The Machines: Blickensderfer

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The Blickensderfer Typewriter (you have to love that name) was patented in 1891.  The Number 1 and Number 5 were released to the public at the World’s Columbian Expo in Chicago in 1893.  The Blickensderfer writers were the first truly portable typewriters.  The other draw to these machines was the price-tag: $35 (compared to $100 for Remington, Hammond and Yost machines).

The Blickensderfer abandoned the QWERTY keyboard, which was developed for mechanical reasons.  The layout avoided key jam...