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Hall Index Typewriter

National Museum of American History

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Object Details

Hall Typewriter Co.
Description
Thomas Hall was awarded patent number 238,387 on March 1, 1881 for his “Type-Writer” design represented in this typewriter. The Hall Typewriter was manufactured by the Hall Typewriter Company of New York, New York, beginning in 1881. The company moved from New York to Salem in 1887, then Boston in 1889, producing a similar model typewriter in all three locations. This Salem variant of the Hall index typewriter began to be produced in 1887. Index typewriters have no keyboard—the characters are selected by a pointer system. In the Hall index typewriter each hole on the grid corresponds to a character, pushing the key through the hole imprints the letter on the page and shifts the page over one space. This typewriter is contained in a wooden carrying case, with a metal handle and a metal plaque that bears the image of a feather with the inscription “HALL TYPE WRITER Co./TRADEMARK/SALEM, MASS.”
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Dorothy Hall Armstrong
ID Number
ME.314603
catalog number
314603
accession number
205421
Object Name
typewriter
Other Terms
typewriter; Manual
Measurements
overall: 4 1/8 in x 15 3/8 in x 9 in; 10.4775 cm x 39.0525 cm x 22.86 cm
See more items in
Work and Industry: Mechanisms
Typewriters
Computers & Business Machines
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_850013
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-7ab0-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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