifies every operator motion.
See this new machine. Call that Remington Rand man near you, or write to Remington Rand Inc., 315 Fourth Ave., New York.
1873 – the first typewriter – 1948: 75th anniversary
- Brand
- Remington
- Year
- 1948
- Decade
- 1940s
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Magazine
- Themes
- Technology
- Original publication
- The Journal of Accountancy, 1948
