Today's significance: World's first commercially produced typewriter went on sale in 1874

All days hold some kind of significance in history despite the modern world remaining unaware of them. Today is no exception because, on July 1, 1874, the world’s first commercially successful typewriter, the ‘Sholes & Glidden Type Writer’, went on sale. Even though Christopher Latham Sholes and Carlos Glidden had started developing their own version of typewriters in 1867, it was only in 1873 when they signed a contract with gunsmiths E Remington & Sons to manufacture the device after several features were enhanced. 

According to the records that exist, the machine developed by the due was not deemed reliable and the price was set at $125. The Sholes and Glidden Type Writer had some significant flaws in the design and was not like the ones we have now. It was a ‘blind-writer’ because the individual was not able to see what was being typed and it only allowed to type in the upper case. Moreover, the machine was mounted on a sewing-machine table and the carriage return was regulated through a treadle. 

Despite these barriers, nearly 5,000 of such typewriters were sold because it gave the users one key benefit of producing content at a clearer and faster pace than he or she could write by hand. However, in 1878, the Remington no 2 was released with improved shifting mechanism and it allowed both upper and lower cases to be typed. For at least next hundred years, typewriters dominated the official spaces until word-processing software and printers replaced them. 

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Biggest employment for women

Even though the technology has massively evolved now with things working swifter while also being user-friendly, the typewriters, back then were one of the biggest employment opportunities for females. According to reports, the original machine was aimed at more women employers. The advert from 1875 shared by a media outlet even said that ‘girls are now earning $10 to $20 per week with the Type Writer’. By the year 1900, more than 200,000 female stenographers, as well as typists, were part of the workforce in the United States. And 30 years down the line, there were two million women working in the same profession. 

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