Typewriter
Maker and role
IBM, Manufacturer
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Object detail
Accession number
2012.712
Maker
Production period
Description
A dark green IBM typewriter, 12 typeball elements (including one in the typewriter) which have a variety of different fonts, four correctable ribbons, four boxes of correcting tape and at typewriter manual. This typewriter was used by typists in the typing pool at the Ministry of Works which, at that time, was situated in the Bledisloe Building, Wellesley Street, Auckland City. This typewriter was sold by the Ministry of Works in around 1989.
Brief History
The golf ball-shaped type head in this IBM Selectric III 670X typewriter is an innovation developed in 1961 by an IBM engineering team led by Horace “Bud” Beattie.
The Selectric took IBM seven years to design and manufacture. It featured a rotating ball-shaped type element and cartridge ribbon that travelled from side to side while the paper remained in one position, making for faster typing.
The golf ball-shaped type head replaced the conventional typewriter’s basket of type bars, eliminating the jamming of type bars. The pivoting typeball could also be changed to allow the use of different fonts in the same document.
The aesthetic design of the Selectric was the responsibility of Eliot Noyes, an architect and industrial designer who served as consulting design director to IBM for 21 years.
The Selectric took IBM seven years to design and manufacture. It featured a rotating ball-shaped type element and cartridge ribbon that travelled from side to side while the paper remained in one position, making for faster typing.
The golf ball-shaped type head replaced the conventional typewriter’s basket of type bars, eliminating the jamming of type bars. The pivoting typeball could also be changed to allow the use of different fonts in the same document.
The aesthetic design of the Selectric was the responsibility of Eliot Noyes, an architect and industrial designer who served as consulting design director to IBM for 21 years.
Marks
IBM / Electric Typewriter Model 670X / 240V 0.3A 50 Hz / IBM AustEALIA Limited / Incorporated in New South Wales / Wangratta, Australia. Maker's Mark
Media/Materials
Credit Line
IBM. Typewriter, 2012.712. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
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