Christopher Latham Sholes "Father of the Typewriter-- Part 4: QWERTY

At this point, Soule and Glidden turned their shares to Sholes and Densmore.

Experimental versions of the typewriter were sent to a few stenographers for their criticisms and this helped improve it.  The first 50 machines produced had an average cost of $250.

They took the machine to E. Remington and Sons, a manufacturer of firearms, sewing machines and farm implements.  They offered to buy the patent from them.  Sholes sold his half of the patent for $12,000.  Densmore insisted on a royalty for his share, which eventually earned him $1.5 million.  Eventually, the machine became known as the famous Remington typewriter.

Sholes continued working to improve the typewriter in Milwaukee.  In 1873 he developed a new arrangement for the keys which became known, and still is, as the QWERTY keyboard.  (Hey, I just typed it.)  It was so made so that commonly used letter combinations were split up to prevent keys from jamming when typists pressed them too quickly.

The QWERTY keyboard was an instant success and has since made the transition from typewriters to computers.

Christopher Latham Sholes died on February 17, 1890, after a long battle with tuberculosis.

--CootType

Christopher Latham Sholes "Father of the Typewriter"-- Part 3: Four Partners

Working again with Samuel W. Soule, and adding Carlos Glidden as a third partner who provided the funds, they began to develop their first version of the typewriter.  The keyboard resembled that of a piano with two rows of keys, the first made of ebony and the second of ivory with a wooden framework.

Sholes, Glidden and Soule received a patent for it in 1868.  It was one of many similar typewriter versions coming out at the time.  They sent out many letters typed on it in an attempt to encourage interest.

James Densmore of Pennsylvania thought it could be highly profitable and offered to buy a share without ever seeing it.  He was sold a one-fourth interest, but when he finally did see it, he believed it was worthless in its current state and needed to be improved.

--DaTypeCoot

Christopher Latham Sholes, "Father of the Typewriter"-- Part 2

But Sholes' real interest was inventing new and useful items.  He moved to Milwaukee and spent some time as editor of the Milwaukee News and later the Milwaukee Sentinel.  When Abraham Lincoln offered him the position as a collector for the Port of Milwaukee and he accepted.  he knew this would mean working fewer hours and he would have more time to work on his inventions.

Latham Sholes and fellow inventor Samuel W. Soule developed a machine that numbered pages in a book and they got a patent for it in 1864.  Another man, Carlos Glidden, an attorney, suggested that they might be able to make their machine also produce letters and words as well.

In 1867, Sholes ran across an article about a machine called the Pterotype which was a prototype of te typewriter which had been invented by John Pratt.  Sholes decided that the machine was too complex to work well so set about creating his own version.

--CooterType

Christopher Latham Sholes "Father of the Typewriter"-- Part 1

From the July 15, 2015, Hi-Liter "Just our type: Kenosha newspaper editor recognized as 'Father of the Typewriter'  by Sandra Machaq.

Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Sholes is known as the "Father of the Typewriter" according to Charles Edward Weller in his 1918 book "The Early History of the Typewriter."  Sholes also is known as the inventor of the QWERTY keyboard which is still being used on computers.

Latham Sholes was born in Pennsylvania and became a printer apprentice after which he moved to Wisconsin and worked for his older brothers who owned and published a newspaper in Green Bay.  Next, he went to Madison and became editor of the Wisconsin Enquirer.

One year later, he moved to Kenosha, then known as Southport and became publisher of the local newspaper.He then got into state politics.

--DaCoot