Blickensderfer No. 8 Typewriter

Description:

The Blickensderfer Model 8 typewriter was manufactured by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company of Stamford, Connecticut beginning in 1908. The appeal of the Blickensderfer was its simplified mechanical operation. The Blickensderfer was advertised as having one quarter of the parts that other typewriters used, allowing for easier operation, maintenance, and repair. Blickensderfers used their patented “type wheel,” a metal wheel containing all the characters, which would rotate and strike the paper. The type wheel allowed for easier type alignment, less jamming, and an easy way to change type fonts. The simplicity of the Blickensderfer allowed it to be portable, and this model has a wooden cover with a leather handle for easy carrying. While QWERTY keyboards could be ordered, by default most Blickensderfer typewriters eschewed the QWERTY keyboard in favor of a “Scientific” keyboard that put the most used letters “D, H, I, A, T, E, N, S, O, and R” on the bottom row nearest the space bar to minimize hand movement.

George C. Blickensderfer founded the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company in Stamford, Connecticut in 1893. The Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company produced nine different models of typewriters, including an electric typewriter, and operated until George Blickenderfer’s death in 1917. The company was reformed as the Blick Typewriter Company, and in the following years the Blickensderfer patents and designs were manufactured by a variety of different companies.