Typewriters & Accessories

Dictaphone  (Panasonic Microcassette Transcriber)

The Panasonic Microcassette Transcriber was manufactured in 1997. It is a device that would record verbally dictated information onto a microcassette tape. An administrative assistant  could play the recording, with the aid of a foot pedal, to type the dictation  into document form at their desired pace.

IBM  Selectric II correcting typewriter

 

The IBM Selectric II Correcting Typewriter, also known as the “golf ball” typewriter, due to the spinning ball that carried the typeset, is an electrically operated typewriter. It originally appeared in 1971 and its features included ink tape cartridges and scientific typesets. The ink tape cartridge, as opposed to the very messy cloth roll versions of the past, made a very clean typeset. It became a ‘must have’ for physics departments because the 

Swintec 8016

The Swintec electronic typewriter and others like it were the transitional step from typewriters such as the IBM Selectric, to word processors. The typewriter had enough memory to hold one line of composed information, which was displayed on an LCD screen for editing purposes. This eliminated the excessive use of actual physical paper corrections used by most electric typewriters. A line of information could be adjusted numerous times before pressing the enter key, which physically typed out the stored memory. It was purchased in October of 1985 for $699.00 ($1347 in 2007 currency).

Underwood No. 6 Typewriter

 

The Underwood No. 6 typewriter shown here was made at the end of 1940. This mechanical style typewriter was used by the physics department prior to the advent of electro-mechanical typewriters. A closeup of its keyboard is also shown.