On This Day in Typewriter History: California Dreamin'

PART 228

As they say in Australia, "Tell him he's dreamin'". Believe it or believe it not, young Californian engineer Horace Grant Perry (born Suisun City, 1872) said his typewriter would be "compact, simple and cheap". But, then, it would also operate with "nicety".
Perry, aged just 24, was granted a patent for this apparent heavy monster on this day (January 7) in 1896. The typebars are above and behind the platen - the opposite arrangement to the Bar-Lock and Oliver - and the carriage seems to be out of the line of sight because of a shield above the keyboard. Hardly visible writing!
Perry said his object was "to provide a machine of this character of a simple and inexpensive nature which shall be compact and durable in construction and which shall be adapted to be operated with rapidity and nicety.
"The invention consists principally in a typewriting machine having different sets of typebars, the typebars of one set being provided with single characters and the typebars of the other set being provided with duplex or multiple characters printing-points, as 'an', 'as', 'is' etc, adapted to print short words or syllables, and an escapement device so constructed as to feed the carriage different distances corresponding to the space occupied by the character or, characters on the typebar which is operated. The invention also contemplates certain novel features of the construction, combination and arrangement of the various parts of the improved typewriting machine, whereby certain important advantages are attained and the device is made simpler, cheaper, more compact and otherwise better adapted and more convenient for use ..."