When Was My Typewriter Made?
This is probably the most popular question that comes from non-collectors without resource materials, and also from collectors who have limited research materials available. This page is an attempt to answer that question for most collectible typewriters. The dates that are given are from several print and on-line research sources and generally considered the first year that each particular model was made. Some models were made for a matter of months while others were made for years. Serial numbers can sometimes help but manufacturers were known to sometimes s-t-r-e-t-c-h the truth and not start with serial number 001. If you check the Typewriter Database by Dirk Schumann you may be able to whittle down the date a little more!
The list is alphabetical so just scroll down to find your machine or click on the first letter of the brand on the line below to go to that section of the list. If your machine isn't there, or you can help us with a machine listed with no date, please let us know by writing to us at etcetera@writeme.com
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Adler 7
Adler 11
AEG 1921
Aktiv 1913
Alexander 1914
Allen 1918
American Index 1893
American $10 Typewriter
American (keyboard) 1901
American Visible 1901
Annell 1914
Archo 1920
Arlington 1914
Atlas 1915
Automatic 1881
Babycyl
Baka 1908
Bar-Let 1930
Barlock 1 1888
Barlock 2
Barlock 4
Barlock 6
Barratt 1915
Bavaria 1921
Bee 1934
Bennett 1910
Bennington 1903
Bijou (folding)
Bing 1 1927
Bing 2 1927
Blake 1905
Blickensderfer 5 1893
Blickensderfer 6 1906
Blickensderfer 7 1897
Blickensderfer 8 1908
Blickensderfer 9 1916
Blick 90 1919
Blick Bar 1913
Blick Electric 1902
Blick (Home Blick)
Blick (Noco Blick) 1910
Blick Oriental 1908
Blick (Rem Blick) 1928
Blick Universal
Boston 1888
Bradford 1906
Brooks 1895
Burlingame 1908
Burnett 1908
Burns 1889
Burroughs 1931
Burroughs Electric 1932
Burroughs Moon Hopkins 1921
Cahill 1899
Caligraph 1 (single case) 1880
Caligraph 2 (72 keys)
Caligraph 3 (78 keys)
Caligraph 4 (78 keys and left-hand platen knob)
Carissima 1934
Carmen 1920
Cartograph Tessari 1907
Cash 1887
Celtic 1920
Celtic Portable 1922
Century 10 1914
Cereseto 1907
Champignon 1898
Champion 1891
Chicago 1899
Chicago 3
Cito 1904
Coffman 1902
Columbia (index) 1885
Columbia Barlock 8
Columbia Barlock 10
Columbia Barlock 14 1910
Commercial Visible 1898
Conover (Chicago)
Continental 1904
Contin 1922
Continental portable 1929
Continental Silenta 1934
Corona 3 (folding) 1912
Corona 4 portable 1924
Corona Special
Courier 1903
Cram 1907
Crandall 1 1884
Crandall 2 (New Model)
Crandall 3
Crandall 4
Crary 1892
Crown 1888
Culema 1920
Dactygam 1920
Dactyle
Darling 1910
Dart 1899
Daugherty 1893
Daw & Tate 1885
Dayton 1924
Dea 1909
Demountable 1921
Dennis Duplex 1894
Densmore 1 1891
Densmore 2
Densmore 3
Densmore 4
Densmore 5
Densmore 6
Diamont 1921
Discret 1899
Dollar 1891
Draper (Chicago)
Duplex (Dennis) 1895
D W F 1922
Eagle (Sterling variant) 1905
Eclipse 1898
Edelmann 1897
Edison Mimeograph 1892
Edland 1891
Electromatic 1929
Elliott & Hatch
Elliott-Fisher 1903
Ellis 1920
Emerson 1907
Empire 1892
Empire #2 1908
Empire #3 1921
English 1890
Erika (folding) 1910
Essex 1890
Excelsior 1921
Faktotum 1912
Famos 1910
Fay-Sholes 1901
Federal Visible 1919
Felio 1919
Fitch 1888
Fontana 1921
Ford 1895
Fox 1 1898
Fox 3
Fox 4
Fox 10
Fox 15
Fox 23 1908
Fox 24 1912
Fox (folding portable) 1917
Fox Sterling
Franklin (The Franklin - name on banner) 1891
Franklin (The Franklin - Old English lettering)
Franklin (New Franklin)
Franklin 7
Franklin 9
Franklin 10 1904
Frankonia 1911
Frister & Rossman (Caligraph) 1888
Garbel 1919
Gardner 1890
Geniatus 1928
Gerda 1921
Gisela 1921
Golden Rule 1882
Gourland early 1920s
Granville Automatic 1896
Graphic 1895
Grundy (patented 1887)
Gundka 1920s
Haberl 1907
Halda 1896
Hall (NY) 1881
Hall (Salem) 1885
Hall (Boston) 1889
Hammond 1 1883
Hammond 2 1895
Hammond 12 1905
Hammond Multiplex 1913
Hammond Multiplex (folding) 1923
Hammonia 1882
Harris Visible 1911
Hartford (double keyboard) 1894
Hartford (shift key) 1901
Helios 1908
Helios-Klimax 1914
Hermes 1920
Herrington 1884
Home Blick
Hooven Automatic 1912
Horton 1883
IBM Selectric 1961
Ideal A1-A2 1897
Ideal A3-A4
Imperial A 1908
Imperial B 1915
Imperial D 1919
Imperial Portable 1919
Imperial 50 1927 (through 1955)
Imperial Good Companion 1932 (through 1961)
Imperial 55 1937 (through 1961)
Imperial 66 1954 (through 1967)
Index Visible
International (double keyboard) 1889
International (shift key)
International #5 (index)
Jackson 1895
Jewett 1 1892
Jewett 2
Jewett 3
Jewett 4
Jewett 5
Junior (Bennett style) 1907
Junior GSN (toy)
Kanzler 1 1903
Kanzler 2
Kanzler 3
Kanzler 4
Keaton Music Typewriter 1950s
Keystone 1 1899
Keystone 2
Klein Adler
Kneist
Kosmopolit 1888
Lambert 1902
Lasar late 1880s
L C Smith No. 2 1903
L C Smith No. 8 1915
L C Smith Super-Speed 1937
Lilliput 1907
Longini 1906
Lord Baltimore
Lucznik FK 1933 (through 1939)
Ludolf
Malling Hansen
Manhattan 1898
Maskelyne 1899
Masspro 1932
McCool 1903
McLoughlin 1884
Mercedes 1907
Mercedes Electra 1920
Mercury
Merritt 1890
Mignon 1 1904
Mignon 2
Mignon 3 1913
Mignon 4 1924
Molle 1918
Monarch 1904
Moon-Hopkins 1911
Morris 1886
Moya 1 1902
Moya 2
Munson 1 1889
Munson 2
Munson 3
National 1889
National (portable)
New American #5
New Century Caligraph 1899
New Franklin
New World 1893
New Yost 1889
Niagara 1902
Noco Blick 1910
Noiseless (office model) 1912
Noiseless (portable) 1921
North's 1892
Odell 1 (seal foot base) 1889
Odell 1 (round base)
Odell 2
Odell 3
Odell 4
Odell 5
Official
Oliver 1 1894
Oliver 2 1896
Oliver 3 1898
Oliver 5 1906
Oliver 7 1914
Oliver 9 1916
Oliver 11 1922
Oliver portable
Olivetti Lexicon 1954 (through 1959)
Olivetti Lettera 22 1954 (through 1964)
Olivetti Lettera 32 1965
Olivetti M-1 1911
Olivetti M-20 1920
Olivetti M-40 1930
Olivetti Studio 42 1938
Olivetti Studio 44 1952
Parisienne 1885
Pearl (linear index) 1887
Pearl (circular index) 1891
Peerless 1895
Peoples 1891
Perkeo (folding)
Phonix 1908
Picht (typewheel) 1899
Pittsburg Visible 10 1898
Pittsburg Visible 11 1908
Pittsburg Visible 12 1911
Pocket 1887
Polygraph 1903
Portex
Postal 3 1902
Postal 5
Postal 7
Protos (Adler) 1922
Rapid (thrust action) 1888
Rapid (Fox style)
Rem Blick 1928
Remington 2 1878
Remington 3
Remington 4
Remington 5 1886
Remington 6 1894
Remington 7 1897
Remington 8
Remington 9
Remington 10 1908
Remington 12
Remington Electric (Northeast Appliance motor) 1925
Remington Junior 1914
Remington Noiseless 5
Remington Noiseless 6
Remington Portable information page by Richard Polt (click)
Remington Noiseless (portable)
Remington portable (pop-up keys) 1920
Remington Portable 3 1930
Remington 3B 1935
Remington Portable 5 1933
Remington Sholes (Rem-Sho) 1896
Rico A-1
Rofa 1921
Royal 1 1906
Royal 5 1911
Royal 10 - double glass 1914
Royal 10 - single glass
Royal 10 - no glass
Royal Junior portable1935
Royal KHM 1936
Royal portable 1927 (through 1947)
Royal Signet portable 1932
Sabb
Salter 5 1892
Salter 6 1900
Salter 7 1907
Salter 10 1908
Salter Visible 1913
Sampo 1894
Sampson Permagraph 1929
Saturn 1899
Schade 1896
Secor 1911
Shimer 1898
Sholes & Glidden 1874
Sholes Visible
Skrivekugle
Smith Premier 1 1889
Smith Premier 2 1896
Smith Premier 3
Smith Premier 4
Smith Premier 5
Smith Premier 10 1908
Sphinx 1913
Standard Folding (portable) 1908
Stearns 1918
Sterling 1905
Stoewer 1903
Stoewer Record 1909
Sun (index w/wood base) 1885
Sun (index w/dog bone base) 1888
Sun #2 (keyboard) 1901
Surety
Taurus 1908
Thurey 1908
Tip Tip
Travis 1895
Triumph Perfect Visible 1907
Triumph Visible 1907
Underwood 1
Underwood 2
Underwood 3
Underwood 4 1901
Underwood 5 1901
Underwood Noiseless
Vari-typer
Velograph 1886
Venus
Victor (index) 1889
Victor 1 (keyboard) 1907
Victor 10 1919
Victor Portable 1927
Victoria (Famos)
Virocyl
Virotyp 1914
Visigraph 1910
Volksschreibmaschine 1898
Waverly
Wellington 1892
Westphalia 1884
Williams 1 1891
Williams 2
Williams 3
Williams 4 1900
Williams 6 1904
Woodstock 1914
Woodstock Electrite 1924
World (single case/graceful) 1885
World (double case) 1887
World (New World) 1893
Yetman
Yost 1 1887
Yost 2
Yost 4 1895
Yost 10 1902
Yost 15 1908
Yost 20 1912
Yost (New Yost) 1889
Young American 1916
Yu Ess (Mignon)